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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 9:30 am

Sheldon - You seem to look young in this new ZULU dvd set, to previous Channel 4 outings. Why is this?!

Mike - Worth buying new DVD because it has quite a few colour and black and white 16mm clips that has never surfaced before.

Ta Leigh

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 12:30 pm

Leigh

I initially started with 2 copies of the video. Should one get tangled up or damaged in the machine, I had a spare.

Same goes for when I got a dvd player. Bought 2 copies of the dvd. Even with the best care in the world they can get scratched, or damaged too.

As for the remaining 5 dvd copies. That was the free offer with the newspaper a while ago. I thought "Why not?". So a couple of family members kindly obtained the papers, the dvds were supplied with. Very Happy

Couldn't tell you what was written in the newspaper - Didn't read it.

I tell myself that I saved these 5 dvds from being binned.

If I could have got more, I would have.

When I think of the many dvds that ended up dumped, well... Crying or Very sad

Coll

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 1:01 pm

Coll, as I said on another thread, ...I thought I was mad.

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 5:34 pm

Although you can't have too much (or too many?) of a good thing....hang on it's Zulu Dawn we're talking about here! So that old saying doesn't apply! Smile

Leigh

Thanks for the tip - always interesting to see stuff that might have been in. Am I right to think that the picture quality has in some way been improved? Would I notice the difference?

You know I saw that film 36 times in the cinema! Yes 36...now that's mad! What the heck do I want another DVD for!!

As ever

Mike

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:11 pm

Mike

'Zulu Dawn' has quite a following - I think there's 2 of us ! Laughing

The way they're mucking about with dvd releases these days is kind of getting on my nerves.

Take 'Blade Runner' for example, seeing as to how I've recently been reading about it. God knows how many versions there are, original, director's cut, etc. Now I think there is a Final Cut (?) version Rolling Eyes

Maybe 'Zulu Dawn' will eventually be released as a two-disc set, the film itself having the apparent missing pieces put back in.

You never know.

If they do - I'll only be getting the 2 copies - Not 9 ! Wink

Coll

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:21 pm

Coll,

I don't think there are many missing pieces of "Zulu Dawn" left to add: a lot of script material was left unfilmed for budgetary reasons (they ran out of money), rather than being filmed and cut later. There are outtakes of certain sequences still around, but these are alternate angles, etc, on existing scenes rather than deleted scenes as such. But a Sp Ed (in the proper aspect ratio and with the original stereo sound) would be nice...

Sheldon

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:28 pm

Leigh,

I'm flattered to be thought young-looking (must be the soft focus, diffusion filter and low-key lighting, plus the special makeup job)! The new interview footage was shot a few months ago, in June or July, and I'm 43 tomorrow (no need to buy me gifts)...

Sheldon

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:55 pm

Sheldon,
happy birthday for tomorrow. You look older. Only Joking!

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:58 pm

I feel it... no joking!

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 7:37 pm

Sheldon

That would be nice - along with a documentary perhaps ?

Yes, I know it wasn't a success, but I'd like to see interviews with the likes of Bob Hoskins, etc., to get an insight on what their experiences were during the making of the film. Very Happy

Coll

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 8:22 pm

Coll,
You're frightening me now! Laughing

Mike,
Just got the DVD (�9.95 from HMV). I feel that it's worth getting for the documentaries alone. There are some fascinating glimpses of the film making process involved. Not only bits of Jay Pinto's film but also some colour segments shot by the crew. On the cinema trailer there is also an interesting short segment where the Zulu chants (filmed for the Wedding scenes) sound as if they have been subjected to a different studio mix.

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 8:05 am

Sheldon Hall wrote:

It is a bit strange, because the new extras were produced by an American-based company. But the new sp. ed. WILL be released in Region 1, as Paramount now control all world rights. It's only a matter of time...

Sheldon,

I was just hoping to clarify this for us ZULU fans on the other side of the ocean. Are you thinking that it's LIKELY that we'll get a Region 1 release, or have you heard from Paramount that they're definitely intending to do it? (I'm concerned that they might not think there are enough ZULU fanatics in the U.S. to make it profitable, especially since there's already been the MGM Region 1 DVD release.)

Regards,
Peter

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:03 am

Mike - Worth buying, if only for the new extra's and an even sharper print.
Years ago I read of some one who'd seen ZULU 76 times at the cinema, so you're a fair way off yet!!

Sheldon - Happy birthday. See you on the 17th...

Coll - ZULU DAWN. You know what lets this film down...........the music!!
I myself being an ex musician tends to listen carefully to film scores, and this with CUSTER OF THE WEST must be a low point in any film scores' critics catalogues. You know, many a film has made it 'big time' because the music has helped promote the film, and make it have staying power for years to come. (BIG COUNTRY, MAGNIFICENT 7, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANYS, THE LONGEST DAY, even THE ALAMO ) But a poor score, doesn't bode well from the out set.
Otherwise ZULU DAWN should be looked at more often, like WATERLOO...
Two european films that appear to be slightly muddled, but general content which is quite fab and entertaining. Do you agree about the music score? Sorry to offend..

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:48 am

Leigh

Thanks - I shall take your advice and invest.

I knew there would be somebody who had seen it twice as many times as me because I'm only half-mad!

ZD. Dreadful music, you are quite right, but also dreadful costumes, dreadful script, lack of empathy for the subject, lack of faithfulness to history, failure to capture the 'romance' of the subject, failure to achieve dramatic effect, no tugging at the heart-strings, laden with cliches; in summary....a good cast wasted on a dreadful screenplay and dreadful directing....he said...ever so slightly climbing off the fence!! Shocked

Regards as ever

Mike

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:20 pm

Mike

Dreadful, indeed. Difficult to think of a single mitigating feature in that appalling concoction.

Perhaps its one saving grace was the lovely scene at the beginning showing the beautiful cricket pavilion at Alexandra Park (PMB City Oval), now the solitary first-class ground in the world boasting a tree inside the boundary, although the young replacement lime at Canterbury is doing very well. (And as little or no official first class cricket is played at PMB now, the St Lawrence ground will eventually reclaim its idiosyncratic boast). I just hope the square was adequately roped off when Burt Lancaster & Simon Ward were committing their equestrian sacrilege.

Trust me to change the subject ... back to the topic - yes, what an awful film! Wink

Peter