NEWS: Zulu Dawn Returns in 4K to Cinemas This March

By Jon Donnis

Severin Films has announced the worldwide UHD premiere of Zulu Dawn, Douglas Hickox's 1979 war film and the prequel to the 1964 classic Zulu. The film has been given a new 4K digital remaster and will return to cinemas on 13 March 2026.

The cast brings together some of the most recognisable names of its era. Burt Lancaster, known for Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, stars alongside Peter O'Toole of Lawrence of Arabia. They are joined by Simon Ward, who appeared in The Three Musketeers, and Bob Hoskins, remembered for The Long Good Friday.

A special preview screening will take place at Southampton Harbour Lights on 25 February 2026. The event will include an introduction and a question and answer session with Ian Knight, regarded as the UK's leading historian of the Anglo Zulu War. 

The nationwide cinema release follows on 13 March 2026 in a new edition scanned in 4K from the interpositive. A UK physical release is scheduled for 25 May 2026, with further details still to come.

Zulu Dawn is set in January 1879. Officials from the British colony of Natal issued a list of ultimatums to the Zulu Nation. When the Zulu King refused to accept the terms, the Empire declared war. What followed was a series of serious tactical mistakes. A garrison of 1,500 British soldiers faced 25,000 Zulu warriors, in what became the most devastating disaster in British military history.

NEWS: Kaizo Hayashi's Maiku Hama Trilogy - 30th Anniversary 4K remasters

Images: Third Window Films

By Jon Donnis

Kaizo Hayashi's offbeat Maiku Hama Trilogy returns in gleaming 30th Anniversary 4K remasters, bringing back Masatoshi Nagase as Yokohama private eye Maiku Hama, a Japanese approximation of Mike Hammer. Across three films, The Most Terrible Time in My Life (1994), The Stairway to the Distant Past (1995) and The Trap (1996), the series sketches a pulp world of missing persons, waterfront power plays and encroaching dread.

The Most Terrible Time in My Life

The first film, The Most Terrible Time in My Life, drags Hama into the disappearance of a Taiwanese immigrant's brother, a case that lands him squarely in the crosshairs of a gang war. The second, The Stairway to the Distant Past, sends him after a "Man in White" who rules over the embattled riverfront of Yokohama. The ominous final chapter, The Trap, edges into psychological horror as a spate of drug fuelled murders begins to instil fear across the city.

The Stairway to the Distant Past

This run arrives as a limited edition digipack set capped at 2,000 copies, complete with a booklet by Josh Slater-Williams. Nagase once again anchors the trilogy as Hama, and the package presents Hayashi's idiosyncratic vision with fresh clarity.

The Trap

Disc 1 features The Most Terrible Time in My Life (我が人生最悪の時, 1994) and comes with a feature audio commentary by Jasper Sharp, a new interview with director Kaizo Hayashi, a new interview with producer Shunsuke Koga, and the trailer.

Disc 2 collects The Stairway to the Distant Past (遙かな時代の階段を, 1995) with a selected audio commentary by Edmund Yeo, a Matthew Carter video essay, and the trailer.

Disc 3 presents The Trap (罠 THE TRAP, 1996) with a feature audio commentary by Samm Deighan, a James Balmont video essay, and the trailer.

The set is Region B. Out on Blu-ray and digital on 27 October.

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