Zulu (1964) - 43 mistakes

Continuity: When Corporal Allen pulls Private Hitch off the ramparts when Hitch is shooting at Zulu's in the hills with his pith helmet on backwards, Hitch gets shot in the leg, and Allen pulls him in. Allen is shot in the chest, he clutches his chest, falls inside ramparts with blood underneath his clutching hand. When you see him after camera cut he is clutching the OTHER side of his chest.

Factual error: A bit of dramatic license was taken by the scriptwriters. Though portrayed in the film as a skiving drunkard, in real life Private Hook was considered a model soldier who was a lifetime teetotaller.

Factual error: The 24th is identified as the "South Wales Borderers."  In 1879, the regiment was the 2nd Warwickshire.  It did not become a Welsh regiment until 1881.

Continuity: In the scene where Michael Caine shoots at the leopard, you can see the trainer in the clump of trees beckoning the animal on.

Factual error: Colour Sergeant Bourne was in fact rather a small man (which Nigel Green is not) and was actually, in his early 20s, the youngest colour sergeant in the British Army.

Factual error: Assistant Commissary Dalton, portrayed as a bit of an upper-class twit in the film, was in actuality a former infantry quartermaster sergeant and the most experienced soldier in the garrison. He helped to plan the defense.

Plot hole: There must have been a shortage of Martini-Henry rifles for this production, for in the climactic charge scenes in which the three ranks of British soldiers deliver volley after volley into the Zulu masses, the soldiers closest to the camera are equipped with lever action Martini-Henry's but those further back in the line can be seen pulling up and back on bolt action rifles.

Continuity: After the Zulus' final charge which follows the rendition of "Men of Harlech", they appear on the hills round Rorke's Drift to give their salute to the garrison before leaving. In one shot, filmed from behind the Zulus, both buildings, church and hospital are standing even though the hospital burned down during the battle. Seconds later in the next shot of the post from the hills, only the church is standing and a column of smoke rises from the ruins of the hospital. I believe that some scenes were filmed of the Zulu Impi crossing the Buffalo River and marching to Rorke's Drift, but were cut from the film. The first shot mentioned above could be one of these.

Other: In the scene when the Zulu warriors have broken through the roof in the hospital. The British make a hole and escape through it. You can clearly see the hole that they are going to cut open because it is a different color

Factual error: Lieutenants Chard and Bromhead were both rather elderly for their ranks (in their mid-30s) and Bromhead's career had begun to suffer due to a hearing problem. Like most members of the garrison, both had full beards.

Deliberate "mistake": This is a mistake which is a function of the limitation of the special effects at the time and what the censors would allow in the cinema but the wounds suffered by the Zulus do no justice to the horrific injuries that the Martini Henry rifle would have caused. The Martini Henry fired a big .45 inch soft nosed bullet that usually shattered on impact. It would have caused massive gaping wounds rather than the little red dots and trickles of blood shown on the Zulus and left many of them limbless as the bullets tore off arms and legs.

Continuity: Even though Lt. Bromhead shot a cheetah, the porters carry a dead leopard back to camp.

Factual error: In the actual battle the wagons were not tipped over, the space beneath was filled with mealie bags and ammunition boxes. This made the bayonet equipped rifles more effective against the much shorter assagais, since the assagai-armed Zulus could not engage without climbing onto the wagons.

Deliberate "mistake": The Zulus sniping on the defenders from the mountain are armed with Martini Henry Rifles implying they were taken from the dead at Isandlwhana. This couldn't have happened as the Zulus attacking Rorke's Drift did not fight at Isandlwhana, they were only the reserves. The looting of the camp was done by those who fought there. The Zulu snipers used old muskets.

Factual error: After the battle, the remaining Zulus left the field without making a sound, unlike the movie.

Continuity: When Bromhead is standing on the burning roof firing his pistol at the Zulus running about below, you can see there's no gun smoke or muzzle flash from the barrel. It looks as if he's just pointing it around.

Factual error: In history, the battle at Rourke's Drift was NOT ordered by Cetewayo. Cetewayo gave specific commands to his men not to attack any entrenched British positions; the Rourke's Drift assault was in fact spearheaded by one of his headstrong sons eager to prove his warrior worth to his father.

Plot hole: In the final Zulu attack, the lieutenant tells the men to fire when the Zulus get to 100 yards. He shouts "Fire" and about two seconds later the Zulus are jumping on the sandbags. It is impossible to cover 100 yards in two seconds.

Continuity: When Zulus are battering down the door leading to Hook's bunk and the soldiers inside are escaping through a hole they knocked in the wall, at some point a blazing log falls across the hole. Some shots later, it's gone.

Continuity: The porters carrying the Leopard across the river pass by Baker. The next cut shows them approaching him.