Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

higherall7 There is something haunting about this min-series. When I first saw it, for some odd reason I felt like I already knew the story of Shaka. The way I already knew the story of Paul Bunyan or John Henry or even Pecos Bill. Moreover, I felt like I already knew Shaka, knew of his deeds; too horrible to mention in polite society. He represented some kind of mythic archetype that somehow takes up permanent residence in the mind. That of the Black Destroyer perhaps. But beyond that, he still represents something ambiguous and amorphous in African consciousness. Something that goes beyond the gruesomeness and the blood and slaughter and death that he represents with many to address in a very modern way the concept of nation building and the spirit that organizes states and cultures. Something, one is tempted to say, that goes beyond Good and Evil. Even though this is not a movie in the strictest sense of the word, I have to mention it here because Henry Cele's performance as Shaka stands up there with what George C. Scott did with PATTON, what Laurence Olivier did with HENRY THE FIFTH, or Denzel Washington with MALCOLM X, and yes, even what Robert Powell did with Jesus OF NAZARETH. I just want to go on record as saying it is one of the greatest performances of the Twentieth Century.Because it takes ten episodes to tell his story, one feels a catharsis exhaust itself that is very much akin to what one might experience in the Theater. First of all, you get to see Shaka from the perspective of the Western viewpoint and in that context, he is no more than the odd colorful token you find in many Western films. A cameo figure like Baby Face Nelson in O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU. But as soon as the viewpoint shifts to an African perspective, the enchantment begins for me. Suddenly I see people like my aunts and uncles and black men and women I have seen in the neighborhood acting and responding as I have seen them act and respond to dramatic issues in Life.Through it all there is Shaka, running from trouble with his mother and causing trouble with a vision that includes blood revenge and yet is curiously somehow beyond all that and is a reaching through all the narrowed eyed thirst for dominion through combat and conquest for a new, and as yet undefined reality better than the one that is to be lived. All my life I have seen men like Shaka, dark and lean, natural leaders who run bowling alleys or end up elite police officers or boxers or world champion martial artists or give lectures on African culture at our high school in front of their wives. The thing that became more and more riveting watching this min-series was how obvious it was that Henry Cele represented the original from which all the other versions sprang.The other thing that was refreshing was how most of Shaka's problems did not have the mythical White Man as their source. Instead, his troubles revolved around political tensions derived from difficulties he was having with his own people with regard to his ties to family and tribe and an apocalyptic prophecy of cultural devastation.At the end of this mini-series, despite all its flaws regarding continuity, one feels one has enjoyed the rare privilege of experiencing the epic sweep of a great life in both its grandeur and profoundly tragic limitations. But these are revealed as the limitations of humanity as well as Shaka's own. There is a moment at the end that felt like the spirit of the sixties, with people reaching out in both directions across the ocean to create a new understanding while not quite sure why they were doing so. There was that sense of being moved to create something larger than themselves. Something that would defy the degenerative process of societies and civilizations and the self-fulfilling prophecy of doom for nation states.The Spirit of Shaka remains a haunting and troublesome reflection. All I really understand about Shaka's mystique is that there was this gifted sculptress named Ruth Gowens who did many worthy terra-cotta sculptures of Black Folks in scenes of Southern and Urban Life. But when it came time for her to do a life size sculpture of some great leader, she did not chose Martin Luther King or Malcolm X.She chose Shaka.

bassguy66 Based largely on E. A. Ritter's novel, using diaries from Henry Francis Fynn (who is credited as providing medical care to Shaka after an attempt on his life from a member of a rival tribe) & James Stuart, this is a well told & well acted story. Shaka kaSenzangakhona's statesmanship and military prowess are some of the reasons he is rated as one of the greatest Zulu kings. Highly respected by his tribe this film shows the changes he was able to make in the way that the tribes performed in battle, he is known as a ruthless and effective warrior. Unfortunately this film is often hobbled by a cheesy score and some very poorly executed sound recording. The late Henry Cele was perfect for the role. Well worth watching if you can get by the results of budgetary constraints.

jmcnulty-1 To begin with, the entire first episode should be ignored! It is so laughable terrible that you can't imagine that it was written and filmed by anyone who knew anything about film making. Truly AWFUL wooden script combined with wooden acting and the soundtrack that was surely lifted from a bad Bert Bacharach L.P., although I suspect that I'm insulting Bert. I watched it in amused awe at the waste of film and beautiful scenery.I watched the second episode so I could boast that I had suffered and sat through, the most awful drivel of a movie, but was amazed as the story finally turned from the European perspective to the story of the rise of Shaka Zulu.It was the feeling of authenticity of the filming that dumbfounded me. It is so rare that a movie set in Africa captures (as I imagine) the sense of raw, brutal and naked power without flinching. It seems very, very real and I have to presume that it works so well because it is using the natural talent of real people who aren't acting. The movie almost becomes documentary at times and you realize that you are watching a believable movie based on a true story.Having said that, there is something slightly schizophrenic about the movie making which makes it one of the most bizarre movies I have ever reviewed but it deserves an eight because of the location filming with people who obviously believe and understand their own proud history.

melvin-forrester As a student of history with a love for the true story of Shaka, I find this film to be the worst possible distortion of the truth. I can only surmise that the message of the film, World Harmony---Peacefeful coexistence, was the justification for this "Big Brother" New Speak type of propaganda. There is only one English eye witness source writing concerning the true life and time of Shaka and the facts contained therein are not represented in this film. I can only recommend to viewers of my comment: find and read the book "Shaka Zulu" written by an English missionary's son who grew up in the Kraals of Shaka. His book tells the story of a proud people seeking freedom to live their own life in the manner of their own choosing. The Zulus had a tradition in which the stories and legends of the people were passed on by "story tellers". The missionaries son grew up in these story telling circles, speaking Zulu and living Zulu.