Zulu Dawn
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.99 You Save: $9.99 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Zulu Dawn
Movie Review: A historic disaster on a disastrous DVD
Summary: 3 Stars
"One Zulu is only one man, and I'm afeared of no one man. But the Zulu, they come in the thousands, like a black wave of death in the thousands."
Zulu Dawn isn't in the Zulu league, but if you're interested in the period and can overlook a few historical errors, it's a good addition to that curious subgenre of British epics celebrating their humiliating military defeats. In its determination to set some of the colonial myths straight it does tend to overlook the Zulus' own imperial ambitions, divided leadership and tactical stupidity, but it's well staged with an exceptionally strong cast of familiar British faces and a wildly miscast Burt Lancaster offering one of the screens worst Oirish accents. The battle's a long time coming, but is worth the wait, and the film is genuinely spectacular, with director Douglas Hickox pulling off a particularly impressive river crossing sequence to the accompaniment of Elmer Bernstein's stirring score. However, if you don't get off on troop deployments and crowd scenes of colourfully clad British soldiers on the veldt, you'll probably find it heavy going for the first hour.
Sadly, as others have noted, this is a very shoddy DVD - like the UK issue it's cropped from its original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio to 1.85:1 and with an inferior sound mix (the theatrical release prints had an excellent stereo soundtrack) and no real extras to speak of despite plenty being available. A very poor show indeed. It's worth noting, however, that the French PAL disc not only boasts a good transfer in the original 2.35:1 ratio with removeable French subtitles but also includes the theatrical trailer and is well worth seeking out if you have a multi-region player.
Movie Review: Well Done but Uninspired
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a big fan of the old film, ZULU. Unfortunately, this one does not measure up to that standard in terms of entertainment value. It is well done, as accurate as most movie portrayals of historical events and well acted. It's just not very exciting.
While ZULU dealt with the siege at Rork's Drift in the aftermath of the battle of Isandlhwanna, this film deals with the battle of Isandlhwanna itself. In the 1870s, the British government of Natal in South Africa feared that the Zulu were growing too strong. They delivered to the Zulu king an ultimatum with which he could not comply. They then invaded. Everyone thought that the best infantry in the world, the British army, would soon put a Zulu notch in the imperial belt. Instead, the 24th regiment of foot was wiped out by Zulu impis at Isandlhwanna. This is the story of that disastrous campaign.
Peter O'Toole plays Lord Chelmsford with all of the arrogance which ultimately led to the destruction of the British expeditionary force. Burt Lancaster plays one of his knowledgeable officers and Bob Hoskins plays the regimental sergeant major. Each does a good job of portraying the character but the whole does not stand together as well as it should. The images of the impis washing over the British positions is frightening in its severity but there is little else in the way of excitement.
All told, I am glad to have seen it but have no need to see it again.
Movie Review: Review of DVD transfer
Summary: 3 Stars
The new Tango release of the Zulu Dawn DVD is not as bad as some folks make out. On ebay, a while back, someone was selling the region 1 version of the film based on the English DVD which had been out for a while. It was somewhat letter-boxed but the image was fuzzy and the colors bled a lot (but it was better than the VHS version). The new Tango seems to have the same screen ratio with some letter-boxing top and bottom. I didn't see any evidence of pan and scan and it seemed somewhat wide-screen though I imagine the original print was wider. The transfer is better than the ebay/English version with more definition and less color bleed. It's not as good as a pristine new DVD release or, for that matter, the MGM DVD release of Zulu with is a truly excellent transfer. Perhaps an original 35 print of the film doesn't exist anymore which would be a shame. It's too bad that both of these films weren't made more in the digital era. Both of them need more Zulus in the frames!Movie Review: Thrilling Finale Saves Film From Zulu Yawn
Summary: 3 Stars
My interest in this film stems from my enjoyment of the original "Zulu". I would recommend this film to the fans of "Zulu" but do not have high expectations. To the filmmakers credit they try to meticulously portray the events that led to the massacre of British troops at the hands of Zulu warriors. It's not the filmmakers ambition that I'm criticizing but in the way they execute their story. The events preceding the battle border on the stuporous. The film feels like it's populated by re-enactors as opposed to actors playing real men. This is odd because of the presence of fine actors like Burt Lancaster and Peter O'Toole in the cast. Before all is lost, however, the makers deliver a slam-bang extended battle scene in the film's final third to redeem this enterprise. In closing, anyone venturing into this film has to slog through some inert patches but are semi-rewarded by sticking it out to the end.Movie Review: not accurate at all!
Summary: 3 Stars
First There was and eclipse duing the battle.
Second The myth about the ammunition box top being screwed on too tight.
Third the British infantry was not a nice tight friring line, they had advanced too far and there were 10 ft, or so gaps between the idividual soldiers.
These make the move version of the battle completely incorrect. These fact were proven by Ian Knight by looking at contemporary records and acheological evidence.
How ever it was certainly fun to watch. It's a very good adventure movie, but not good history. four star for the movie minus one for the bad history.