Zulu Dawn

This 1979 ‘prequel’ to the 1964 classic ‘Zulu’ boasts an all star-cast including Burt Lancaster, Simon Ward, Peter O’Toole and Denholm Elliott to name but a few. Based on the book of the same name by Cy Endfield, the film depicts the historic battle of Isandlwana in 1879, during which the British Army suffered a devastating defeat against the almighty Zulu Warriors.

It’s a bit like the Charge of the Light Brigade scenario - depicting the British Army as the pompous s**t-stirrers hell-bent on destroying the Zulu Empire in South Africa though ultimately, it’s the arrogance of the British military which leads to one of the the worst and most humiliating defeats in the history of the British Army. At the helm of the unfolding disaster are Commanders Sir Henry Bartle Frere (John Mills) and Lord Chelmsford (Peter O’Toole), who leave no stone unturned when it comes to provoking the native warriors, who rightly see the British intrusion as a threat to their land and their agricultural economy.

It’s January 1879 in the Cape Colony of present-day South Africa and British Army officer Lord Chelmsford teams up with diplomat Sir Henry Bartle Frere to come up with a fool-proof plan to annex the neighbouring Zulu Empire, which is seen as an inconvenience if not a threat altogether to the Cape’s expanding economy. As a result, Bartle Frere confronts proud Zulu king Cetshwayo (Simon Sabela) with an ultimatum, namely that he willingly dissolves the Zulu military. No prize for guessing that Cetshwayo tells Bartle Frere where he can shove his demand, which in turn gives him carte blanche to authorise Chelmsford to throw together an expeditionary force and invade the Zulu Empire despite some objections from upper crusties in the Cape Colony.

This provides the starting point of what is about to follow, although a great deal of the film’s first half is taking up with conversations at the garrison’s garden party, where we are introduced to some more military players, including Colonel Durnford (Burt Lancaster), Lt. Coghill (Christopher Cazenove) who is of the opinion the Zulus won’t stand a chance fighting with their primitive spears (and how wrong his prediction turns out to be…), Lt. Vereker (Simon Ward), and Sergeant Williams (Bob Hoskins) to name but a few.
Time for tea is over when the British forces march into Zulu land, from which moment on it’s pretty much pure action. Soon, the cat- and mouse game turns deadly as the British forces come to realise that the Zulu warriors always seem to one step ahead, at one point, one particular tense conflict results in two young British fighters caught in the middle of an open field between the two warring factions, with one of the young lads accidentally shot by someone from his own troop and his colleague lamenting, “You came all this way to get shot by a bullet from Birmingham.”

As the situation grows ever more desperate, Chelmsford splits his forces and in an act of what can only be called sheer stupidity, leaves the main army camp unfortified, which gives a huge army of over 1,300 Zulu warriors the opportunity to attack and destroy the camp at the final battle of Isandlwana on January 22nd, with Lt. Vereker, who lies badly wounded under his dead horse, shooting the Zulu warrior who carried the colour, which then falls into a river below. Well, as long as the colour flag is safe!

Unlike in the previous ZULU, the emphasis here lies less on human suffering and drama - instead, the focus lies firmly on impressively staged combat scenes - you decide which versions works better for you.
Speaking of: ZULU DAWN has recently been released in a 4K digital remaster, and presented in Limited and Special 3-disc Blu-ray Editions. These include the UHD Original Theatrical Version, the Blu-ray Original Theatrical Version and the Blu-ray US-Theatrical Version. Bonus material varies from disc to disc and while the Blu-ray Original Theatrical Version offers a feature-length documentary on the Making of, the US Version offers the 1918 silent drama ‘The Symbol of Sacrifice’ (the 1997 reconstruction of the South African film. Other special features include interviews, audio commentaries, plus (Limited Edition exclusive) a 100-page booklet, Six collector’s art cards and a double-sided poster.