(Singing) Men of Harlech....

Rating: 8/10 (25 April 2001)

The Battle of Rorke's Drift...the mere name sends a ping of pride within the soul of every Englishman. A battle where a mere 104 soldiers of the English 24 Regiment of Foot stood up against an incredible 4000 Zulu warriors at the mission station of Rorke's Drift in South Africa during the Zulu war. Throughout the film you are on the edge of your seat wondering: will the red coats be able to survive against this overwhelming force, or will they go down in a blaze of Glory as the Texans did at the Alamo. You have plenty of time to wonder since 3/4 (or more) of this film is devoted to the battle itself.
Now those who have seen the film often complain about the lack of realism concerning the way people died in this film. An example they would give would be when a soldier would only touch a Zulu with his bayonet and then the Zulu would fall over dead. You must remember that this film was made during the 1960's, a time when the film industry frowned upon blood and guts flying everywhere during a war flick. Films like Saving Private Ryan would never had made it to the theaters because of the realism.
But one problem that I found with the film was the amount of historic liscense Hollywood took in the making of this film. Many scenes which are depicted in the film never transpired in real life (based on my limited knowledge of studying the Battle itself). But unless you have actually studied the battle you would have never guessed that parts of the film are fiction, they did that good of a job making the film.
All and all, I loved the film and would reccomend it to anyone who enjoys a good war flick...or a good film.