Zulu - Final Attack

I love that this movie doesn't attempt to demonize either side. There's no racist chants or glorious victory yells afterwards. Massive props for that.

I think the end of this scene is brilliant. No cheering, no music, no painting the battle as some glory filled victory, just utter silence, panning across the field of the fallen zulu casualties before finally falling on exhausted, frightened british soldiers still coming to grips with the fact they even survived. Brilliant.

"They've got a very good bass section, but no top tenors, that's for sure." I love British humor.

The beauty of this movie is how it simultaneously condemns war outright and humanizes the dreadfulness of battle. Anyone hating on this great film claiming it glorifies the British Empire is missing the entire point.

Back then, they literally had a "cast of thousands". Today, they would put 25 people on the field and computerize them to look like thousands. Made some hellacious movies back in the day. huh ?

Although British in the early eighties I worked in the steel works now close to the battle site. The zulus loved to recreate this battle. We the white men would line up in ranks, whilst the zulus would sing, chant, stamp and then charge holding brush handles. Absolutely terrifying! The challenge was to hold your ground without taking a step back. None of us able to do it. After scaring us half to death they would laugh and hug us. Yet This was during the apartheid period with all the political troubles. Zulus have a very British sense of humour and I grew to love them.

Historically accurate or not...this scene is amazing. The differences between the soldiers and the Zulus was stripped away as both armies sang to bolster their courage. No good or bad guys...just brave men fighting for what they believed in, men who should have been friends not enemies. Powerful stuff.

The banging on the shields is actually unnerving

Remember watching this as a kid. Brilliant movie. The Zulus final charge, combined with their singing, probably one of the most powerful scenes in cinema.

I love the part where they are admiring the Zulu warrior's singing and then the other guy says yes, they have a good base but are missing a tenor.

That moment at 4:14 when he give the order to 'cease firing' and the silence is so sudden that you hear it echoing in the hills is haunting! Amazing courage on both side of the battle, this is how a war film should be!

The recoil of the Martini-Henry is fierce, and some of the soldiers carried on firing with dislocated shoulders.

Colour Sgt. Major Bourne lived till the age of 91 . He fought in the trenches of the first world war in the rank of colonel and died in his house on VE Day, 1945 at 16 Kings Hall Road, Beckenham, Kent.. On google earth street view you can see the blue disc on the front wall above the front door

What a genuinely terrifying experience that must have been, for both sides.

My father served in this regiment in the 1960's. I couldn't be more proud as a Welshman. God, Queen and country💂👍

For those who might not know: while there is no account of singing by the defenders at Rorkes Drift, there is an account of an equally incredible last stand in which the defenders are reported to have sung: the Shangani Patrol, also known as the Last Stand of Wilson’s Patrol. It occurred during the Ndebele War and was a last stand by roughly 30 men against several thousand Ndebele warriors. I would be willing to bet this scene was inspired by that occurrence.

Love the echo when Stanley Baker yells "cease firing", it's haunting

The British had 20,000 rounds of ammo on hand at the start of the battle. At the end, they had only 900 rounds left before help arrived.

Such a good movie. Could have done the Zulu so wrong, but instead they come across as brave, noble, and proud. And the English were humanized well. You really didn't hate either side.

Cinematic perfection. A film of great importance and significance. Far ahead of it's time and tragically underrated.