Zulu Dawn

It’s rare that I’d recommend watching a blu-ray’s extras before watching the actual movie, but in the case of Zulu Dawn, a 1979 epic re-telling of the British army’s defeat at the hands (or, more accurately, the spears) of 25,000 Zulu tribesmen, there’s something to be said for knowing a bit of backstory first.

A prequel to the well-received but nearly forgotten 1964 film Zulu, which gave Michael Caine his first starring role, Zulu Dawn simply makes too much of an assumption that today’s audiences will be familiar with Battle of Isandlwana. Luckily, Severin’s blu-ray contains a number of special features to help fill you in beforehand, including a History of the Zulu Wars, comments from the film’s historical advisor and a visit to the actual battlefield where tactical errors and British arrogance wound up costing 1500 enlisted men their lives.

As for the movie itself, it’s the sort of monumental all-star war film that really didn’t exist anymore in 1979. While most old Hollywood movie stars were shipped off into on The Love Boat or Fantasy Island, Burt Lancaster and Peter O’Toole lead a cast of (literally) tens of thousands in re-staging one of Britain’s greatest military blunders.

Pushing outward from the occupied South African territory of Natal, Lord Chelmsford (O’Toole) aspires to rid the realm of their troublesome neighbors in Zululand. With modern rifles against spears and stones, he plans what should be a simple victory of civilized soldiers versus untrained savages. But by sheer weight of numbers, the Zulu overwhelm their enemy despite their technological inferiority and wind up embarrassing the Realm across the globe.

Zulu Dawn is a throwback to the era when movie stars in exotic locales was enough to sell just about any idea. So unfortunately, almost ¾ of the film is a well-cast travelogue full of beautiful South African scenery but little in the way of actual drama. When the time does come to unleash the dogs of war, director Douglas Hickox does a fine job of setting the stage, coordinating the combat and delivering enough money shots to earn the distinction of an “epic.” The participation of thousands of actual Zulu tribesmen gives the battle scenes an authenticity that even The Lord of the Rings can’t match. This is a film that begs for a big screen, so if you don’t own one yet, get yourself to Best Buy.

Once the self described “Criterion of Smut,” Severin Films have branched out into several big-budget action flicks of the era. And they do just as right here by Zulu Dawn as they did with The Wild Geese and Ashanti a few months back. The hi-def image still retains a pleasing layer of film grain to keep purists satisfied. And the extras show an extra level of attention towards fans who’ve been waiting for this to pop up on any home video format.