This dramatic and true story recounts the breathtaking defeat of British forces at the hands of a 25,000 strong and relentlessly determined Zulu army in 1879. General Lord Chelmsford (brilliantly portrayed by Peter O'Toole) is the man responsible for the fatal decision to split up the troops based on faulty information provided by the fake Zulu prisoners. Colonel Dunford (Burt Lancaster) is the one armed hero who leads his men into battle with the Zulu forces that outnumber them sixteen to one. Sir Henry Bartle Frere (Nigel Davenport) constructs the impossibly demanding ultimatum which ignites the Zulu chief to an unforgettable show of arms.