Zulu was a massive hit in 1964 and a sequel was written and planned by the writer Cy Endfield but this did not happen until 1979, this time the story was about what happened in January 1879, a few days before the events of Zulu.
Officials of the British colony of Natal, Africa, issued a list of ultimatums to the Zulu Nation. When the Zulu King refused, the Empire declared war. And in a series of grave tactical blunders, a garrison of 1,500 British soldiers faced 25,000 enraged Zulu warriors in what would become the most horrific disaster in British military history.
A great cast helped the film a lot, with Peter O’Toole, Burt Lancaster and Simon Ward heading a huge cast which must have been a nightmare to arrange.
O’Toole gets the meatiest role of the lot, playing Chelmsford as a very arrogant soldier who does not realise what is happening until its too late. The problem with such a big star-studded cast is that nobody really gets any time to develop or breathe.
The cinematography is great and the build-up well put together, but the battle itself, while brutal, is nothing new if you have seen the original film, which did it better and had more emotional resonance.
Zulu Dawn never found the audience it deserved on release, not helped by a botched North American distribution arrangement. The film has an epic scale which would be done with CGI these days, especially the battle scenes, but it fails to leave any real mark after viewing.
Severin has done a brilliant job with this release; you have a new 4K UHD remastered film, also on Blu ray as well as a massive amount of special features which include an interesting and comprehensive making-of documentary, 2 versions of the film, original theatrical and USA cut, audio commentaries, The Simon Sabela Story, a 32min look at the South African actor and director who co-starred in the film.
You also get The Saga of Bob’s Last Stand (Bob Hoskins’ death scene) , The Symbol of Sacrifice (1918) -1997 reconstruction, a 48-minute newly created film, a 10-minute interview with the 1918 film’s restoration producer Mayer Levy, the History of the Zulu Wars featurette with author Ian Knight, interview with historical advisor Midge Carter, A Visit to the Battlefield – Ian Knight at Isandlwana; Outtakes 16 mins.
So, a great release of a classic film, while not on par with the original, still stands up today.
Richard Harris was not in “Zulu Dawn”.
Hi Robert,
Correct, my silly mistake; I watched a Richard Harris film before this one, and for some reason he stuck in my mind. Have changed; many thanks.