Thursday, June 03, 2010

Netflix Friday #8: ZULU

The idea that you can stream Zulu right to your TV is ... I'm frankly a little boggled. You have to understand, for years the only decent home video print of this 1964 masterpiece was the '97 laser disc. I toted around a VHS copy of that print for years. There was a DVD dump release, but the image on that was so smeary, on a 40" TV it was like watching a war flip-book illustrated by Monet.

And we had to walk uphill in the snow both ways to even see that. Kids today.

Zulu is the story of Rorke's Drift. Now, in 1879 the Zulu Nation decided they had enough of the British gits in the red serge and decided to drive them straight out of Africa and into the ocean. The British didn't take this seriously, as they were the world's greatest empire facing off against a bunch of locals with no armor and sharpened sticks. This, of course, was a horrible mistake. The Zulu tore through every British force they encountered like Russell Brand tearing through a dark room full of roofied Catholic schoolgirls. The entire goddam African nation was on the march, unstoppable ... until they hit Rorke's Drift.

Rorke's Drift, a shithole half-built outpost where 400 odd Welshmen and locals suddenly found themselves facing down about 4000 pissed off Zulu.

No escape. Holed up in a killbox with limited ammo. Ten to one odds.

This is the 1964 version of Aliens.

It's a great war movie. It's not pro-war, anti-war, anti-imperialism ... it's just about a bunch of guys in the wrong place at the wrong time using their brains and guts to beat overwhelming odds. Luckily for the 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot, the guy in charge was one Lt. John Chard, an engineer who was not so big on heroic suicidal charges and very clever when it came to building redundant fortifications on the fly.

The movie's metadata is almost as fascinating as the movie itself. It's directed by Cy Endfield, blacklisted American director and noted card magician. John Chard's played by Stanley Baker, a guy you've probably never heard of, but who at one time was so hot they offered him the role of James Bond and he turned it down. Every fan of the film knows the story: Baker sank a lot of his own money into the film. It was his mission, his crusade. Zulu was his giant star turn. His triumph.

Except.

Except ... wait through those opening credits. Keep waiting. Yep, waaaaay past all those day players and IMDB trivia questions. Wait all the way until ...

"... and introducing MICHAEL CAINE"

Fuck. Yes.

Caine shows up as a fop on a horse. Barely gets your attention, almost teases your eye away from the other actors. By the end of the movie this flick is all his. He's taken it by the shirtfront, slapped it about, and announced that a Giant Goddam Movie Star has just arrived and you were lucky to see it happen.

The only caveat is the opening sequence 12 minutes. Incomprehensibly, the first twelve minutes consist solely of Missionary Jack Hawkins and his buxom daughter Ulla Jacobsson witnessing the mass wedding of young Zulu warriors and topless Zulu dancers. The ceremony is so overwhelming and ... um, I guess primal? ... um ... look , there's no explanation for it. It ends with an Ulla freak-out, edited as if the film were suddenly a bizarre blend of National Geographic Magazine and Reefer Madness. It's all so Hawkins can discover that the Zulu are on the march and rush off to play Captain (or rather Reverend) Exposition for the soldiers at the outpost. Just trust me -- get through those first 12 or so minutes, and you're up and running.

The incomparable Zulu starring Stanley Baker and Michael Caine, streaming instantly on Netflix, is your weekend recommendation.

58 comments:

babysmoke said...

I watched it a couple of years ago on my friend's VHS. And totally agree with you...after the 1st 12mins, it finally gets interesting! And bloddy heck. My jaw dropped when a young Michael Caine rode up. Geeeee! Now you make me wanna watch it again!!

Mark Caldwell said...

Zulu is an absolute classic although sometimes quoted a little too much on this side of the Atlantic.

It saddens me that Stanley Baker has slipped into obscurity. Had he not died at 48 I suspect he would be lauded alongside many of his British peers. His performances in Hell Drivers, Zulu, The Guns of Navarone and Robbery are amongst the reasons those are films I can watch over and over again.

My favorite though has to be Hell is a City: late 50s Manchester set to a jazz beat and directed by
Val Guest. Its not perfect and it does show its age a little and a need to avoid the censors cut. You can draw a direct line from Baker's Martineau to John Thaw's Regan (The Sweeney) and onto Philip Glenister's Gene Hunt (Life on Mars).

LarryFleming said...

Well, let me get this straight. You really like Zulu?
I do too. I haven't seen it for years, so thanks for the post and the info on where to find it. Some actors learn at our expense, Michael Caine started knowing how to pull us into the role.
Thanks John

DJ said...

“Don’t you wave that bloody spear at me!”

Steve Mattsson said...

One of my all-time favorite movies is the “Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai” directed by W. D. Richter. The only other movie Richter ever directed was a time-traveling buddy film called “Late for Dinner”. It took me years to find a worn-out rental return copy of it on VHS. Now it is available as a print-on-demand DVD from Amazon.com. Twenty years ago the sentence, “Now it is available as a print-on-demand DVD from Amazon.com.” would have been incomprehensible.

Unknown said...

Turner Classic Movies broadcasts Zulu on a semi-regular basis. Great-looking and usually with some really nice commentary before and after by Robert Osborne.

Stefan Jones said...

Ahhh!

When I was a kid, my father taught a film appreciation course at his high school. He regularly brought home a 16mm projector and the week's film.

I saw dozens and dozens of films this way, including Zulu. I remember pieces of it very well, but it's due for a fresh viewing.

'Hingmu': Fifth master of the Sages of the Spiral Eye.

Darth ObiWan said...

Memories.

I haven't seen Zulu in years, but what a great film it is.

And I love your description of Michael Caine...as perfect an explanation of how his role ended up in that film as any, and yes, he pretty much stole the film from Baker.

Nabakov said...

And of course there's also Zulu's magnificent and spinechilling theme music by John Barry.

ajay said...

It's regularly on TV over here, but I'd never seen the whole thing until I got the DVD. And, yes, the opening 12 minutes is very odd.

Also, you'd never get a film making the sincere and devout Christian missionary the villain nowadays.

15 years later, Peter O'Toole made the prequel, "Zulu Dawn", about Isandhlwana, the Russell Brand/Catholic schoolgirl-type battle you refer to.

Also worth mentioning: "Men of Harlech"...

Brad said...

Dog Soldiers is the best werewolf movie since The Howling, and is a rough adaptation of Rorke's Drift. Only instead of Zulus? Werewolves. Really cool werewolves. Also the lead soldier is Kevin McKidd; if that doesn't matter to you, it should.

dodzky said...

such a wonderful movie. cool

Unknown said...

Just one thing. It wasn't 400 Welshmen. It was 139 soldiers who defended Rorke's Drift. With 35 of them hospitalized there.

(Of course, the movie also perpetuates the myth that the defenders were Welsh, while the majority were English and the regiment had the usual colonial era mix of English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish.)

Unknown said...

@angelophile note I said 400 Welshmen AND LOCALS. 139 soldiers, but most people blow off the locals who helped them build the fortifications.

Unknown said...

Probably because the construction of the fortifications was the Natals' only major contribution to the battle. It's not entirely correct to say they held off the Zulus, because they'd left before the Zulu attack, leaving the soldiers as the sole defenders.

romel said...

wow i have this vhs on my home it was a nice film.

Theliel said...

@Brad - honestly Dog Soldiers ranks as one of my top werewolf movies ever.
That and GingerSnaps, but I also fully admit that my taste in all media is a touch suspect at times.
(I love Josie and the PUssycats and D.E.B.S.)

Anonymous said...

I saw Zulu because Peter Jackson said it was his inspiration for filming the Helm's Deep scenes in LOTR.

Both are very good.

romel said...

i like Zulu... thanks for featuring it here.. God bless

Anonymous said...

FYI your io9 interview is up:

Inside the writers room: Top scifi TV writers reveal tricks of the trade

Mark

Anonymous said...

From Baby Bones

I watched ZULU for the first time in 1990. Haven't watched it since but I've always recommended it to anyone as the best war movie I'd ever seen (and that is only a slight overstatement).

I never connected it with Aliens, but you're right; they bear comparison.

One thing that stands out is the rich formalism it portrays. War movies have lots of images that are procedural, such as aircraft carrier deck launches and landings, tapping helmets with cartridges, etc., but Zulu showed how disciplined troops survived amidst chaos. The defenders didn't break rank even when the spears were inches from their faces.

Food for thought. The British seemed to be better at portraying this sort of collective action during war. It permeates Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge over the River Kwai. You can find it in the 60's Super Marionation shows, especially Stingray and Thunderbirds.

Amber said...

Invader Zim, Zulu, Buckaroo Banzai, Dog Soldiers, ... ? I've fallen into a nest of kindred spirits. I bet you all re-watch Princess Bride, too.

Sean Hansen said...

As much as I make fun of the accent I'd never want to challenge a Welshman in a battle.

They have this odd history of winning when they're not supposed to(see Battle of Britain, another Caine flick).

Give a Welshman a Martini-Henry or a flying coffin and you're pretty much fucked. That's what the new doctor Who WWII episode should be(or even WWI). The Doctor loses the keys to his Tardis and has to rely solely on a lone Welsh soldier to get back the keys from German high command.

Anonymous said...

Men of Harlech was never sung as the regiment was mostly Englishmen. Happens a lot in British molitary regents a mismash of people in various regiments. That is why Irish men are in English regiments and Scots in Weldh ones. The singing was artistic licence. Great fil
watching it now.
"Not like the soil near Bala this dry soil, nothing to hold a man in his grave."

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