MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Cem Lamb This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Tony This film is true to most events that happened, except it obviously points to Chelmsford and the general staff as bungling English gentlemen playing at war. He actually won the war before his replacement could take his command.We know he split his forces, so everyone NOW says he made a mistake. He had no intel, no idea where the enemy where, he went looking. So why are the independent cavalry forces who had not scouted ahead of his infantry somehow portrayed as heroes. The film itself is excellent it's just the pointing of blame is as bad as then.

berberian00-276-69085 Well, let me put it this way - there is still no good movie on British Colonial History in Africa. "Zulu Dawn" (1979) is just a small episode from the British lore in (South) Africa. The Zulu Nation got the prestige as the most warlike African tribe, more so from the novels of Rider H. Haggard than from some documentary or other objective historical account. I see that far away corner of the world as off shot from European history rather than anything else. My childhood imagination and my mind were also irreversibly influenced by the Tarzan stories - for me, as a child, those were the only true criteria for the unrivaled flora and fauna of Africa, everything you want!How do we get more for the Cinema and Our Civilization from the Black Continent. That's an essential question. Wilbur Smith - God bless him for his talent - has been a wellspring for information on modern South Africa, both historical fiction and international involvement. From the Wikipedia source I will enumerate the Filmography based on Smith's novels: Dark of the Sun (1968), Gold (1974), Shout at the Devil (1976), Covert Assassin (1994), Diamond Hunters (2001). There are more plots from the Author for which I am not aware. You can put here easily the classic "Khartoum" (1966) about defeat of British General Gordon in Sudan against an invading Muslim army led by a religious fanatic, the Mahdi. "Four Feathers" (1939) and (2002) is about the same historical episode. That's all about Africa, take or leave stories such as "Out of Africa" (1985), "Blood Diamond" (2006), etc.I again come back to the Zulu Wars theme. You can't abstain from South African history, neither being European or American or Cosmopolitan. I have been there on a journey some 15 years ago. It's a bizarre landscape with some 6-7 million Whites and 35 million Blacks/Colored. Until lately this was country of Apartheid - Blacks were not allowed to vote. They were not allowed to have sexual relations with Whites, also. The African National Congress was a former Communist Party banned in the 1960s. It's leader Nelson Mandela was released in 1990s when the system was reversed. The Boers are the strangest ethnic enclave in the world - they are "Afrikaans" from the reformed Dutch Church and Dutch Language. Their total xenophobia helped them create and preserve the South African Republic from middle of 19th century. Thence the Boer Wars 1899-1902 and thence the Union of South Africa from 1910. Enjoy It!P.S. South Africa is the cradle of humankind, believe it or not. The oldest remains from Hominids are found there some 2-3 million years old. What is more disturbing for the precarious European Ego is that there are also Rock Painting, some as old as 30 000 years, which is indication for continuous Human Evolution older than the Lascaux Caves in France ...

screenman Compared to Stanley Baker's earlier 'Zulu', 'Zulu Dawn', is a bit of an apologia.The movie features all of the right ingredients. There is excellent on-site location work. The cast is a top drawer A-list from both sides of the Atlantic. A lot of money has also been spent on costumes, props and other technical issues. Yet the whole thing seems to languish in a disjointed kind of way. Instead of a set-piece battle we see any number of skirmishes. They might more accurately represent history - but just don't add up to a particularly tense and exciting spectacle.No nation likes to be reminded of its debacles, and Britain having fought so many wars, has inevitably accumulated an uncomfortable number of reversals. This is why the likes of Isandlwana tend to get swept under the mat, whilst Rorke's Drift is hallowed by history.What this movie does demonstrate is the fact that - for the most part - Britain ended victorious more as a consequence of the good sense of middle-ranking and non-commissioned officers, supported by the discipline and fighting spirit of the men, rather than by the dilatory, cack-handed, out-of-date, upper-class buffoons who loused up their strategies time and time again. Lions led by donkeys, as the saying goes. In the above regard, 'Zulu Dawn' may deserve its place in British movie (and literal) history, but as a piece of entertainment it's a bit of a disappointment. It may be that this particular conflict does not lend itself to entertaining cinema.

ma-cortes This historical epic is a spectacular retelling of the deeds leading a bloody battle where a regiment was massacred by a force over thousands Zulus commanded by Cetschwayo(Sabela) at Zululand. In command of British force is General Lord Chelmsford well played by Peter O'Toole and an excellent Burt Lancaster plays Colonel Durnford as a tough and veteran officer. Extraordinary secondary cast formed by prestigious British actors, such as Simon Ward,John Mills, Peter Vaughn,Ronald Lacey, Michel Jayston, James Faulkner(also producer), among others. The battle scenes are magnificent with deployment of the vast forces, and exciting combats when the army try to defend from attack by thousands of Zulu warriors.Stunning cinematography with colorful landscapes and martial musical score by the master Elmer Berstein. The picture is well directed by Douglas Hickox who translates perfectly the outstanding battles. This is a prequel about 'Zulu'(1963,Cy Endfield) depicts the electrifying battle of Roarke'Drift where little more than hundred soldiers made a valiant stand against thousands Zulu warriors.Adding more details over the largely depicted on the movie, the incidents happened of the following manner : Zulu victory over British forces 22 Jan 1879 about 160 km, north of Durban.A column led by Lord Chelmsford seeking the Zulu army camped at Isandhlwara, road to Ulundi while patrols went out to scour the district. A report was received and Chelmsford moved out with half his strength, leaving the camp occupied by six companies of the 24th Regiment, two guns, some colonial volunteers and some native contingents: about 1800 troops in all. Late in the morning , an advance post warred of the approach of a Zulu army. Then a mounted patrol found thousands of Zulus concealed in a ravines as the patrol rode to warn the camp, the Zulus followed. The camp commander spread his troops around the perimeter of the camp, but the Zulus broke through, the native contingents fled but were chased and killed. The 21 officers and 534 soldiers of the 24Th Regiment were killed where they fought , there were no wounded , no prisoners and no missing. Only about 50 Europeans and 300 Africans escaped. The invasion of Zululand was temporarily halted until reinforcements were received from Britain. Despite the defeat, the Zulus were humiliated and crushed at Roark's Drift battle.The battle of Isandhalwana was recorded in history as the worst defeat ever inflicted on a modern army by native troops. In Parliament upon the downfall of his government, British Prime Minister , Benjamin Disraeli, asked the question: 'Who are these Zulus ,who are these remarkable people who defeat our generals , convert our bishops and who on this day have put an end to a great dynasty?