Zulu Dawn (1979)

PG05/14/1979Adventure, Drama, History, War1h 57m
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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.

Top Billed Cast

  1. Cast 1

    Burt Lancaster

    Col. Anthony Durnford

  2. Cast 1

    Simon Ward

    Lt. Vereker

  3. Cast 1

    Denholm Elliott

    Colonel Pulleine

  4. Cast 1

    Peter Vaughan

    QSM Bloomfield

  5. Cast 1

    James Faulkner

    Lt. Melvill

  6. Cast 1

    Christopher Cazenove

    Lt. Coghill

  7. Cast 1

    Bob Hoskins

    C.S.M. Williams

  8. Cast 1

    David Bradley

    Pte Williams

  9. Cast 1

    Paul Copley

    Cpl. Storey

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...