One of the most realistic war films ever made: this masterpiece is praised by a military expert

What makes a war movie realistic? Historical accuracy? A technical feat like Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Ryan” and its unforgettable opening sequence so realistic that it required a veterans’ emergency line or, like Sam Mendes in 1917, shot almost exclusively in sequential shots?

And no, veteran James D. For Dever, who retired from the United States Marine Corps in the late 1990s and has since worked as a military technical consultant in Hollywood, it’s neither. We have to save Private Ryanneither 1917And neither does Oliver Stone’s platoon. A veteran definitely has a different answer to that question (via SensaCine): “The era doesn’t matter. It is the uniforms and their movement and demeanor that, for me, define the realism of a war film.“

After all, it’s the details that you probably only notice if you’ve served in the military and been sent to war – whether it’s certain wording that doesn’t fit into military jargon, a weapon being used incorrectly, or mistakes in a uniform. “Some of these films today show the clothes being taken off the rack“, explains Dever. “They do not look dirty or sweaty, and there is no sign that the uniform has been worn for some time.“

A movie with Michael Caine

As a positive counter-example he cites the 1964 war film starring Michael Caine and, among others, the future Christopher Nolan: Zulu. The film may be less well-known than other classics of the genre, but it has a perfect score of 96% on the American review site, Rotten Tomatoes – and Dever is also full of praise for this feature.

“If you’ve never seen the movie, you shouldHe is fascinated by the work, which takes place during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.The formations exactly fit the era, the weapons, their behavior. It’s so real that that alone makes it a good movie.“

Besides Michael CaineStanley Baker (Guns of Navarone) and Jack Hawkins (Ben-Hur) also star in the Cy Endfield-directed film, which focuses on the bitter battle between the Zulu tribe and the soldiers of the British Empire, then the largest. and the most powerful colonial power on the African continent. In the so-called Battle of Rorke’s Drift (named after a small mission station in the South African colony of Natal), 139 Englishmen faced a superior force of 4,000 Zulus.

Zoulou is currently available for (re)discovery streaming on Filmo.