Zulu Dawn (1979) – Film Review

Director: Douglas Hickox
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Peter O’Toole, Simon Ward
Certificate: 12

By Sarah Morgan

They just don’t make ‘em like Zulu Dawn any more. Epic, with an all-star cast and not a hint of CGI in sight, it’s also full of derring-do and incredible set pieces.

But its production wasn’t easy, as the excellent, feature-length, making-of documentary included in a new 4K ultra HD of the movie, reveals. Not only did its producers – who had little experience of handling such a huge project – have to deal with the rules and regulations of apartheid South Africa, where filming took place, they also faced budgetary issues that resulted in some scenes being cut altogether.

This means that the finished film comes in at a palatable 1hr and 57 minutes, but lacks some of the character development and understanding it perhaps needed. Instead, viewers are somewhat bombarded by battle after battle.

It’s all based on the true story of events in January 1879 when Lord Chelmsford, a British Army general who had never entered into battle and desperately ‘needed’ one to boost his reputation, engineered a war, with help from diplomat Sir Henry Bartle Frere.

Their plan involved taking on the Zulu nation – which turned out to be a disastrous decision.

“Undeniably exciting”

Peter O’Toole plays Chelmsford, with John Mills, in what is no more than a cameo role, as Frere. Every white role is played by a famous face, with the likes of Peter Vaughan, Simon Ward, Christopher Cazenove, Freddie Jones, Bob Hoskins, Phil Daniels and Kes star Dai Bradley (who also narrates the aforementioned making-of documentary) popping up, sometimes in just the odd scene or two.

But it’s the presence of Burt Lancaster that is perhaps the most intriguing – or perplexing, if his not-very-convincing Irish accent proves as off-putting to you as it did to me. Clearly the idea of having a major Hollywood A-lister among the cast was appealing to the producers, because it would have helped them raise the necessary finance, but it’s not one of the great man’s finest hours.

The film itself acts as a prequel to the 1964 classic Zulu, with that film’s director, Cy Endfield, co-writing the screenplay, which ends just as the Battle of Rorke’s drift, as depicted in Zulu, is about to begin.

This time, Douglas Hickox was behind the camera, and the action sequences are undeniably exciting, but there’s little else to keep viewers hooked.

It’s not a bad film by any means, but you get the feeling it could have been much better had we got to know the characters more. But it’s still well worth a look if you’re a fan of the boys’ own adventures being made at the time, such as The Wild Geese, Shout at the Devil and Gold.

The film itself does, however, look wonderful following its restoration, and the special features alone are worth investing in the three-disc set.