Zulu Wars - DVD |
Sawubona
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Martin, there are several DVD's by that title but I believe that the one that John Hurt narrates is actually the three DVD set with discs dedicated to Shaka's rise and fall, the Battle of Blood River and the AZW. Apparently a series of made-for-television documentaries, it's quite good although targeting a "newbie" audience". You'll probably find nothing new here and possibly a few things with which you might take issue (apparently none of the Boers owned muzzle-loaders in 1838?), but I found it entertaining and will no doubt watch it again.
John Hurt does an excellent job (no surprise), the character actors are believable, the photography and "sets" are well done, and a good sense of scale is maintained with limited resources. Face it, it's a challenge to recreate Blood River or Isandlwana with 100 reenactors, but it's done here better than most. Unless I'm confusing it with something else, Ian Knight is in it quite a bit as well. It's definitely a worthwhile investment, and more so because it can readily be had for short money. With its high bang-for-your-buck factor, I'd give it two thumbs up. I think I got my copy through Amazon, but it's drifting around on Ebay and elsewhere. |
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rich
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This is probably the only 'docu' on the AZW that I have which leads me to say is couldn't there be a more up to date docu done which uses the participation and specific bailiwicks of some of you here, i.e, Martin? John Y?, Peter E, Keith S,etc etc etc etc. Many names can follow. Why can't the BBC (hey they have pounds to spare) make some calls and take out the pen and paper and video recorder.. ..just asking...
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_________________ Rich |
Michael Boyle
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Martin
Yes, John hurt narrates the trilogy "Shaka King of the Zulus", "Blood River" and "Red Coat Black Blood" sold on one disk as "Zulu Wars". One source being - http://www.naval-military-press.com/dvd-zulu-wars-pr-21734.html (I'll second Sawubona's review, although the first part I'd term 'Shaka Lite'! ) Another "Zulu Wars" is the production by Ian Knight including John Laband and Lizwe Buthelezi - http://www.kwazulu.co.uk/talk.html Another is Robert Powell's "Zulu Wars 1879", part of the History of Warfare series - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zulu-Wars-1879-Robert-Powell/dp/B0002SCZQ2 For those of us in the States, History Channel will be airing the episode "Road to Isandlwana" from the series "The Zulu Wars" on Dec. 28 at 0700 - http://www.history.com/shows.do?episodeId=173435&action=detail (I believe one of the episodes in this series is "Rorke's Drift 1879 - Against All Odds" if this in fact from the "History of Warfare" series.) [Pity this comes a bit late for anyone's Christmas list!] Best Michael |
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Bill Cainan1
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Michael
According to Ian Knight's "Companion" the first feature film on the AZW appeared in 1914, made by the Edison Company and was shot entirely in Florida ! It had the title "Rorke's Drift" Ian tends to think nothing has survived of the film. However, have you, or anyone on "that side of the pond", heard of this film. Does it still exist ? Bill |
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_________________ Bill Cainan |
Michael Boyle
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Bill
I had no idea! I often enjoy watching Edison's old films from the Library of Congress site - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edmvhm.html and have enjoyed his re-enactments of the 2nd A-BW (filmed in New Jersey I believe!) - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/papr:@FILREQ(@field(SUBJ+@od1(Battles--South+Africa--Drama+))+@FIELD(COLLID+mi-edison)) but I've never come across anything on the A-ZW. The site seems to include every Edison film extant (hundreds of them from 1891 to 1918 but there are no entries for 1914) as well as the history and overviews. I'll search elswhere and see what I can come up with. (The site has only a handful of films after 1905 so many may have been lost.) [For anyone who has never seen any of these films or this site, enjoy the films and consider this a Christmas present perhaps!] Best Michael [Not sure why the second link got broken up but you can either copy and paste it or reach it from the home page.] |
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Bill Cainan1
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Michael
Many thanks. To find the 1914 "Rorke's Drift" film would be absolutely amazing. With fingers crossed. Bill |
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_________________ Bill Cainan |
Zulu Wars - DVD |
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