Zulu [1964] [DVD]

In March of this year, Paramount Pictures and Sky got together to restore two British films for a Hi Def release. Those films were "Zulu" and "The Italian Job".
The former was originally shown following its restoration on Sky's Hi Def TV channels and has now made it to Blu-ray. Originally this was to have been an HD DVD release back in June but like so many others with that format's abrupt termination, "Zulu" is now belatedly out on Blu-ray.
"Zulu" is one of my favourite films of all time. It is one of the very best war films to ever come out of the UK, indeed, some maintain it to be the greatest of all.
It tells of the heroic stand by just over 100 British troops at an isolated mission station called Rorke's Drift in 1879 South Africa, following the annihilation of a British Army at Iswandlana by the Zulu Nation.This army of 4000 strong Zulu warriors then headed to Rorke's Drift to dish out a similar fate to the small British force stationed there....
What follows is a sustained battle, the ferocity of which will linger long in the viewer's memory. "Zulu" boasts an all star cast headed by Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, and in his first film role - Michael Caine.
The subject matter could have been a minefield to film but "Zulu" just shrugs this off and portrays the Zulus with awe and respect, depicting them as almost a force of nature against whom the British Army look small and almost frail....
The film boasts a thunderous score courtesy of John Barry and although this is not in 5.1, the stereo mix is still very good, indeed, and does what it is supposed to do with aplomb.

However, the picture itself is most definitely the star on show here. The restoration to Hi Def is nothing short of astounding and I can only assume that a 70mm print was used. From the old Paramount logo at the beginning of the film itself, the viewer is treated to a visual spectacle that simply could have been made yesterday. This is akin to and even possibly better than seeing a pristine 70mm print of this film in a cinema. Light and colour are gorgeous and the clarity is unbelievable.
Flies land on the face of Jack Hawkins' preacher as he tries to persuade Stanley Baker's commander to release his wounded men. The stunning Natal scenery is simply three dimensional and you can see every blade of grass and rock on the mountainsides. The uniforms almost glow with detail and are incredible to see. The huge marriage dance at the beginning of the film in King Cetawayo's Kraal is simply unbelievable though, restored to a detail so clear that it simply leaves you wondering how they got it to look that good.
My only gripe with the disc is that they did not provide a 5.1 soundtrack. That said the remixed stereo soundtrack is more than adequate and does the job.
Visually though this film takes Hi Def to a new plateau. It is simply unbelievable that this was made in 1962, again it has the look and clarity of a film made yesterday. It's Hi Def picture exceeds that of even the highly acclaimed "Black Narcissus", in fact I cannot think of any film on either BD or HD DVD that can rival "Zulu" in Hi Def.
Films like "2001" and "Bladerunner" are great Hi Def transfers but "Zulu" simply betters them.
Is this the best Hi Def transfer to date? I seriously am beginning to think that it is. Treat yourself to this incredible Hi Def experience and pick up a copy of this disc without delay.
Believe me, the end result will exceed your expectations, it is that good.

At last, Paramount Home Entertainment has produced the finest release in almost 40 years of Zulu -- one of the greatest historical action movies ever made, and one of the great war movies. Zulu is based on what historian Michael Glover terms "the most highly decorated battle in British history", the defence of Rorke's Drift during the Zulu War of 1879. Eleven of the defenders received Britain's highest award for military valour, the Victoria Cross. The movie is a landmark in the art of cinema for its extraordinary combination of location, cross-cultural engagement, a real story, good script and fine cast. This 1964 film never looks tired, despite my many years of rerunning it in 16mm, the Criterion laserdisc, the stop-gap Front Row Entertainment Inc. DVD, and now the excellent Paramount DVD. Anecdotally, military colleges have used Zulu to show the power of directed massed musketry, and leadership and teamwork in combat.

Zulu is the greatest achievement of the career of British (Welsh) actor Stanley Baker, who co-produced with US-born, formerly blacklisted director Cy Endfield. Nothing else in the war movie genre really measures up, including Endfield's so-called "prequel", Zulu Dawn, or other epics based on British colonial wars, such as Khartoum. It was filmed on location in the grandeur of Natal, South Africa, with descendants of the Zulu warriors who took part in the original action portraying their forebears. The prominent Zulu politician and traditional chief, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, plays the Zulu leader, his distant relative Cetewayo. Mass Zulu participation in the project guaranteed the uplifting dignity and authenticity of cross-cultural characterisations of the film. Early magnificent scenes with masses of Zulu extras show the Zulu royal kraal, with a mass wedding of warriors in progress as news arrives of the annihilation of a strong British force at Isandhlwana. These unique scenes probably never could be filmed again because of social and cultural change. The nearest conceptual comparison in the war genre that comes to mind is the cross-cultural aspect of Tora! Tora! Tora!

Stanley Baker believed so strongly in Zulu that he sank much of his own money into it. Playing a British Army engineer officer thrust by events into leading a desperate defensive action following the disaster of Isandhlwana, he heads a strong cast, including a young Michael Caine somewhat incongruously cast as an aristocratic infantry officer. There are wonderful cameo roles by Jack Hawkins as an alcoholic missionary; Nigel Green as the imperturbable Colour Sergeant Bourne, always ready with a calming order or a bayonet; James Booth as Private Hook, portrayed as a malingerer who is perhaps the least likely Victoria Cross winner; Patrick Magee as Surgeon-Major Reynolds, continuing up to his elbows in surgery even as Zulus try to break in. The narration by Richard Burton is very fine, and in character with the Welsh origin of the British soldiers. Welsh and Zulu singing on the cinematic battlefield is spine-tingling.

In the Paramount Home Entertainment Zone 2 release this film at last has received the digital restoration and DVD transfer that it deserves. DVD image and sound quality are equal to current state of the art for a classic film restoration.

The Paramount DVD includes a wonderful two-part "The Making Of Zulu" documentary. It features extraordinary insights and reminiscences by Stanley Baker's widow, Ellen Baker, actor James Booth ("Private Hook"), second unit director Robert Porter, actor Glynn Edwards ("Corporal Allen"), and actor/stuntman Joe Powell ("Sergeant Windridge"). This DVD is THE video release for which I have waited almost 40 years. No true cinema fan or war movie buff should be without this DVD.

Michael Glover's book, "Rorke's Drift" (Wordsworth Editions 1997) is recommended reading for anyone with a detailed interest in the historical background as compared to the movie drama.

Update in September 2011: The Paramount Blu-ray release of Zulu is magnificent in every respect. Colour is vibrant; detail sharper than any previous video release; sound excellent. Extra features and interviews, including extended commentary by second unit director Robert Porter, round off a Blu-ray disc that every enthusiast for this great film will want to own.

Based on a true story in British History in South Africa, this is absolutely one of the best films of all times. The late Sir Stanley Baker (whose superb performances are mostly lost to past few generations), same with the late Jack Hawkins (Ben Hur), James Booth and Nigel Green, it was the film that introduced Michael Caine to the world, showing what a natural actor he was from the start. (Caine, who originally tried out for the role of Hookie but lost to Booth, was almost fired from the film because the American backer, Joseph E. Levine, did not think Caine knew 'what to do with his hands'!! Caine was imitating Prince Albert!!). Fortunately, Baker ignored him.

Produced by Baker and Cy Enfield (of the Hollywood Blacklist fame) and written by the great historian John Prebble (Lion of the North - he also did the screenplay for Mysterious Island, another of Enfield's productions), the main focus of the film tells the story of a small pocket of British soldiers at Rorke's Drift on the edge of ZuluLand in 1879. These soldiers were left there for two purposes: some were sick with fever so were in hospital, the posting commanded by Gonville Bromhead (Caine), and the rest to build a bridge across the Buffalo River commanded by royal engineer, John Chard.

Just 10 miles down the road a force of over 4000 thousand British Solders camped on the hill of Islandlhwana were slaughtered by 10,000 Zulus. The worst defeat in British history of a modern army facing a native force. Over 4400 Zulu arrived too late for the attack, so they turned their attention to Rorke's drift and the little band of 100 men left there to defend it.

Baker and Caine (though not close in real life) worked magnificently together, giving powerhouse performances, with a great supporting cast of relative unknowns. The filming of South Africa is breathtaking, the enormity of what the soldier faced having 100 to 4400 odds, and how they held out until the main force of Chelmsford's army arrived, is an epic, but also a personal story of two men who stood resolute in the face of terror with a stiff upperlip and did what had to be done.

Moving Scoring by John Barry (Bond films, Raise the Titanic), with a foreword from Sir Richard Burton (a friend of Baker's both being Welsh).

In 1979, a prequel was filmed Zulu Dawn, nearly rising to this level, starring Burt Lancaster, Simon Ward and Nigel Davenport, that tells the story of the the massive defeat at Islandlhwana. It is a shame they are not presented as a set.

Interesting note, at the start of the film showing King Chetewayo of the Zulus at Ulundi, Chetewayo is played by the real Zulu Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who is involved in South African Politics today.