Reviews (193)

The Ultimate Struggle for Survival Under Siege
The story begins with the Zulu army fresh from their stunning massacre of 1300 British soldiers at Isandhlwana. This force of over 5000 seasoned warriors then turns their attention to a small outpost called Rorke's drift. Only one hundred men, many sick and some malingerers man this camp in the middle of South African wilderness. Two lieutenants, one, engineer, and one the son of an English aristocrat are in command. These young officers are not battle tested but must quickly prepare for the fight of their lives. Fortunately, they are supported by efforts of the quintessential sergeant major that hardly breaks a sweat as he fights the fierce adversaries while maintaining proper British manners and discipline. By the use of military tactics and shear resolve, the two officers galvanize their small force against nearly insurmountable odds. This film is full of breathtaking sequences, exciting heroics and slackers becoming heroes. A scene where the Zulus attack the hospital is particularly brimming with action. Zulu also has its fair share of honor and humanity. Stanley Baker and Michael Caine turn in fine performances as the commanders of Rorke's Drift. Cy Endfield directs one of the most exciting movies ever made about the tenacity of the British soldier.

Outstanding re-telling of the 1879 battle at Rorke's Drift
In January, 1879, a column of British soldiers comprised primarily of the 24th Regiment of Foot, South Wales Borderers, was wiped out at the base of the mountain, Isandhlwana, in Natal, South Africa. A large contingent of 4,000 Zulu warriors then moved on to the undermanned expedition base at Rorke's Drift. This movie tells the incredible true story of the subsequent battle, and of the victory of the 90 some British soldiers, many of them sick, who held their post in the face of overwhelming odds. See Donald Morris' definitive book, _The Washing of the Spears_, against which this film account compares most favorably.

This neglected classic was filmed at a time when it was still just possible to associate the word "glory" with military victory-- without a sneer. The makers of the film avoid preaching and just let the battle tell the tale of the men of both sides. The British soldiers are not the "good guys" nor are the Zulus "bad guys," and the lone derogatory comment about the fighting ability of the Zulus is instantly rebuffed by a tough Boer cavalryman who says, "And just who do you think is coming to wipe out your little garrison, the Grenadier Guards?" This is a soldier's story about a soldier's fight.

Did the Welsh really sing "Men of Harlach" as they manned their mealie-bag barricades?

Did the Zulus really render a warrior's salute as they broke off the action on the second day of the battle?

It doesn't matter. The film is accurate in the historical basics that really count.

Beautifully filmed on location, with an outstanding, stirring score by John Barry, this film features solid but appropriately understated performances by Stanley Baker, Michael Caine, and Jack Hawkins.

I hesitate to mention the hideous, politically correct pre-quel, _Zulu Dawn_ which was released almost 25 years after _Zulu_, but any viewer who has the unhappy experience of seeing _Zulu Dawn_ should not be put off from seeing _Zulu_, which shines in comparison.

Whether one is interested in military history or a "movie for men who like movies," _Zulu_ is a worthy addition to a film library. From first to last, it is a compelling, superior film.

So where's Zulu Dawn?
Trying to find this movie and it's only available in Region 2. What gives?

Is it coming to the US soon?

Basically an Anti-War Movie
Zulu is basically more of an antiwar movie than an action adventure flick. War is not glamorized in Zulu and it is shown in all its horrific repulsiveness. Nor for that matter are there any heroes in Zulu for nobody acts heroically. The officers and soldiers know that its likely that they will die defending their isolated frontier outpost against the Zulu hordes and they are bitterly resentful of that fact.

This makes Zulu an original and different movie. However, the quality of the acting is generally low, although Michael Caine delivers a splendid performance. The script, direction and special effects are also deficient. Zulu was made on a low budget and it shows.

Zulu is an example of how a great idea does not necessarlily result in a great movie.

Girls can love this movie too!
I have always enjoyed this movie since I was a little girl. At 27 I love it even more. The gentleman behavior of the English, the breathtaking battle sequences and the fantastic score are spectacular. I have my favorite characters that just send shivers up my back and tears to my eyes at times for their heroism. If you don't take my word for how great this movie is you can refer to Lord of the Rings Two Towers extras. Peter Jackson was inspired by a few of the scenes from Zulu for the beginning of the battle at Helm's Deep. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Excellent family film, both entertaining and substantial.
Those who have become accustomed to the virtually limitless possibilities of computer-generated special effects should learn to appreciate the "old ways," the by-now-primitive techniques that delivered the goods while working within the limits of the technology of the time. When you consider that Mysterious Island was produced in 1961, you have to marvel at the way the oversized creatures were brought to life in this film, thanks to the magical touch of Ray Harryhausen, the acknowledged master of stop-motion animation. But more than the special effects, this production is well-acted, beautifully filmed, perfectly scored, and intelligently written. Plus, it's an excellent way to introduce the kids to Jules Verne. I eagerly await the DVD release of this movie.

Thrilling sequel to "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".
Producer Charles Schneer produced this sequel to Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" with art direction and special effects under the capable hands of Ray Harryhausen, whose stop-motion creatures are the highlights of the movie. A giant crab, an equally large prehistoric bird and a mammoth bee are but a few creatures that show up in this version, which is faithful to the Verne source material in major plot elements but differs in many details such as the addition of the giant creatures and the incorporation of a love interest.

Composer Bernard Hermann contributed an effective soundtrack that highlights the dangers that the castaways face, but the movie is almost "wall to wall" music, with the brassy main theme repeated again and again. Hermann is arguably the best, most influential soundtrack composer in motion picture history but here his music seems to be repeated and overused to the detriment of the movie.

The film opens during the the Civil War with a very well rendered escape sequence from a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp in Richmond, Virginia. The direction, music and Harryhausen's great effects work all come togther here to produce a truely thrilling escape sequence that opens the film and ultimately places the characters on the deserted, doomed Pacific island. The bulk of the movie takes place here as we see how the castaways survive on the desert isle and learn the ultimate fate of Captain Nemo and his famous submarine, the Nautilus.

This movie is a bit more character driven than most Schneer/Harryhausen efforts, with some emphasis placed on the internal conflicts of the castaways, but ultimately the Ray Harryhausen creatures and special effects steal the show.

Good retro fun
Somehow, everything about this movie screams "Saturday afternoon". It has an improbable plot, effects from a simpler era, and the good winning out over the morally ambiguous.

The only fair way to judge this movie is in its own context, now more than 40 years old. At the time, Harryhausen's stop-action creatures were the height of special effects. The giant crab, bee, and other creatures could not have been done any other way. Rays from "electric gun" may have been scratched directly onto the film. Again, it looks unsophisticated to today's eye, but matches the rest of the movie very well.

For its time, though, this movie has a few fairly modern features. The one black actor had about as much of a role as the others, even though Jim Crow was still alive and kicking. There was a skimpy-skirted female lead with a habitual need for being saved. The other woman, however, was one of the more competent members of the group. She was used to a life of ease, but quickly showed her competence at handling support functions for the team, and under primitive conditions. Maybe she did "women's work", but she did jobs that needed doing and she got past her aristo background to do them. About the only complaint we ever heard was that her gun jammed at a crucial moment.

There's no high moral or deep art here. There is good fun. It's a little dated, but that is just part of its charm.

great family entertainment
My kids love this movie and my wife and I like it, too. It's not a great movie, both because it has a rather creaky Jules Verne plot, and like most Harryhausen movies it sometimes becomes too enchanted by the "movie magic" to pay enough attention to the actors, but these are not things that your kids will mind, and you probably won't be bothered by them, either. What the movie does have is the same thing that is one of the strengths of Verne's books, which is its "larger than life" feel. I was always transported by his books into a world of high adventure, and this movie does that for my kids (and it takes me back there, too).

The performances in this movie are all solid (and Herbert Lom is very good as Nemo), and the special effects are interesting and entertaining. And it might interest your kids in the book, which is even better.

A CLASSIC ALL TIME MASTERPIECE, ON DVD!
Yes in deed, the great classic as I watched as a kid. A group of people who find themselves stranded on an uncharted deserted island. Wigh gigantic animals, engaging story line. And yes this is out on DVD as I have just purchased it. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Try to get it
I was searching for this flick for a long time and finally got my hands on it. Let me just say, it was worth the effort. This noir gem stands along side Fritz Lang's "Fury" as the best presentation of mob violence on film. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but all the crucial elements of prime noir are present: exceptional lighting, imaginative framing, taunt acting and an ending that doesn't compromise. Also of note is Lloyd Bridges. He gives an outstanding performance as a slick hood with big ideas. I just wish they kept the film's original title, "The Sound of Fury." "Try and Get Me!" sounds too much like a romantic comedy. Still, this movie rocks.

Fearless political noir.
'The Sound of Fury' (a.k.a. 'Try and Get Me') surpasses those three classics of lynch-mob terror - Lang's 'Fury', Wellman's 'The Ox-Bow Incident' and Corman's 'The Intruder' - in its savage melodramatic power; its determination to galvanise its audience; its political integrity (the journalist who influences the mob is a civilised bourgeois cosy with the corrupt elite; with the anti-hero an ex-army prole in a near-Depression small-town, with an immigrant wife), its visual sense of America, its forgotten, anonymous small towns, its bowling alleys, petrol stations, caravan camps. There is one extraordinary sequence, the equal of the bank robbery in 'Gun Crazy' (no higher praise, etc.): we watch a petrol station hold-up through the window behind the getaway driver, the camera held on Frank Lovejoy's nervy, sweaty face, the second drama playing out in miniature. The seamless move from relentless film noir to complex, undogmatic social tract is invigorating.

Wrenching
Despite a catch-penny tile, "Try and Get Me" remains a truly frightening movie whose disturbing imagery lingers long after the voice-over reassurances subside. The director, Cy Endfield, was one of the lower profile victims of the Mc Carthy purges. Viewing this movie , it's easy to see why. Family man and returning vet Howard Tyler (played by the always low key Frank Lovejoy) is recruited into a life of crime by no more than ordinary desires for the American Dream. Desperate and enemployed, he falls into the clutches of a swaggering stickup man superbly played by a preening Lloyd Bridges. (Notice how subtly Bridges bends Tyler to his will on their first meeting at the bowling alley.) Joining Bridges, Tyler finally gets the standing he desires, but the spiral he has entered dooms him and his family's share of America's promise. (Note that conspicuous among the lynch mob's vanguard are fraternity boys, true to the actual event on which the movie is based.)

Throughout, the lighting and photography effectively undermine the facile voice of reason which the producers probably felt obligated to include. Endfield may have wanted an anti-violence film, but the resulting visual landscape implies a world of endemic violence. A sense of powerlessness pervades the film, one that mere admonishments cannot overcome. As a result, the characters appear caught in some terrible metaphysical web from which there is no escape.Something should be noted in passing about the compellingly exotic performance of Katherine Locke as Hazel the manicurist. Watch her facial expressions as this highly repressed plain-faced woman experiences yet one more rejection in what a paste-on smile shows to be a lifetime of rejections. Never has a blossom perched so precariously on a cheap hairdo, conveyed as much lower-class longing as hers, while the car ride with a guilt-ridden Tyler could serve as tawdry inspiration for a dozen feminist tracts. What ever became of this talented actress, I wonder.

That Endfield exiled himself to England and a conventional career with Stanley Baker, shows how much was lost among those purge victims whose disappearance, unlike many others, went generally unnoticed. Just a couple of years after the remarkable "Try and Get Me", and Endfield's also provocative "Underworld Story", Hollywood began sanitizing the screen with period spectacles, technicolor, and full-cleavage sex goddesses. Indeed times had changed - as Endfield already knew, the studios had to fight the Cold War too. There would be no more Try and Get Me's.

Try and Get Me
This film includes some classic noir story lines. The protagonist (Frank Lovejoy) is drawn into a world of petty crime when his search for a blue collar job results in despair,confusion, and rejection. Lovejoy's conscious becomes embroiled in turmoil when the values and convictions of an honest man fall short of providing security for his wife and son. Lovejoy meets a two bit hood in a bowling alley who convinces him that the workingmans' plight is a life filled with nothingness and unfulfilled dreams. They embark on a series of gas station robberies and enjoy the excitement of quick cold cash. Unbeknownest to his wife who thinks that he is working the late shift at a factory, the family settles into a temporary state of middle class bliss. But this is short lived, an eventual murder charge is brought aginst Lovejoy. The film then moves at a rapid pace, where prosecutors, newsmen, women, and victims are woven into Lovejoy's frozen conscious. Lloyd Bridges gives an indelible performance as the maniacal street hood who justifies crime as a means to achieve a higher class in an unforgiven society. The acting, camera work, lighting, and, editing is superb as the two are held and trapped in a town jail where ironically an angry mob seeks entrance and ultimate revenge. This film is a must see for noir enthusiasts. Critics argue that Richard Widmark's performance in Kiss of Death transformed the criminal figure into a warped and brutal character whose proclivity for violence was unrestrained. Lloyd Bridges's performance in Try and Get Me reaffirms this image, albeit, more convincingly. ... Read more