- Film Review
- Reviewed By Adrian Turner
-
2 out of 5
Zulu plonked us down in the heat of battle and didn't have the time to tell us why Britain and the Zulus were arguing so violently. But because the 1963 epic was such a big hit, star Stanley Baker and writer/director Cy Endfield conceived this prequel, although by the time it came out in 1979 Baker had died and Endfield was sidelined. There's spectacle in abundance here but little of the characterisation that made Zulu so memorable. American Burt Lancaster doesn't quite fit his uniform or have the required stiff upper lip, though the assembled British stalwarts certainly do as they blunder on towards the massacre of Isandhlwana, the bloody aftermath of which opened this film's illustrious predecessor.
Plot Summary
Historical drama starring Burt Lancaster and Peter O'Toole. 1879: the king of the Zulu nation is goaded into making war so that the British Army can mobilise against him, but the Imperial forces foolishly underestimate the resourcefulness and passion of their adversaries.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Colonel Anthony Durnford
- Burt Lancaster
- Lord Chelmsford
- Peter O'Toole
- William Vereker
- Simon Ward
- Sir Henry Bartle Frere
- John Mills
- Colonel Hamilton-Brown
- Nigel Davenport
- Colonel Crealock
- Michael Jayston
- Lt Col Pulleine
- Denholm Elliott
- Bishop Colenso
- Freddie Jones
- Sgt Major Williams
- Bob Hoskins
- QSM Bloomfield
- Peter Vaughan
- Pullen
- Phil Daniels
- Private Williams
- David Bradley (3)
- Norris Newman
- Ronald Lacey
- Lt Melvill
- James Faulkner
- Lt Coghill
- Christopher Cazenove
- Cpl Storey
- Paul Copley
- Lt Harford
- Ronald Pickup
Crew
- Director
- Douglas Hickox
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