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The 1964 film “Zulu” tells the story from the defence of Rorke’s Drift by the small garrison of British soldiers who had been assaulted by in excess of 4,000 Zulu warriors. The soldiers held out while the conflicts raged in to the night of 22/23 Jan 1879. In the daybreak, the Zulus had brought an end to the attack.

The movie stars Stanley Baker and Michael Caine with Richard Burton narrating and was a follow up to “Zulu Dawn”. That motion picture told the storyline of the Battle of Isandlwana that happened earlier that day. The initial clips start with the consequences of Isandlwana as Richard Burton narrates the telegram from Lord Chelmsford informing the government of the loss of Isandlwana. Zulus are shown accumulating guns from the dead British troopers.

Before the battle, Rorke’s Drift was a mission station operated by Swedish missionary Otto Witt. While Lord Chelmsford brought his men across the Buffalo River and into Zululand from Natal, a company from the 24th Regiment remained behind to watch the mission station that was being used as a hospital and a supply depot by the British. The 2 commanders were Lieutenant John Chard from the Royal Engineers played by Stanley Baker and Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead of the 24th performed by Michael Caine. This was Caine’s 1st starring role.

The picture shows Chard as well as some troops putting up a bridge on the Buffalo River. Bromhead returns following a hunting trip and the 2 exchange words before a scouting party arrives updating them of the calamity at Isandlwana. Chard is seen to assume overall control as he was commissioned a few months ahead of Bromhead and despite the fact that this is normal procedure, it irks Bromhead. They look at their choices with Lieutenant Joseph Ardendorff with the Natal Native Contingent (NNC) who had been just one of the few survivors out of Isandlwana. Ardendorff is performed by Gert Van den Bergh. The Afrikanner talks about the Zulu “Horns of the Buffalo”? battle tactics. Bromhead is convinced they must leave however Chard makes the decision to stand and fight on ground of their choosing.

The Reverand Otto Witt and his adult daughter also are at the mission station and try to get the men to run away in order to stop a fight. Witt swayed troops of the NNC to leave Rorke’s Drift. At that point, Chard orders Witt and his daughter to go out of the mission station in their buggy. At the same time, defensive lines of mealie sacks and wagons are now being lined out to improve the lines of defence by joining the store room and the hospital. This is conducted under the watchful eye of CSM Frank Bourne performed by Nigel Green.

As the Zulu warriors made their way to attack the garrison, Boer horsemen arrive at Rorke’s Drift. In spite of requests from Chard, the Boers get away from the British garrison. Soon enough the assault begins with lines of Zulu warriors squaring up with the British defences. The Zulu warriors are mown down by concentrated fire from the soldiers of the 24th and they eventually fall back. Following that, Zulu riflemen in the hillsides start up shooting down into the mission station and the British suffer their 1st deaths and injuries.

The Zulus keep probing with their attacks and in due course get into the hospital, setting fire to the roof along the way. Private Henry Hook, who has thus far been described as a good for nothing layabout, just takes control of the situation within the infirmary where he helps with a breakout of the unwell by digging through the walls of the infirmary. The survivors escape the burning infirmary over to the final redoubt near the store house as the conflicts continued into the night.

By morning, the Zulus started a war song ready for a final assault. The troops of the 24th reacted by singing “Men of Harlech”. The last assault see the Zulus charge into a hail of British rifle fire as 3 ranks of troops fire volley after volley down into the onrushing Zulu warriors. Due to such serious losses, the Zulus finally withdraw. The British begin to regroup and CSM Bourne takes a role call. The Zulus come back on the hillsides looking down on the mission station however as an alternative to attacking, they sing in salute of the “fellow warriors”.

The film concludes with Richard Burton narrating. He reads out the names of the 11 men who were awarded the Victoria Cross for the Battle of Rorke’s Drift. The men who won the Victoria Cross were:

- Corporal William Wilson Allen

- Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead

- Lieutenant John Rouse Merriot Chard

- Acting Assistant Commissary James Langley Dalton

- Private Fredrick Hitch

- Private Alfred Henry Hook

- Private Robert Jones

- Private William Jones

- Surgeon Major James Henry Reynolds

- Corporal Christian Ferdinand Schiess

- Private John Williams

In addition, five men were also awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal:

- Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne

- Private John William Roy

- Second Corporal Michael McMahon

- Second Corporal Francis Attwood

- Wheeler John Cantwell

As with all films based on a true experience, there are many different discrepancies. A few are for artistic licence although others will be oversights for various other reasons.

The film depicts the 24th Regiment of Foot as a Welsh regiment. Yet, it was not renamed the South Wales Borderers until 1881, 2 years later than Rorke’s Drift. There was a significant number (nearly 25%) of men from Wales in B Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot but the vast majority came from England.

The Swedish missionary Otto Witt was shown in the film that his daughter was grown-up. Yet, his 2 kids were both infants. On top of that he was not the pacifist the motion picture implies and had made it clear he didn’t oppose the British intervention with Cetshawayo.

The British weapons were the Martini-Henry which discharged a significant .45 round. It was easily capable of inflicting substantial damage on the human body. In the film, the wounds on shot Zulu warriors are small. In one scene in the hospital, a warrior who was fighting hand to hand with Private Hook was shot in the back while Hook was uninjured. At such close range, the round from the Martini-Henry would have easily passed through the warrior and killed Hook too.

Now, Rorke’s Drift is a tourism spot for those who really want to learn more about the Anglo Zulu War of 1879.

Michael Caine’s performance in the movie “Zulu” helped to launch his film career. He gave a superb performance in the portrayal of the well known battle at Rorke’s Drift.

Weekend is here and it means movies, movies and movies! This week you have option from all the genres. You can take your pick from romance, comedy, action thriller and more. And to help you make the choice, Nishtha Bhatnagar gets you the details of the movies hitting the theatre screens this Friday.

Duration : 0:5:27

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Harry Potter finally premiered. We’ve got the Deathly Hallows Part One review.

Hello everyone — especially HP fans! I’m Dana Ward chilling at the ClevverTV studio. Welcome back to Harry Potter week! … So it was an exciting midnight showing for the first installment of Deathly Hallows — earning 24-million bucks. Impressive sales indeed, but the one figure that actually broke box office records was HP’s 1.4-million in sales at IMAX theatres. You muggles did a good job. Moving on to the Part One review. Fans of the book series might be happy to hear that this flick does a good job of re-telling the first half of the book, exactly as expected, and it especially keeps with the dark, desperate situation for our main trio, as they seek out to destroy the horcruxes which are protecting Voldemort’s soul. We think Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint all played their closely followed characters extremely well, especially as the story shows them in a more mature, grown up, intellectual light. In fact, it was interesting to see a different side to the Ron Weasley we’ve come to know through the franchise. But even with the character development, there’s some intense action as the evil lord is hot on the trail of HP and crew, wanting to battle to the bloody end and causing destruction for everyone in his path. Watch out for one of the saddest moments of the entire film:The death of one fan favorite might just cause a tear — or a few. And you might think the Hermione and Harry kissing scene is a little akward. For those of you Potter fans out there who have scene Deathly Hallows — what did you think? Did it hit or miss your movie expectations? And if you haven’t seen Part One yet, don’t be a muggle. See the latest Harry Potter flick now — or see it again. If you want more Harry Potter news, reviews and more, especially as Deathly Hallows Part Two gets closer to its July 15th, 2011 release, stick with us. All you need to do is subscribe to our show at YouTube.com/ClevverTV. We’ve got you covered. As always, thanks for tuning in, I’m Dana Ward and we’ll see you next time!

Duration : 0:2:18

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The Twilight books written by Stephenie Meyer have quickly become such a fan favorite that Twilight movies were quickly put into the theatres. With the release of each film they are causing an increase in fans. The best gift for a twilight lover is merchandise related to the saga, which would be anything related to the Twilight story.

Here are the upper three Twilight merchandise gifts for the Twilight buff:

1. Twilight Book Collection – This is a collection of all four books in the Twilight series. This contains the hard back copies of each of the books. Each of the volumes comes in a box to keep them together, neat and clean! This is a collector’s gift. And you should fully expect that the recipient will place this gift in a place of prominence in there home.

2. Twilight Scene It Deluxe Edition Game – This game joins the numerous various popular theme Scene It game. The Twilight Scene It game is a board type that comes with a DVD. The DVD has questions and movie clips to find out what you know about the picture! Something fun to do with family and friends alike.

3. Twilight Action Figures – The Twilight action figures are excellent for a twilight devotee. The action figures are just a little over seven inches tall. They include Bella, Edward, Jacob and Alice. These toys can provide hours of play.

Twilight devotees want to be able to display the depth of their love for the series. If you are looking for a gift for birthdays, Christmas and any other holidays make sure to get Twilight merchandise for the twilight buff in your life! It is the gift they will always remember. This is really even more impressive if you take into account the extra amount of dedication that giving this gift required.

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The Twilight books created by Stephenie Meyer have rapidly become such a fan favorite that Twilight movies were quickly made into films. With the release of each film they are causing a surge in twilight lovers. Given the overal reaction to the movie we would recommend getting a Twilight gift for any fan of the saga you know.

We have included a potential gift list for Twilight lovers here:

1. Twilight Book Series – This would come complete with all four books contained in the saga. It even comes with hard back editions of all of the voulmes in the Stephanie Meyers story. Keep in mind because they are seperately packaged they will remain clean and neat! We would suggest this for a serious Twilight fan.

2. Twilight Scene It – This game is part of the popular Scene It franchise of board games. There is a DVD that comes with the game. he game comes with trivia info and the DVD has movie clips and related questions to see how much of the movie you really know!

3. Action Figures (Twilight) – These figures are based off of the main characters in the Twilight saga abd are probably best suited for younger Twilight fans. These action figures stand just about 7 inches tall. They include Alice, Jacob, Edward and Bella. A twilight fan can find themselves amused for hours with these figures.

Like most movie fans, Twilight lovers want to display there love for the series. Keep this in mind if your are looking for a birthday or christmas gift for a twilight fan It is the gift they will always remember.

Next, if you found any of these suggestions useful then act today. Take a look at the Twilight Merchandise web site now. We think once you get there that you make it a point to check out the Twilight bag clips. You’ll be happy you did!

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This could easily be in the top five of my favorite books. The writing and plot were excellent. I valued the plot’s complexness and how it was well written. The basic plot line concerns an unmentionable love. And it is complete with the classic tale of a young girl falling in love with the wrong type of boy that probably isn’t wise and that same boy wanting the girl to have more then what he can offer and etc..

Bella leaves her hair-brained mother to fend for herself and be with her new husband. They want to travel a lot and Bella thought she was getting in the way so it was decided that she move up north to her dad’s. Making the move from what she was used to to where she ends up isn’t easy especially to end up in a small WA town known as Forks. Her dad and her were two in the same so that he didn’t hover and she could come and go as she pleased.

As unbearable as everything seemed, there were one specific clique of teenagers she couldn’t stop thinking about. This would be the Cullen family, especially Edward. She felt there was something peculiar but appealing about them. She was determined to find out.

Even though Edward is a real vampire and Bella is totally and irrevocably in deep love with him. He is a vegetarian vampire which is what him and his family consider a private joke about their eating habits. They do require blood for sustenance bit choose to dine on animals instead of people.

This is the reason for there eyes being a golden color versus red like their fellow vampires. There age does not get in the way of their feelings for each other. This is true despite Edward being over a century old and Bella’s mom always regarding her as an old soul.

Naturally like any other temporal relationship they will have some good times and some bad times. You’ll have to look it over to find out what else happens. I don’t wish to give it away.

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