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Date	Original Topic
4th February 2005	'Zulu' - the remake? By Paul Cubbin Not exactly an original topic, but one that's perhaps a little more relevant in light of recent Hollywood atrocities. All things considered, the original film was fairly good with its facts compared to other 'historical' military flicks, although we all know there are bits that could be brushed up. What are the chances of Hollywood ever learning the lessons of past incompetence? Are the film makers EVER going to say, "Well, hey! Why don't we just stick to the truth this time?" I for one was horrified at 'Troy' and the grotesque distortions therein. If there was ever an epic ready-made for public consumption it was this classic that has wowed readers for millennia. 'Alexander' is another 'Disney does history' as was 'U-571', a disgusting slap in the face for the truth. I personally feel that the Rorkes Drift story is tailor made for a successful action picture with no help from creative writers - but will it appeal to American audiences? If not, then it is unlikely to be made in Hollywood. Can the British Film Industry be persuaded to put its hand in its pocket and remake a classic in the right way, not in an 'Italian Job' way? Or are we likely to get a 'Sharpe' job, with five lads in red coats and twenty lads in thongs half-heartedly fighting over a beach hut in the Gower?
Date	Replies
4th February 2005	Coll Paul On the subject of remakes I watched the new Alamo film a couple of nights ago on dvd. I must admit I was looking for a more realistic interpretation of this specific incident. In many ways, I guess, it tried, with the characters of Bowie and Crockett trying to downplay their legendary status and the actual stand-off was okay, but when the battle began, it was in the dark and I could barely comprehend what was going on. Apparently, whether this was true or not, I don't know, it was so the audience wouldn't see how few extras there were playing the mexican army. My worry is, if they do a remake of, say, Zulu Dawn, are they going to use the eclipse of the sun as an excuse to hide most of the actual battle sequence for maybe the same reasons, that there might only be 100 Zulu warriors pretending that there were 20,000. Coll
5th February 2005	Invader Rorkes Drift II: The real American Heros. With Chard played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Bromhead played by Vin Diesel. Halle Berry as the love interest, the daughter of the Dabulamanzi! The heroic story of how 25 Americans held off 10,000 Zulus for 5 days. The movie ends in a heroic hand to hand fight between Arnie and King Cetshwayo (played obviously by Wesley Snipes). (Just a bit of fun, I'm joking!)
6th February 2005	Greg I think a serious remake of what is already a classic "Zulu" would be applauded by many of us on these pages , butI I dont think it would be the big crowd puller needed to be financially viable.I do however think a film tracing the life and untimely end of the prince imperial would be quite a good film maybe not requiring the thousands of extra`s required for a major battle but still giving a good flavour of the campain in zululand, it could also give an insight into the officer society of the period. And the courtmarshall of LT. kerry .ending with Eugenie`s visit to Zululand to visit the site. I know nothing of film making but I think it could appeal to a wider audience.I`d pay to see it anyway.