History Film / Zulu

* DatedHistory: The film depicts a key reason for the British defeat at Isandlwana that the soldiers ran out of ammunition because [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Quartermaster Bloomfield]] dispenses reserve bullets to soldiers in an absurdly slow, "orderly" fashion. This was widely believed when the film went into production, featuring in Donald Morris's popular book ''The Washing of the Spears'' among other accounts of the Zulu War. It appears this story is exaggerated, if not a myth; while Durnford's Native troops did ran out of ammunition, it was mostly because they had been deployed too far from the camp to ensure a steady supply of ammo, not Bloomfield's poor handling of supply.[[note]]A related myth is that Bloomfield and his aides weren't able to open the ammo boxes because the commissary had misplaced their screwdrivers; even if this had been the case, the boxes were easily broken open with rifle butts or other tools.[[/note]] Most British units closer to the main camp were able to keep up a steady stream of fire until they were overrun, as attested by both British and Zulu accounts of the battle.

* ComedicReliefCharacters: At first, Commissary Dalton and the company cook fit the image of traditional comic stock characters from British adventure stories. Then the trope gets very [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] early on when Dalton is taken out by a gunshot and then the cook gets brutally speared in the back, emphasizing the latter's agonizing death. Dalton is not shown playing any further part in the rest of the film, though the ending shows he survived.

* ComedicReliefCharacters: At first, Commissary Dalton and the company cook fit the image of traditional comic stock characters from British adventure stories. Then the trope gets very [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] early on when Dalton is taken out by a gunshot and then the cook brutally speared in the back, emphasizing the latter's agonizing death. Dalton is not shown playing any further part in the rest of the battle though the ending shows he survived, and it's stated in the closing that the real Dalton also received the Victoria Cross.

* DirtyCoward:
** Private Henry Hook is portrayed as this until he has a change of heart and becomes a hero, saving the lives of at least a dozen patients in the hospital.

* ComedicReliefCharacters: At first, Commissary Dalton and the company cook fit the image of traditional comic stock characters from British adventure stories. Then the trope gets very [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] early on when Dalton is hit by a gunshot and then the cook brutally speared in the back, emphasizing the latter's agonizing death, and then Dalton remains out of action for the remainder of the film.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: While our sympathies are with the protagonists who are obviously trying to avoid being slaughtered, at the same time the film deliberately avoids vilifying the Zulu forces; they're fighting back against the Boers and the British Empire trying to take their land, and the foot soldiers are following their leaders' orders just as much as the British.

** The Zulus are pragmatic enough to take rifles and ammunition off of the British dead at Isandlwana, and take them to Rorke's Drift. What started out as a battle of guns against spears turns into a fight of guns against ''other guns''. After the initial surprise (because the defenders weren't expecting the Zulus to have looted rifles, reality sets in and it isn't as decisive -- just because the Zulus know how to fire and reload rifles doesn't ''instantly'' make them expert marksmen, which takes prolonged training. One of the British officers notes that the Zulus thankfully aren't great shots (they've never had any experience firing rifles before [[note]] historians of the Zulu War have noted that without training, the Zulus did not understand how to align or calibrate the rifle sights, did not realise what they were for, and simply pointed at the target and fired; most bullets therefore went hopelessly wide[[/note]]). They also realize that the Zulu commander isn't going to have his few men with rifles fire at the ''same time'' that his main force charges in with spears, for fear of hitting his own men.

* SoldierVsWarrior: The British are shown firing controlled volleys where the Zulus advance in an individualistic way. A bit of a subversion though as a Boer tells the British in no uncertain terms that the Zulus are not a mere warband, but are themselves a regimented and disciplined force who fight with a well developed and effective tactical doctrine. Also why the Zulus are show being less organized in marching ranks, in battle they are more than capable of coordinated attack as shown when a British soldier in melee with a Zulu is killed in a backstab from behind by his nearby friend.

* SergeantRock: Colour Sergeant Bourne provides the quote at the top of this trope's page; while usually stern with the men, he knows when to show a softer side (like comforting Private Cole when the latter is unnerved by Witt's drunken ranting, and later ensuring that Private Hitch seeks medical attention during the post-battle roll call), helps to ease the tension by [[RealMenLoveJesus quoting Psalm 46]] just before the Zulus attack, and is more than a match for any Zulu when it comes to close-quarter fighting [[note]] in RealLife, he was actually 23 years old at the time of Rorke's Drift and was the youngest Colour Sergeant in the British Army; he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (for non-officers, the second-highest decoration after the VC) and was offered a commission but declined, although he was later commissioned, and ended his long military career as a Lieutenant-Colonel [[/note]]. Corporal Allen, although not a sergeant, also qualifies [[note]] he had actually ''been'' a sergeant but was demoted for being drunk on duty some time before Rorke's Drift; he was later promoted back to that rank [[/note]].

* SergeantRock: Colour-Sergeant Bourne provides the quote at the top of this trope's page; while usually stern with the men, he knows when to show a softer side (like comforting Private Cole when the latter is unnerved by Witt's drunken ranting, and later ensuring that Private Hitch seeks medical attention during the post-battle roll call), helps to ease the tension by [[RealMenLoveJesus quoting Psalm 46]] just before the Zulus attack, and is more than a match for any Zulu when it comes to close-quarter fighting [[note]] in RealLife, he was actually 23 years old at the time of Rorke's Drift and was the youngest Colour-Sergeant in the British Army; he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (for non-officers, the second-highest decoration after the VC) and was offered a commission but declined, although was later commissioned, and ended his long military career as a Lieutenant-Colonel [[/note]]. Corporal Allen, although not a sergeant, also qualifies [[note]] he had actually ''been'' a sergeant but was demoted for being drunk on duty some time before Rorke's Drift; he was later promoted back to that rank [[/note]].

* SergeantRock: Colour-Sergeant Bourne is the trope image. Corporal Allen, although not a sergeant, also qualifies.

** John Chard was actually senior to Gonville Bromhead by several years, as opposed to the several weeks mentioned in the film when the two discuss the dates of their commissions. In fact, the senior officer at Rorke's Drift had been a Major Spalding (Lord Chelmsford's quartermaster-general) but he had departed the day before to ascertain the whereabouts of reinforcements, leaving Chard as the senior officer.

** Otto Wit wasn't a pacifist (he helped the British soldiers plan their defence) or a drunk, and he only left so as to alert his family at his farm a little while away (he also wasn't a widower or had an adult daughter; he had three children at the time, the oldest of whom was seven years old).
** Averted in the case of Lt. Bromhead, who is often described as being partially deaf. According to one of the most detailed and comprehensive books on Rorke's Drift, this seems to have been a misinterpretation of primary accounts that Bromhead was withdrawn and quiet after the battle towards officers attached to reinforcements. These are symptoms that could just as easily be the result of PTSD (which didn't have a name in the 1870s) than deafness.

** The Zulus are pragmatic enough to take rifles and ammunition off of the British dead at Isandlwana, and take them to Rorke's Drift. What started out as a battle of guns against spears turns into a fight of guns against ''other guns''. After the initial surprise (because the defenders weren't expecting the Zulus to have looted rifles), reality sets in and it isn't as decisive: just because the Zulus know how to fire and reload rifles doesn't ''instantly'' make them expert marksmen, that takes prolonged training. One of the British officers notes that the Zulus thankfully aren't great shots (they've never had any experience firing rifles before [[note]] historians of the Zulu War have noted that without training, the Zulus did not understand how to align or calibrate the rifle sights, did not realise what they were for, and simply pointed at the target and fired; most bullets therefore went hopelessly wide[[/note]]). They also realize that the Zulu commander isn't going to have his few men with rifles fire at the ''same time'' that his main force charges in with spears, for fear of hitting his own men.

** In a much less dramatic example, when the British are preparing to meet the Zulu for the first time, Bromhead orders them to fix bayonets, which they do in precise, formation style...and one of the men drops his.

* ICanStillFight: Several characters, notably Schiess, display this more than once.

Based on true events, the film is the story of a LastStand that the defenders managed to win. The Battle of Rorke's Drift was the result of the Battle of Isandlwana, at which the British expeditionary force of 2000 sent to crush the Zulus had been destroyed through a combination of skilled Zulu leadership of fearless legions of warriors [[GeneralFailure and the incompetence of British commanders.]] 139 British soldiers in a farmstead, assigned there to protect colonials and wounded (about one third of the 139) held out against 4-5,000 Zulus for 12 hours. The battle is held to this day as one of the very best defences in all history. Eleven of the soldiers got the VC, the highest number of this medal ever awarded for a single action.

* CombatMedic: Surgeon Reynolds, who never fights but neither does he so much as flinch at the sight of hordes of angry Zulu warriors flooding into his makeshift hospital.

* DecoyProtagonist: The film starts off with Otto Wick and his daughter Margareta watching a mass Zulu marriage ceremony. You'd be forgiven for thinking they'll be more involved in the plot of the film, but the attention soon switches to the soldiers at Rourke's Drift.

%%* ICanStillFight: Time and time again.

%%* LastStand: Averted; they actually do win.

%%* TheMedic: Reynolds.

* PlanetOfSteves: Discussed by some of the soldiers. The Welsh have a rather limited range of names, so soldiers with similar names [[YouAreNumberSix go by their serial numbers]] to avoid confusion.

* SoldierVsWarrior: The British are shown firing controlled volleys where the Zulus advance in an individualistic way. A bit of a subversion though as a Boer tells the British in no uncertain terms that the Zulus are not a mere warband, but are themselves a regimented and disciplined force who fight with a well developed and effective tactical doctrine. Also why the Zulus are show being less organized in marching ranks, in battle they are more than capable of coordinated attack as shown when a British soldier in melee with a zulu is killed in a backstab from behind by his nearby friend.

** The Zulus are pragmatic enough to take rifles and ammunition off of the British dead at Isandlwana, and take them to Rorke's Drift. What started out as a battle of guns against spears turns into a fight of guns against ''other guns''. After the initial surprise (because the defenders weren't expecting the Zulus to have looted rifles), reality sets in and it isn't as decisive: just because the Zulus know how to fire and reload rifles doesn't ''instantly'' make them expert marksmen, that takes prolonged training. One of the British officers notes that the Zulus thankfully aren't great shots (they've never had any experience firing rifles before. A historian of the war notes that without training, the Zulus did not understand how to align or calibrate the rifle sights, did not realise what they were for, and simply pointed at the target and fired - most bullets therefore went hopelessly wide). They also realize that the Zulu commander isn't going to have his few men with rifles fire at the ''same time'' that his main force charges in with spears, for fear of hitting his own men.

'''Bourne:''' [''with surprising gentleness''] Keep your voices down.
* ThemeMusicPowerUp: Men of Harlech. Seconds earlier, the British garrison is getting visibly demoralised by the Zulu war chant. Then they start singing, and it's like a psychological warfare NoSell.

** The Zulus appear to be massing again to wipe out the British, but it turns out they're saluting the British for their bravery before departing for good. This is [[ArtisticLicenseHistory a small fabrication]]: in real life the Zulus left because they weren't supposed to be there in the first place - Prince Dabulamanzi, the Zulu commander of the force, was King Cetshwayo's half-brother, and noted for his rashness and aggressive command behaviour. In fact, the attack at Rorke's Drift was a direct violation of orders from the king, specifically that the Zulu forces were to act ''only'' in defence of Zululand, and under no circumstances to invade British-held territory. In reality, the Zulus had just disappeared by the dawn after the final attack, and only one more Zulu impi was briefly sighted by the men, retreating about an hour ahead of the British reinforcements.

* YouAreNumberSix: The Privates Jones refer to each other by the serial numbers of 593 and 716. We also meet 612 Williams. In Welsh regiments where an awful lot of people might be called Williams or Owen or Jones (Wales doesn't have that many surnames), this was, and remains, standard practice. Although the Toms themselves prefer to use distinguishing nicknames where possible. Invention tends to fade after about the thirtieth Williams...

* MohsScaleOfViolenceHardness: It's rated a 4, because blood is not an infrequent sight during the battle scenes. That being said, it might've been rated higher if the violence in it looked more realistic.

Based on true events, the film is the story of a LastStand that the defenders managed to win. The Battle of Rorke's Drift was the result of the Battle of Isandlwana, at which the British expeditionary force of 2000 sent to crush the Zulus had been destroyed through a combination of skilled Zulu leadership of fearless legions of warriors [[GeneralFailure and the incompetence of British commanders.]] 139 British soldiers in a farmstead, assigned there to protect colonials and wounded (about one third of the 139) held out against 4-5,000 Zulus for 12 hours. The battle is held to this day as one of the very best defenses in all history. Eleven of the soldiers got the VC, the highest number of this medal ever awarded for a single action.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory:

** Otto Wit wasn't a pacifist (he helped the British soldiers plan their defense) or a drunk, and he only left so as to alert his family at his farm a little while away (he also wasn't a widower or had an adult daughter; he had three children at the time, the oldest of whom was seven years old).

** While the dueling war chants/songs makes for good film, it would be wholly inaccurate. Both the British and the Zulus took army discipline quite seriously during battle.

** The Zulus appear to be massing again to wipe out the British, but it turns out they're saluting the British for their bravery before departing for good. This is [[ArtisticLicenseHistory a small fabrication]]: in real life the Zulus left because they weren't supposed to be there in the first place - Prince Dabulamanzi, the Zulu commander of the force, was King Cetshwayo's half-brother, and noted for his rashness and aggressive command behavior. In fact, the attack at Rorke's Drift was a direct violation of orders from the king, specifically that the Zulu forces were to act ''only'' in defense of Zululand, and under no circumstances to invade British-held territory. In reality, the Zulus had just disappeared by the dawn after the final attack, and only one more Zulu impi was briefly sighted by the men, retreating about an hour ahead of the British reinforcements.

* ZergRush: Again and again, the Zulus' chief tactic, though more by necessity than ignorance. Early in the film, Chard, Bromhead and Ardendorff discuss the Zulus' envelopment tactics, and decide that fortifying themselves within the mission negates the enemy's advantage. When the Zulu's attempt to draw the British out from the defenses fails, Cesthawayo brings his riflemen into action, which has limited effect. Only then do the attackers resort to frontal assaults.

* NotSoDifferent: The "Men of Harlech" scene emphasizing the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy mutual warlikeness]] of the British and the Zulus.

* RealityEnsues:
** The Zulus are pragmatic enough to take rifles and ammunition off of the British dead at Isandlwana, and take them to Rorke's Drift. What started out as a battle of guns against spears turns into a fight of guns against ''other guns''. After the initial surprise (because the defenders weren't expecting the Zulus to have looted rifles), reality sets in and it isn't as decisive: just because the Zulus know how to fire and reload rifles doesn't ''instantly'' make them expert marksmen, that takes prolonged training. One of the British officers notes that the Zulus thankfully aren't great shots (they've never had any experience firing rifles before. A historian of the war notes that without training, the Zulus did not understand how to align or calibrate the rifle sights, did not realise what they were for, and simply pointed at the target and fired - most bullets therefore went hopelessly wide). They also realize that the Zulu commander isn't going to have his few men with rifles fire at the ''same time'' that his main force charges in with spears, for fear of hitting his own men.
*** Even so, more than a few times the Zulu riflemen get lucky with their shooting and several British soldiers find this out the hard way.
** In a much less dramatic example, when the British are preparing to meet the Zulu for the first time, Bromhead orders them to fix bayonets, which they do in precise, formation style...and one of the men drops his.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_5134.jpeg]]

* AntagonistTitle

* ICanStillFight: Time and time again.

* LastStand: Averted; they actually do win.

* TheMedic: Reynolds.

* TheSpartanWay: The Zulus.