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Date	Original Topic
31st December 2002	NEW ZULU GOOF!!!!!!!! By Glenn Wade I've just been watching 'Zulu' with friends at my New Years Eve party and we've spotted a really great Goof! If you look very carefully at the scene where Hook is restling with a Zulu and Williams shoots the Zulu, if you pause the bit when Maxfield is crawling on the floor, take a look at the dead Zulus' foot, he appears to wearing a jolly nice pair of sandals! Got to go Chaps! Glenn
Date	Replies
2nd January 2003	Mike Davies Here are 34 mistakes: Before the first attack when the camp outside of the missionary station is dismantled, a group of soldiers double time it down the dirt track. As they go past a tent, one of them trips on one of the tent guide ropes and nearly falls flat on his face. A bit of dramatic license being taken by the scriptwriters - though portrayed in the film as a skiving drunkard, in real life Private Hook was considered a model soldier who was teetotal all his life. Colour Sergeant Bourne was in fact rather a small man (which Nigel Green is not) and was actually, in his early 20s, the youngest colour sergeant in the British Army. Assistant Commissary Dalton, portrayed as a bit of an upper-class twit in the film, was in actuality a former infantry quartermaster sergeant and the most experienced soldier in the garrison. He helped to plan the defence. The 24th is identified as the "South Wales Borderers." In 1879, the regiment was the 2nd Warwickshire. It did not become a Welsh regiment until 1881. In the scene where Michael Caine shoots at the leopard, you can see the trainer in the clump of trees beckoning the animal on. The soldiers wear Parade Dress Uniforms, including White Helmets displaying the Regimental Crest. On Active Service, they would have worn a more basic uniform with plain cork helmets, as correctly depicted in ZULU DAWN. In the scene when the zulu warriors have broken through the roof in the hospital. The soldiers make a hole and secape through it. You can clearly see the hole that they are going to cut open because it is a different colour When Coporal 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. Some of the Zulu warriors are wearing the wrist watches they were paid with - not strictly the right time period. When the preacher (Jack Hawkins) and his daughter are leaving Rourke's drift in a cart it cuts to two soldiers talking, then cuts back to the departing cart - if you look carefully you can see a car drive along the distant hillside. Lieutenants Chard and Bromhead were both rather elderly for their ranks (in their mid-30s) and Bromhead's career had begun to suffer due to a hearing problem. Like most members of the garrison, both had full beards. Why are the engineers building a bridge when Michael Caine's character fords the river at about ankle depth 20 yards downstream? The porters carrying the Leopard across the river pass by Baker. The next cut shows them approaching him. During the battle in the hospital, when Hook bayonets a Zulu up against the wall, the bayonet clearly goes under the armpit, not through as the mark left on the wall afterwards would suggest. Stanley Baker falls into the river. His legs and right arm go underwater. A moment later he is taking off a perfectly dry tunic. Chard gets struck on the neck by a Zulu shield, and he falls as if severely wounded. There's no blood on his neck, yet later when Bromhead pulls him upright, his collar is smeared with it. Anyway, how can a blow like that knock him silly? Bromhead was later struck by a Zulu shield on the neck as well, yet he was fine. During the prologue, the narrator (Richard Burton) reads from the military report that 1,500 men were lost at Ishandwana. However later on, when Chard and Bromhead meets Ardendorf, Ardendorf says that 1,200 men were lost---800 British soldiers and 400 native levies. So is it 1,500 or 1,200? The numbers don't tally. In history, the battle at Rourke's Drift was NOT ordered by Cetewayo. Cetewayo gave specific commands to his men not to attack any entrenched British positions; the Rourke's Drift assault was in fact spearheaded by one of his headstrong sons eager to prove his warrior worth to his father. Colour Sergeant Bourne goes one on one with a large Zulu warrior and kills him. Later, this same Zulu warrior is alive & well. During the first major Zulu attack, a warrior leaps down from the rampart and faces a British soldier (near the bottom right of the screen). The soldier lunges with his rifle and it's all too visible that his bayonet stabs "to the side" of the Zulu's chest. Yet the Zulu falls dead; what, was he frightened to death or something? Instead of leaning out the window to fire at the Zulus when they were attacking under cover of darkness, why didn't those two hospital guards stand aside and bayonet the Zulus one by one as they climbed in through the window? They could have saved their own lives by doing so. When Bromhead is standing on the burning roof firing his pistol at the Zulus running about below, you can see there's no gun smoke or muzzle flash from the barrel. It looks as if he's just pointing it around. When Zulus are battering down the door leading to Hook's bunk and the soldiers inside are escaping through a hole they knocked in the wall, at some point a blazing log falls across the hole. Some shots later, it's gone. One shot of the Zulus attacking is shown in reverse - all the Zulus appear to be left handed. Henry Hook in fact retired from the Army as a Sergeant-Instructor, hardly the barrack-room lawyer as which he is portrayed. Another commissary (senior to Dalton) and an army chaplain (who distinguished himself by handing out ammunition during the battle) were also present in the garrison. Michael Caine shoots a Cheetah. The porters carry a dead Leopard back to camp. During the latter Zulu attacks, a number of charging Zulus fall to the ground clutching their chests as if shot before a single shot has been fired. 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. Conversely Corporal Allen, portrayed as the model soldier, had recently been busted down from sergeant for drunkenness! Some of the Zulu generals were standing out on hilltops in open view when shouting commands to the Zulu armies. Strange that none of the British riflemen thought of getting a good, clean shot at them from afar... Stanley Baker (in the scene where he reloads his revolver) is shown using a Webley Mark VI - not issued until 1915. During one of the first Zulu attacks, a local is walking behind Chard carrying a box of ammo with a bayonetless rifle slung over his shoulder. The man is hit by a bullet and goes down. Chard quickly checks the man and then realises he's being charged by three Zulus. He shoots the first with his pistol, runs out of ammo so makes a grab for the dead mans rifle which now suddenly has a bayonett attached to it.
2nd January 2003	Barry Iacoppi N.Z. Quote �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.� While this could be seen as a film error I know from experience that trying to fire a Martini with a pith helmet on is not always esey. Depending on ones position and that of the target the peak can obscure the target. I have been told that it was not unusual for soldiers in combat to reverse their helmets.
3rd January 2003	Dave Nolan Yet again the wristwatches - can anyone actually tell me where in the film these can be seen on the Zulus? I have never noticed them. Dave
3rd January 2003	Glenn Wade Dave, I have watched Zulu over 200 times (I'm not exaggerating!) I too have searched for the fabled wristwatches but I am certain people mean the gold bangles on the Zulus' wrists. It is believed that Stanley Baker and Cy Enfield payed the Zulus with watches but Lady Ellen Baker makes no mention of this on the recently released DVD. Lady Baker says that they couldn't pay the Zulu extras money so Stanley Baker gave them 100 cattle and the buildings on the set to be used as schools. Also, the scenes in the hospital where the watches are said to be, were filmed in Twickenham so it is highly unlikely that these men were real Zulus, they were probably Black people living in Twickenham. Glenn
3rd January 2003	Arthur Bainbridge Its disgusting people slagging Zulu off its a great film and has no faults at all
3rd January 2003	John When the Zulus return for the salute at the end, you can briefly see the hospital intact. But when they turn and depart with their shields above their heads, the hospital is now in smouldering ruins. Also, when the Zulus first appear on the hillside above the camp, at the end of the long pan shot, you can see several soldiers standing without their tunics on. How did this escape Bourne's notice?
3rd January 2003	Alan Critchley Whatever, Zulu got us all talking about the subject. It's still great cinema. Watched it the other day on the Bravo channel even though I've got the video and a DVD, stupid. At least now we know more of the facts thanks to the film. Alan [email protected]
3rd January 2003	Chris Tapster And as for those ammo boxes - carpenter's chests filled with loose rounds and covered in tinfoil....
5th January 2003	Melvin Hunt In reference to all of the above: I think that the film Zulu is the worst film ever. The actors, especially MC, can't act. The film set location was uninspiring. The film music was instantly forgettable and furthermore..................Relax Arthur, I'm only joking!!!!
28th June 2003	Melvin Hunt Since this thread I've watched the film a couple of times just concentrating on the background action and I must take my hat off to Mike and anyone else who spotted things like the leopard trainer, the car and the falling soldier. Has anyone noticed the scene just after where Corporal Schiess first leaves the hospital to join the fight and his bandage trails behind him? Just before he shoots the Zulu, the Zulus storm over the ramparts and a soldier knocks back one of the zulus, goes to bayonet him then (probably thinking that the film action has been cut) stops and lets him off. The strange thing is, I find that being aware of these "mistakes" doesn't detract at all from the overall enjoyment of the film. Are there any more?
29th June 2003	Diana Blackwell Melvin, Goofs and historical inaccuracies in "Zulu" have been discussed a lot in this forum. Please see the following: p. 15 12/31/2002 New Zulu goof p. 25 8/3/2002 'Zulu' blunders p. 32 2/15/2002 Goofs & gaffes from Zulu from a historical angle p. 32 2/11/2002 Another gaff? p. 33 2/7/2002 Is this a goof or not? p. 33 2/6/2002 Another possible goof in Zulu There's also a website devoted to movie mistakes, which includes some from Zulu. Please see <A HREF="http://www.nitpickers.com/movies/">http://www.nitpickers.com/movies/</A> These lists are probably not exhaustive, however.
29th June 2003	Diana Blackwell Melvin, Goofs and historical inaccuracies in "Zulu" have been discussed a lot in this forum. Please see the following: p. 15 12/31/2002 New Zulu goof p. 25 8/3/2002 'Zulu' blunders p. 32 2/15/2002 Goofs & gaffes from Zulu from a historical angle p. 32 2/11/2002 Another gaff? p. 33 2/7/2002 Is this a goof or not? p. 33 2/6/2002 Another possible goof in Zulu There's also a website devoted to movie mistakes, which includes some from Zulu. Please see <A HREF="http://www.nitpickers.com/movies/">http://www.nitpickers.com/movies/</A> These lists are probably not exhaustive, however.