Zulu Movie Review

Faced with 4,000 Zulu soldiers, 139 British troops managed to fend off the natives, holed up in a small thatched-roof hut with a little fence. It helps that they were armed to the teeth while most of the Zulu just had spears and shields -- and that the Zulus didn't even do much with those spears, preferring instead to run up to the fence, wave their weapons, yell, then retreat. Whether you find this racist and jingoistic or a dead-on accurate portrayal of a real battle that occurred in 1879 (in many ways, the British version of the Alamo) probably depends on your heritage and your opinion of British imperialism. As for the movie, though, there's an awful lot of lounging around in the hut and a lot of buildup to the battle itself, which doesn't get underway for more than half the film.