This superb re-creation of the 1879 battle of Rorke's Drift is a personal triumph for producer/director Cy Endfield and Welsh producer/star Stanley Baker. Baker heads a remarkable cast that includes Michael Caine in a star-making performance playing against type as a toffee-nosed lieutenant. Technically the movie is a revelation, with stunning Technirama photography (by Stephen Dade), brilliant picture editing (John Jympson) and a wonderfully evocative soundtrack - who could ever forget the approaching sound of the 4,000 Zulu warriors before we see them? Richard Burton's narration is genuinely moving, and watch for Chief Buthelezi as his own ancestor, Cetewayo, chief of the Zulus.

In 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, man-of-the-people Lt. Chard and snooty Lt. Bromhead are in charge of defending the isolated and vastly outnumbered Natal outpost of Rorke's Drift from tribal hordes.