Zulu (1964)
The
true story of the defence of a mission station and hospital called
Rorke's Drift, where a handful of soldiers of the South Wales Border
regiment held off 4,000 Zulu warriors during the Zulu War of 1879 -
this is the stuff epics are made of.
 The battle scenes - which take up nearly half the movie - are
superb and Caine is endearing (if not over-convincing) as upper
class twit Lieutenant Bromhead. Stanley Baker, the Welsh Sean
Connery, is an impressive study in big-sideburned machismo as Chard,
in charge of the defence.
There are some great touches from the Welsh stereotypes on show
too . . . "They've got a good bass section but no decent
tenors", observes the troops' choir leader of the massed scores
of Zulus chanting war songs from the top of the ridge, before
leading his comrades in a rendition of Men of Harlech.
Zulu was shot on location in the Royal Natal National Park, and
is narrated by Richard Burton (he performed the narration as a
favour to Stanley Baker who co-produced the film).
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