Naval History Forums

And of course the pre-quel - ''Zulu Dawn'' which explains why the conflict happened in the first place.

What these two films don't disclose is what happened in that war post Rorkes Drift: absolute British victory. But that of course today isn't politically correct.

Have you read 'The Washing of the Spears'? Great book--packed full of detail and excellent character sketches of some of the amazing men involved in the war.

I agree, the 'prequel' was also quite good, if a bit hard on the British commander, played by Peter O' Toole. I doubt he was quite such an a**hole as they made him out to be (though who knows, some of them undoubtably were quite insufferable).

And from my understanding of the real life battle, no one would have expected the British commander to allow their lines to be thrown out so far from the camp--and thus thinned out considerably--also leaving the vulnerable corner between the two main British lines held only by the native auxiliaries. It was this faulty deployment, as much as anything, that led to the total defeat. Had the commander of the camp kept his forces in a more compact formation closer to the camp, they probably would have survived.

Isandlwana was a defeat but not a disaster. I think the general view of Lord Chelmsford is pretty accurate - remember that he was a favourite of Queen Victoria and four months post Isandlwana he effectively won the war and the Zulu territories were annexed.
As I say Isandlwana and Rorkes Drift go down in the history books, the later battles and British victories are ignored.

Top War Movies

300 Spartans - They original, not the later remake.

Glory - Best civil war movie for me.

Saving Private Ryan - Of course

The Cruel Sea
Saving Private Ryan
Zulu
Enemy ay the Gates
Cross of Iron
Dambusters
Dawn Patrol
Twelve O'Clock High
Midway
The Trainman

Not in any particular order

Ah, forgot Midway, to me the best movie regarding the Pacific War, though "Tora Tora Tora" was pretty good too.

It was kept pretty historically accurate, or perhaps what was the common thought at that time, though "Shattered Sword" has changed some of the thoughts on the battle.

My top 10 (apologies if I posted before)

Das Boot
Saving Private Ryan
Stalingrad (1990's)
Band of Brothers
Pacific
Zulu
The Great Escape
The Lost Battalion
The Longest Day (When Plusakt sees the invasion fleet)

Tied for 10th
Blackhawk Down
Alls Quite on the Western Front (both versions)

And now ...

Fury

"Band of Brothers"

I thought this one was great too. I just was not sure if I should include it as it was more of a mini series than a movie.

But it felt to me like "Saving Private Ryan" but a series, and I mean that as a compliment.

And now ...

Fury

I rather enjoyed that one when I saw it a few weeks ago. Interestingly enough, the Tiger tank represented in the engagement with the Sherman platoon was a real operational Tiger I, Tiger 131 on loan from the Bovington Armour Museum, instead of a mock up or reworked T34. "Fury" was also on loan from Bovington and was a M4A2E8.

Garyt wrote:"Band of Brothers"

I thought this one was great too. I just was not sure if I should include it as it was more of a mini series than a movie.

But it felt to me like "Saving Private Ryan" but a series, and I mean that as a compliment.

Das Boot was a mini-series in Germany before it was released as a film. Get the full version (5 hours or so). Its closer to the book.

tommy303 wrote:

And now ...

Fury

I rather enjoyed that one when I saw it a few weeks ago. Interestingly enough, the Tiger tank represented in the engagement with the Sherman platoon was a real operational Tiger I, Tiger 131 on loan from the Bovington Armour Museum, instead of a mock up or reworked T34. "Fury" was also on loan from Bovington and was a M4A2E8.

Me too. The last stand scene at the end was a bit over the top of course. In the tiger scene the tanks were too close together, but I can understand the need for that to make it filmable. It was nice to have a movie with those particular tanks and one which showed fairly well what combat is like inside a tank. The idea of a clerk typist getting thrown into a tank is not out of the realm of possibility. People were definitely being grabbed and thrown into Shermans pretty much wherever they could get them because the training establishment wasn't keeping up with the losses.

I have just discovered this forum and joined today. Good Day!

I have a number of favourite movies but the one which is outstanding, in my opinion, is Battle for Sevastopol, the story of the ace Russian female sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko. It is a great biographical story which I think is superior to Enemy at the Gates. Opinions may differ...

I have not had time to look through this rather lengthy forum so forgive me if it has already been discussed.

Best wishes

Alick

Welcome, Alick! This forum isn't always very active, and I just saw your post. I haven't seen the movie you referenced. I've just recently discovered Russian war movies and they are interesting for their different point of view. I didn't particularly like Enemy at the Gates. I thought the attempt to draw a personal connection between the two snipers was silly.

Steve Crandell wrote: ↑Wed Feb 24, 2021 2:37 pm Welcome, Alick! This forum isn't always very active, and I just saw your post. I haven't seen the movie you referenced. I've just recently discovered Russian war movies and they are interesting for their different point of view. I didn't particularly like Enemy at the Gates. I thought the attempt to draw a personal connection between the two snipers was silly.

That's how you get your girlfriend to go to the movie with you.