On Z List of Movie Reviews

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Zulu (1964)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 11/02, 5/25

5/25: I hate Zulu.

Calling it among the best films ever, the British should be embarrassed of what transpired. It's not an accomplishment but is rather similar to scoring 100 points against a school of mentally retarded players in a high school basketball game.

Although everything shown is historically accurate for the most part, the very first question that should be asked is: what led to this battle at Rorke's Drift? The movie won't say. Things just don't happen out of the blue. According to Wikipedia, the Anglo-Zulu War was started because of the following:

"Following the passing of the British North America Act 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might lead to a ruling white minority over a black majority in South Africa. This would yield a large pool of cheap labor for the British sugar plantations and mines and was intended to bring the African Kingdoms, tribal areas, and Boer republics into South Africa."

That explains everything. In other words, the British had no business being in South Africa. As for the fighting, the Zulu warriors would have to be either stupid or clueless about fighting. Who knows what the whole thing looked like for real? They say the British were heavily fortified and were nearly impenetrable, but the movie shows otherwise.

All in all, Michael Caine's line "I feel ashamed" says everything in terms of British's standing in history.

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