In 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, man-of-the-people Lt. Chard and snooty Lt. Bromhead are in charge of defending the isolated and vastly outnumbered Natal outpost of Rorke's Drift from tribal hordes.
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CinemaSerf
8
By CinemaSerf
A superb adventure tale about a British battalion charged with the defence of a mission station at Rorke's Drift from an army of Zulu who wish to remove the red devils from their lands. Stanley Baker plays "Lt. Chard" who takes command of this troop of engineers and has to plan and implement the defence of his ramshackle post whilst also combatting the superiority complex of Michael Caine's "Lt. Bromhead" who hails from a distinguished family of military and who, initially resents the leadership of this amateur, and the drunken preacher Jack Hawkins who's mission they are stranded in. John Prebble and Cy Endfield keep the script tight; and John Barry delivers a suitably grand score for this beautifully shot film with plenty of action, and quite a bit of dry humour too. It delivers well a sense of the relentlessness of the attacking Zulu: their pride, courage - and integrity, as well as giving us a shared feeling of the sheer exhaustion of those defending their outpost and their lives. It's even got some rousing male voice choristry too...!
