Zulu Dawn

Zulu Dawn (1979) is a historical war drama you can watch online on iFILM. Southern Africa, the late 1870s: a confident British colonial army marches deep into Zulu territory expecting an easy win.

Lord Chelmsford (Peter O'Toole) leads the column, set on settling the "Zulu question" in a single stroke, and badly misreads his enemy. What unfolded beneath the slopes of Isandlwana became one of the empire's most humiliating defeats: a force of roughly 1,500 men was encircled and almost wiped out by King Cetshwayo's warriors. Burt Lancaster, Denholm Elliott and John Mills head the cast, with a young Bob Hoskins in a small role.

Douglas Hickox's film is a prequel to the 1964 classic Zulu — where that one celebrated the desperate stand at Rorke's Drift, this shows the disaster that came before it. It's staged on a huge scale and refuses to wave the flag, putting colonial arrogance on trial inside the frame. Stream Zulu Dawn (1979) online on iFILM.