Zulu

Zulu (1964)

3 suggested corrections

(6 votes)

Factual error: Stanley Baker (in the scene where he reloads his revolver) is shown using a Webley Mark VI - not issued until 1915.

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Suggested correction: The film company and production unit tried to find revolvers of the sort that would have been used by British army officers in the 1870s. They were unable to find hand held firearms of the appropriate date, and so had to issue Stanley Baker/Lieutenant Chard and Michael Caine/Lieutenant Bromhead with First World War era handguns as the best possible substitute. Everybody was aware that this was historically inaccurate, but this was the best they could do under the circumstances.

Rob Halliday

Explaining why or how a mistake occurred does not invalidate it. This correction isn't valid.

Bishop73

Factual error: Several of the Martini-Henrys shown in the movie are later models that could not possibly have been present at Rorke's Drift. These include the Mark III, Mark IV, and several variants of the Francotte Cadet and Boer ZAR Contract Westley-Richards (neither manufactured until 1895) along with Bromhead's hunting rifle. One of the Zulus is even carrying a Martini-Enfield .303 Carbine, not manufactured until 1899.

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Suggested correction: When they were making Zulu they could only obtain a limited number of firearms that would have been available in 1877. They had to make do by supplying the actors with firearms from later dates.

Rob Halliday

Explaining why or how a mistake occurred does not invalidate it. This correction isn't valid.

Bishop73

Continuity mistake: During one of the attacks, the Zulus are charging en masse towards the ramparts manned by British riflemen. When Bromhead yells "Fire!" the soldiers open fire with their rifles....and some Zulus at the REAR of the charge fall dead whilst those in the front continue charging, uninjured.

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Suggested correction: Soldiers miss more than they hit enemy soldiers...they could simply have missed warriors in the front and the bullets hit others further back in the formation.

Steve Kozak

Continuity mistake: 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.

More mistakes in Zulu

Lieutenant John Chard: The army doesn't like more than one disaster in a day.
Bromhead: Looks bad in the newspapers and upsets civilians at their breakfast.

More quotes from Zulu

Trivia: In the scene at the start of the film where Lt. Bromhead is riding his horse along and across the stream, it is not Michael Caine on the horse, as at that stage in his career he could not ride, he told the director he could as to get the part. Caine did try to ride it but he could not do it, so one of the filming crew took his place as a riding double. That's why the camera pans down onto the horse as it crosses the stream.

More trivia for Zulu

Question: I first saw the movie in a cinema when it was first released. I'm quite sure I saw a scene which was later edited out, perhaps to accommodate the ratio of television screens. Before the attack various soldiers stop to listen to a strange sound echoing over the hills - "like a train" someone says. After we hear the sound twice my memory is that the movie cut to a panoramic view of thousands of Zulu warriors running across the veld, banging their shields with their spears, on their way to Rorke's Drift. This is what was causing the "train" sound, a phenomenon that is not explained subsequently anywhere in the edited version of the film. The dramatic effect of the shot, panning across what looks like thousands of armed Zulus, was riveting and served to emphasise the impossible odds faced by the British. Am I the only one who recalls this scene?

Answer: Absolutely correct. This exact scene is in my DVD of Zulu. They may have changes when the TV version aired, but this definitely in the original.

stiiggy

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