Zulu

Rating: 9/10 (6 June 2006)

For a war film, I think it is all the battle scenes and moments with the introductory performance by Sir Michael Caine that make it great. Basically it is 1879 and the British have suffered terribly with the war against the Zulu forces. The British are trying everything they can to both stay alive, and keep the Zulu from taking their land. The film is dominated by these hard hitting and sometimes intense battles with the red coated Brits and the black army, and that is why it is a really good film. Starring Stanley Baker as Lt. John Chard, Caine as Lt. Gonville Bromhead, Jack Hawkins as Rev. Otto Witt, Ulla Jacobsson as Margareta Witt, James Booth as Pvt. Henry Hook, Nigel Green as Colour-Sergeant Bourne, Ivor Emmanuel as Private Owen, Paul Daneman as Sergeant Maxfield, Glynn Edwards as Corporal Allen, Neil McCarthy as Private Thomas, David Kernan as Private Hitch, Gary Bond as Private Cole, Patrick Magee as Surgeon Major James Reynolds, Richard Davies as Private William Jones (593), Dickie Owen as Corporal Frederic Schiess, Joe Powell as Sergeant Windridge and Chief Buthelezi as Cetewayo, with narration by Richard Burton. Sir Michael Caine was number 44 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, and he was number 7 on The 50 Greatest British Actors, the film was number 17 on The 50 Greatest British Films, and it was number 8 on The 100 Greatest War Films. Very good!