Zulu Dawn – Severin Films UK Standard Edition (UHD/Blu-ray) Review
Funny thing, prequels. I remember being properly baffled as a kid as my dad played these films on VHS’s recorded off the telly with my brother’s hand drawn Zulu shield and spear on the spine sticker “DO NOT ERASE!!!!”. But wait, Zulu Dawn came out AFTER Zulu, even though it’s set before it?! whaaat?! Took me ages to work out that wasn’t some clever mind-bending structure, it was just Hollywood logic, wait till the earlier film’s a hit, then go back and tell everyone how it all started going wrong. Anyway. I’ll be honest, Zulu Dawn has always felt like the forgotten cousin of Zulu. Everyone’s seen Michael Caine holding the line at Rorke’s Drift, or know the quote. Not nearly as many have seen the bit before it, where things actually went catastrophically wrong. Severin’s new UK release is finally giving this sprawling 1979 epic the transfer and extras package it should’ve had years ago.
Directed by Douglas Hickox and written by Cy Endfield, the man behind the original Zulu, and someone I know more for his offerings to the magic community. Zulu Dawn takes us back to January 1879, a few days before the events of Zulu. The British colony of Natal issues an ultimatum to the Zulu Nation, it gets rejected, and the Empire marches off to war like it’s a foregone conclusion. It isn’t. What follows is the Battle of Isandlwana, where around 1,500 British soldiers, rifles and all, get absolutely overwhelmed by roughly 25,000 Zulu warriors. It’s still one of the most catastrophic defeats in British military history, and the film doesn’t shy away from showing you why.
The cast list is genuinely ridiculous. Burt Lancaster and Peter O’Toole lead as Colonel Durnford and the haughty, overconfident Lord Chelmsford, and behind them you’ve got Denholm Elliott, Simon Ward, Nigel Davenport, John Mills, Bob Hoskins, even a young Phil Daniels. O’Toole gets the meatiest role of the lot, playing Chelmsford’s arrogance with just enough restraint that when the scale of the disaster finally hits him, it actually lands.
It’s the kind of cast list you just don’t get anymore, and I mean that in the “nobody could afford this now” sense as much as the “nobody’s left” sense. Half these names turn up again a decade later in some ITV Sunday night drama, playing exactly the same stiff-upper-lip type. There’s something almost comforting about it, like seeing the same faces in the background of every British film from this era, you half expect Denholm Elliott to wander into whatever you’re watching next. Where it stumbles, and this criticism’s followed the film for decades, is that with a cast that big, hardly anyone gets room to breathe. The script hops between so many characters and vantage points that most of them stay paper-thin, and the opening hour in particular feels more like a very expensive garden party parade than a story building to anything. Which is a shame, because when Hickox does slow down, the character work that’s there is good. It’s just spread far too thin.
Nobody’s ever argued with the scale though. The battle sequences are something else entirely, a small army’s worth of extras, real stunt work, the kind of physical production that nobody bothers attempting anymore now CGI can fake it cheaper. Elmer Bernstein’s score gives the whole thing a mournful grandeur too, especially once things at Isandlwana start falling apart.
I say nobody’s ever argued with the scale, but you do wonder what a pitch meeting for this would look like today. “So we need about twenty-five thousand extras and we’re not using any CGI.” Someone in that room would have a breakdown. It’s genuinely one of those “they don’t make them like this anymore” situations that actually deserves the cliché.
Zulu Dawn never found the audience it deserved on release, not helped by a botched North American distribution that meant loads of people never even got to see it in cinemas. It’s never matched the original’s reputation either, it lacks that tighter focus and dramatic clarity Zulu had. But taken on its own terms, as a huge, handsomely mounted account of one of the Army’s darkest days, it’s well worth your time, and this is easily the best the film has ever looked.
Severin have absolutely loaded this one. With a new 4K scan of the theatrical cut, taken from the interpositive – across both the UHD and Blu-ray
There’s a commentary from Anglo-Zulu War historian Ian Knight and film historian Simon Lewis on both discs, and it’s genuinely worth your time if you care about the history.
Disc 1 (4K UHD)
Original Theatrical Version (118 mins): Audio commentary with Anglo-Zulu War historian Ian Knight and film historian Simon Lewis; Theatrical Trailer
Disc 2 (Blu-ray)
Original Theatrical Version (118 mins): Audio commentary with Ian Knight and Simon Lewis
War Cry of the Zulu – The Making of Zulu Dawn (1hr 32m feature-length documentary) narrated by Dai Bradley, featuring producer Nate Kohn and co-producer/actor James Faulkner
Trailblazer: The Simon Sabela Story 32min look at the South African actor and director who co-starred in the film
The Saga of Bob’s Last Stands (Bob Hoskins’ death scene) 3mins of outtakes of bob and Dai Bradleys death scenes being reshot. Becomes clear Hoskins was perhaps a bit of a Diva
The Scene That Never Was (the eclipse at Isandlwana) Cedric Sundstrom discusses the scene (how in the actual battle there was an eclipse) and a fan edit that added it, fascinating.
Theatrical Trailer – I won’t make my usualy joke about this being an overly flamboyant caravan.
Disc 3 (Blu-ray)
US Theatrical Version (98 mins) A nice addition for completists
The Symbol of Sacrifice (1918) -1997 reconstruction 48 minute newly created film
Saviour of the Symbol of Sacrifice – 10 minute interview with the 1918 film’s restoration producer Mayer Levy discussing how the films original nitrate film was destroyed so he made it using outtakes. Another historically fascinating addition.
The History of the Zulu Wars featurette with author Ian Knight; 25m featurette with pretty awful sound, you’ll be cranking the sound up for this one, and unfotunately the rest of the extras from here on in seem to have similar quality issues.
Recreating the War – interview with historical advisor Midge Carter; 20 min – again really low sound, shame as, as with all of these extras, it’s really interesting what he has to say.
A Visit to the Battlefield – Ian Knight at Isandlwana; Outtakes 16 mins – poor sound again but if you’re into wind noise you’ll love this one!
For a film that’s spent years in Zulu’s shadow, this is a proper act of restoration, both in picture quality and the sheer historical context Severin have crammed into it. If you’ve got any interest in the period, or you’ve just never got round to the film Zulu’s own writer made to go alongside it, this is the one to get.
