Great movie

Rating: 9/10 (28 February 2012)

Outstanding movie, though this is not a historically accurate depiction (very few films are) but a gripping evocation of a fiercely-fought battle between a beleaguered British garrison and a large force of Zulus. The overwhelming superiority in numbers of the Zulus was offset by the firepower of the British soldiers and the long reach of their bayonets.
Rorke's Drift was fought on the same day, and within a few miles, of the dramatic defeat of the British at Isandlwana in a war that, in all honesty, did the invading colonial forces little credit. Rorke's Drift was portrayed by some as such a glorious victory in an attempt to take away attention from Isandlwana.
But enough of the history. There is some great acting, fantastic score, amazing camera work and superb landscapes. Little point in making comments about the rights or wrongs of colonialism - everyone in Europe was at it at the time (and don't forget that it was only three years after the defeat of Custer at the Little Big Horn which was in its own way part of another colonial adventure). Judge it for what it is - a great movie.