Both the British Army and the Zulu Impis they faced were portrayed respectfully in Zulu. The only people who came off poorly were Reverend Witt and the Boer militia cavalry who abandoned the British to their fate.
Portraying the Zulus that way was done deliberately by the producers, directors, and cast...and was not appreciated by the South African government. When the movie premiered in South Africa, all the black cast members were banned and the movie itself was banned from any theater that blacks could go to on the grounds that it might promote rioting.