[Marius3188]

"dramatised by Michael Caine in the film Zulu."

Pisses me off, that in today's society we reference history using Movies and that our collective memories seem to use TV as their benchmarks of knowledge.

Television killed history--media only acknowledges reality for which film exists (last 40 years vice 4000)

Sorry for the rant.

Anyway, British Courage at it's finest.

[Marius3188]

GGG ping

I don't know if military battle sites(recent -200 yrs) is in your GGG collective.

[theDentist]

Yes, but please note: it is a great film.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Great movie.

[coconutt2000]

You'll get a kick out of this. From the Amazon.com synopsis:

"Although the basic premise has since been executed with more technical skill and panache (most notably by Aliens and Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans)"

Apparently even old films are reviewed in terms of newer movies, not just history.

[ibbryn]

I believe Zulu is the film Peter Jackson cites as THE textbook guide to filming a battle sequence. He used it as inspiration for the Lord of the Rings finale.

[Junior]

I dunno. I'm in favor of anything that makes the public more aware of history. If you've got to use movies and TV to do this, then that's what you have to do.

[Tzimisce]

interesting

[in the Arena]

They also discovered that heavy rains during the siege turned the fort into a polluted quagmire leading to an outbreak of typhus which killed large number of men.

Dr Pollard said the story of the fort provides a testament to the skill of the Royal Engineers and particularly of Captain Warren Wynne.

These two statement seem to contradict each other...

[Brit1]

Not a rant Marius3188 but telling it as it should be told.
Not only is it TV but also Hollywood...U157or was it U571 the capture by the Americans of the Enigma machine for which two of our sailors gave their lives and also how two US flyers won the Battle of Britain for us don't know the title but a couple of B.o.B vets were invited to a pre screening and left after 10mins.They had seen enough.
There again we should pay tribute to John Ford for his 'Cavalry Trilogy'...he knew their importance when he filmed them and it shows.

[colorado tanker]

After the actual Rorke's Drift battle, 11 Victoria Crosses (the highest British award "for valour") were awarded, the highest number ever given in a single conflict.

Men of Harlech onto glory
This shall ever be your story
Keep these fighting words before ye
Welshmen never yield

[SF Republican]

Television killed history although I generally agree with your sentiment, Band of Brothers, Saying Private Ryan, Ken Burns Civil War documentary are all IMHO valuable tools.

[johnny7]

Strict, military discipline saved their a$$.

[VOA]

H-ll of a battle, H-ll of a movie BUMP

[VOA]

PBS's "Secrets of The Dead" had a good investigative report to find the reasons
the British troops didn't fare so well in another engagement with the natives:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_zulu/clues.html

[blam]

Zululand Battlefield Map - Anglo-Zulu War 1879

[blam]

[abb]

The Washing of the Spears: A History of the Rise of the Zulu Nation Under Shaka and Its Fall in the Zulu War of 1879
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306808668/102-7470135-0759303?v=glance&n=283155

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

"Its also interesting archaeologically to have something designed to kill transformed into something constructive."

I see these archaeologists are brainwashed, too. Their focus on how a bullet kills, not how it saves the lives of those who wield them. A bullet that kills and enemy and saves one's life or the life of a buddy in combat is doing something constructive.

A UW professor of design used warplanes in one of his lectures, talked about the beauty of the design but how horrible the function. Evidently, defending our nation is horrible.

[Vic3O3]

Ping!

[bad company]

Ping!