Zulu Dawn

Watch: Zulu Dawn

5/15/19791h 57m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ The sun dawned bloodied... two great armies met face to face... and the earth trembled to the sound of the Zulu death chant! ~

Overview:

In 1879, the British suffer a great loss at the Battle of Isandlwana due to incompetent leadership.

Director:

Douglas Hickox

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$11,750,000.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

fight
british empire
victory
prequel
battlefield
battle
death
colonialism
spear throwing
surrounded
standoff
mortar
zulu
tribal warfare
army life

Cast

Burt Lancaster

~ as ~

Col. Anthony Durnford

Simon Ward

~ as ~

Lt. Vereker

Denholm Elliott

~ as ~

Colonel Pulleine

Peter Vaughan

~ as ~

QSM Bloomfield

James Faulkner

~ as ~

Lt. Melvill

Christopher Cazenove

~ as ~

Lt. Coghill

Bob Hoskins

~ as ~

C.S.M. Williams

David Bradley

~ as ~

Pte Williams

Paul Copley

~ as ~

Cpl. Storey

Donald Pickering

~ as ~

Maj. Russell R.A.

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 3 year(s) ago
6
Though certainly epic in cinematographic terms, this is a really meandering and over-cast depiction of the Zulu defeat of the British garrison at Isandlwana at the end of the 19th century. I'm assuming it was made as a precursor of - and to capitalise upon - the far superior "Zulu" (1964) but right from the get-go it's just wordy and ponderous and, well, lacklustre. Peter O'Toole does exude a certain arrogance in his role as the Commander of the army (Lord Chelmsford) but Burt Lancaster - and his distinctly ropey accent - as "Col. Durnford", features all too sparingly to offer much more than a casual dig at the incompetencies of his boss as the Zulu and the soldiers of the Queen square up. This cast list is impressive but none of the assembled stars of stage and screen are really used to any great effect. History tells us what happens next, and the colourful action scenes are well put together with enthusiastic efforts from the Zulu themselves delivering well staged combat scenes. Sadly, though, we have to wait far too long for these to rescue this from the doldrums of colourful but procedural cinema that offers us little to nourish either our interest in the characters or in the colonial and ambitious politics of the region that prevailed at the time. Underwhelming, sorry!