This interpretation is actually one of the best, well funded. The set and world building is out of this world. The Cgi is on point. The actors are amazing. The dialogue is even more intriguing, storyline is on point. The casting is
on point. As a Zulu, I am especially proud of this one. Everyone did their absolute best. From the first episode it has been a wonderful journey. It's like we have time traveled back into the past to see how it actually was back then. I wish that this story be seen by the whole world so that they may busk, learn and be amazed as I am. With 30 characters left I want to say thank you the teams that were involved in making this, please don't stop we need ten seasons.
3 Reviews
An African "Gane of Thrones"
rjoubert-6283929 August 2023
I've been unable to stop watching this show. I thought I knew Shaka's story, but this goes much deeper and told so vividly that I've been transfixed. Production quality is amazing, the scenery stunningly beautiful, the characters authentic and the narrative spellbinding. The fight scenes are incredibly well done, very realistic yet I'm unable to tell apart stunts from cgi. The incredible story of the people around Shaka, the political intrigue, maneuvring and back stabbing is Game of Thrones Africa style. Incredible when you realise this isn't fiction at all!
South Africa, you can be proud.
Can't wait for the next two seasons!
South Africa, you can be proud.
Can't wait for the next two seasons!
Shaka Ilembe (2023) Vs Shaka Zulu (1986)
lordsoracle16 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
So, now that I am actually done with the first season of Shaka Ilembe (2023), and also having watched the original series Shaka Zulu (1986) countless times to a point where I can quote sections of the series verbatim, I am now going to contribute my two cents to what I think.
So, let me get the horse right out of the stable and say this, when it comes to the quality of the story and its development and build up, I give both series a 10/10! I know that kind of defeats the purpose of the review. This I have done because of just how profound the stories and screenplays in both cases are.
But then, for series like these, and the cost that has gone into producing such masterpieces, a score like the one above does not justice to this and so compels me to go deeper into critiquing and comparing each part of the work here, that way I will be fairer, and then based on that, we could give the scoreline afterward for a more precise final position.
So, for the sake of you the reader, I shall break this down into different aspects and actually give each a fair score based on what I thought each brought to the table. We shall examine the following categories, directing, scriptwriting, casting, soundtrack and scoring, production design, costume design, sound editing, location, visual & special effects.
✍🏾 Directing
Shaka Ilembe this series had five directors for the 12 episodes whilst Shaka Zulu had one. This affects the overall feel of the story as can be seen for instance in some episodes having a slower pace and feel and more tension in others. This becomes even more pronounced at the ending of Shaka Ilembe which was not dramatic enough considering Shaka ka Senzangakona was coming to take his thone. Contrast that scene with the Shaka Zulu version which is beyond memorable when Shaka comes with the armies of Dingiswayo his mentor to take the throne!
The scenes of Queen Nthombazi (Zwide's mother) and her witchcraft were not as intimidating as they could be. In short they could have done with more tension and horror and many did not carry the authentic dread they could potentially have. Overall, Shaka Ilembe could have done with more directed and deliberate drive than it did though overall it still delivered.
Shaka Zulu on the other hand clearly had a larger budget and more cinematic splendor put into it. There are so many breathtaking shots the best of all being the actual scene with Shaka practicing with his Assegai on sprawling hills with 3600 rolling shots which even make the opening theme itself. That stands out as one of the most memorable shots. There are many others but those that come to mind include the impaling scenes which were far more gory and very realistic by comparison.
Shaka Ilembe 7/10 Shaka Zulu 9/10
✍🏾 Scriptwriting
On this one since we know that both stories took quite a bit of liberty in twisting historical facts and fictionalizing many segments for dramatic and story telling purposes, I cannot really fault either.
Both did a fantastic job in the story arc which begins with Shaka's illegitimate birth to Senzangakona, who then rejects his mother Nandi and sees them banished. The hard upbringing and shame that then follows their family throughout Shaka's growing years until Gendeyana takes them in. The coming in of Dingiswayo and his adoption of Shaka into his armies and the rise of Shaka to the time he takes the throne.
Shaka Ilembe does invest great back stories into the characters of Dingiswayo/Godongwana (easily my overall favorite character among all), Gendeyana, and my other favorite character Zwide and his witch queen mother. That certainly surpasses the equivalent characters in Shaka Zulu which really gives them very limited back stories.
But perhaps the strangest omission in this Shaka Ilembe is the mystical part about Shaka's story. That is an oddity because all students of history know that King Shaka's prophecy, how he came into power, his seeming thirst for blood and murder were beyond just anger and rage, but also involved serious witchcraft and sorcery pretty similar in ways to the witchcraft wielded by Zwide's mother.
Even common sources of his story the most known being "Chaka King of the Zulus" by Thomas Mofolo does include many of these mystical elements. The 1986 Shaka Zulu writers pay homage to this rather strange aspect of the stories and legends surrounding King Shaka. This therefore is a little injustice when it comes to Shaka Ilembe.
Beside that, the story development is great in both and so in all fairness, get an equal score from me.
Shaka Ilembe 10/10 Shaka Zulu 10/10
✍🏾 Casting
My my my, where do I start. Best would be to pick the top characters and assess each by score. That would be easier. Here goes.
Shaka Zulu - Henry Cele gets a clear win! He completely embodies who we all imagined King Shaka would be like. Lemogang Tsipa just doesn't really do it for me, sorry!
Nandi - A clear tie here. Both Dudu Mkhize and Nomzamo Mbatha shine in this role and do it justice
Senzangakona - Senzo Radebe is just the one. He performs the role very well although the original actor Conrad Magwaza is a close behind
Dingiswayo - NO brainer. Thembinkosi Mthembu is my overall favorite actor in this one and outdoes the original Simon Sabela by miles!
Zwide - Oh that is my second favorite character. The passion and fire - eish! Wiseman Ncube completely kills it! There is no comparison to the original Khulekani Magubane!
Mkabayi - a tie. The current one Dawn Thandeka King and the original Gugu Nxumalo are a match really - although Gugu does stand out more I must admit
There are many other casting choices that are really good including Mduduzi Mabaso (Gendeyana) who for me was another great casting.
I suppose what makes Shaka Ilembe better overall is the story time invested into many of the above characters that allows viewers to fully get attached to them. This is short in Shaka Zulu except for the key players themselves names Shaka, Nandi, Mudli, Ngomane, Mkabayi and others.
The lower score for Shaka Ilembe is because of Henry Cele - that will always remain King Shaka in my mind - he was so present on the screen, every scene with him oozes with charisma!
Shaka Ilembe 9/10 Shaka Zulu 10/10
✍🏾 Soundtrack and scoring
This one is a clear win for Shaka Zulu. Its not even arguable. Let me ask you, can you hum the main theme in full? Nope. But we all remember "boom boom boom boom boom boom, boom boom, boom boom!" right? Of course? And who can forget all the different theme tunes for each part they had?
The entrance of Shaka to take his throne from Senzangakona - wow! And the sound that accompanies that scary witch! And what about that beautiful haunting tune "Nandi, my name is Nandi"? I can still remember the chorus, "... for it was written in the prophecy, my son is born to rule"!
As for Shaka Ilembe, it is as if they were deliberately not serious about memorable tunes and scores for each character. As such, no tune stands out be it for Shaka himself, the mother, Dingiswayo, Zwide nothing!! For me this is a lamentable fail.
Shaka Ilembe 5/10 Shaka Zulu 10/10
✍🏾 Production design
Shaka Ilembe 7/10 Shaka Zulu 9/10
✍🏾 Costume design
Shaka Ilembe 10/10 Shaka Zulu 10/10
✍🏾 Sound editing
Shaka Ilembe 7/10 Shaka Zulu 8/10
✍🏾 Sets & Locations
Shaka Ilembe 8/10 Shaka Zulu 10/10
✍🏾 Visual & Special Effects
Shaka Ilembe 7/10 Shaka Zulu 8/10
Overall, though a tie, Shaka Zulu (1986) still stands out for me, but Shaka Ilembe is very good and worth the second and third season so that we get that full story rendering!
If you haven't watched it, I recommend you do so. Whenever they release this series on video, I shall be the first to buy the set like I did Shaka Zulu.
PS: On language? I am kind of stuck, whilst the Zulu language is original and cool, it makes Shaka Ilembe not carry any quotable quotes unlike the old one.
In the Shaka Zulu original, there are so many memorable dialogues and conversations worth mentioning!
So, let me get the horse right out of the stable and say this, when it comes to the quality of the story and its development and build up, I give both series a 10/10! I know that kind of defeats the purpose of the review. This I have done because of just how profound the stories and screenplays in both cases are.
But then, for series like these, and the cost that has gone into producing such masterpieces, a score like the one above does not justice to this and so compels me to go deeper into critiquing and comparing each part of the work here, that way I will be fairer, and then based on that, we could give the scoreline afterward for a more precise final position.
So, for the sake of you the reader, I shall break this down into different aspects and actually give each a fair score based on what I thought each brought to the table. We shall examine the following categories, directing, scriptwriting, casting, soundtrack and scoring, production design, costume design, sound editing, location, visual & special effects.
✍🏾 Directing
Shaka Ilembe this series had five directors for the 12 episodes whilst Shaka Zulu had one. This affects the overall feel of the story as can be seen for instance in some episodes having a slower pace and feel and more tension in others. This becomes even more pronounced at the ending of Shaka Ilembe which was not dramatic enough considering Shaka ka Senzangakona was coming to take his thone. Contrast that scene with the Shaka Zulu version which is beyond memorable when Shaka comes with the armies of Dingiswayo his mentor to take the throne!
The scenes of Queen Nthombazi (Zwide's mother) and her witchcraft were not as intimidating as they could be. In short they could have done with more tension and horror and many did not carry the authentic dread they could potentially have. Overall, Shaka Ilembe could have done with more directed and deliberate drive than it did though overall it still delivered.
Shaka Zulu on the other hand clearly had a larger budget and more cinematic splendor put into it. There are so many breathtaking shots the best of all being the actual scene with Shaka practicing with his Assegai on sprawling hills with 3600 rolling shots which even make the opening theme itself. That stands out as one of the most memorable shots. There are many others but those that come to mind include the impaling scenes which were far more gory and very realistic by comparison.
Shaka Ilembe 7/10 Shaka Zulu 9/10
✍🏾 Scriptwriting
On this one since we know that both stories took quite a bit of liberty in twisting historical facts and fictionalizing many segments for dramatic and story telling purposes, I cannot really fault either.
Both did a fantastic job in the story arc which begins with Shaka's illegitimate birth to Senzangakona, who then rejects his mother Nandi and sees them banished. The hard upbringing and shame that then follows their family throughout Shaka's growing years until Gendeyana takes them in. The coming in of Dingiswayo and his adoption of Shaka into his armies and the rise of Shaka to the time he takes the throne.
Shaka Ilembe does invest great back stories into the characters of Dingiswayo/Godongwana (easily my overall favorite character among all), Gendeyana, and my other favorite character Zwide and his witch queen mother. That certainly surpasses the equivalent characters in Shaka Zulu which really gives them very limited back stories.
But perhaps the strangest omission in this Shaka Ilembe is the mystical part about Shaka's story. That is an oddity because all students of history know that King Shaka's prophecy, how he came into power, his seeming thirst for blood and murder were beyond just anger and rage, but also involved serious witchcraft and sorcery pretty similar in ways to the witchcraft wielded by Zwide's mother.
Even common sources of his story the most known being "Chaka King of the Zulus" by Thomas Mofolo does include many of these mystical elements. The 1986 Shaka Zulu writers pay homage to this rather strange aspect of the stories and legends surrounding King Shaka. This therefore is a little injustice when it comes to Shaka Ilembe.
Beside that, the story development is great in both and so in all fairness, get an equal score from me.
Shaka Ilembe 10/10 Shaka Zulu 10/10
✍🏾 Casting
My my my, where do I start. Best would be to pick the top characters and assess each by score. That would be easier. Here goes.
Shaka Zulu - Henry Cele gets a clear win! He completely embodies who we all imagined King Shaka would be like. Lemogang Tsipa just doesn't really do it for me, sorry!
Nandi - A clear tie here. Both Dudu Mkhize and Nomzamo Mbatha shine in this role and do it justice
Senzangakona - Senzo Radebe is just the one. He performs the role very well although the original actor Conrad Magwaza is a close behind
Dingiswayo - NO brainer. Thembinkosi Mthembu is my overall favorite actor in this one and outdoes the original Simon Sabela by miles!
Zwide - Oh that is my second favorite character. The passion and fire - eish! Wiseman Ncube completely kills it! There is no comparison to the original Khulekani Magubane!
Mkabayi - a tie. The current one Dawn Thandeka King and the original Gugu Nxumalo are a match really - although Gugu does stand out more I must admit
There are many other casting choices that are really good including Mduduzi Mabaso (Gendeyana) who for me was another great casting.
I suppose what makes Shaka Ilembe better overall is the story time invested into many of the above characters that allows viewers to fully get attached to them. This is short in Shaka Zulu except for the key players themselves names Shaka, Nandi, Mudli, Ngomane, Mkabayi and others.
The lower score for Shaka Ilembe is because of Henry Cele - that will always remain King Shaka in my mind - he was so present on the screen, every scene with him oozes with charisma!
Shaka Ilembe 9/10 Shaka Zulu 10/10
✍🏾 Soundtrack and scoring
This one is a clear win for Shaka Zulu. Its not even arguable. Let me ask you, can you hum the main theme in full? Nope. But we all remember "boom boom boom boom boom boom, boom boom, boom boom!" right? Of course? And who can forget all the different theme tunes for each part they had?
The entrance of Shaka to take his throne from Senzangakona - wow! And the sound that accompanies that scary witch! And what about that beautiful haunting tune "Nandi, my name is Nandi"? I can still remember the chorus, "... for it was written in the prophecy, my son is born to rule"!
As for Shaka Ilembe, it is as if they were deliberately not serious about memorable tunes and scores for each character. As such, no tune stands out be it for Shaka himself, the mother, Dingiswayo, Zwide nothing!! For me this is a lamentable fail.
Shaka Ilembe 5/10 Shaka Zulu 10/10
✍🏾 Production design
Shaka Ilembe 7/10 Shaka Zulu 9/10
✍🏾 Costume design
Shaka Ilembe 10/10 Shaka Zulu 10/10
✍🏾 Sound editing
Shaka Ilembe 7/10 Shaka Zulu 8/10
✍🏾 Sets & Locations
Shaka Ilembe 8/10 Shaka Zulu 10/10
✍🏾 Visual & Special Effects
Shaka Ilembe 7/10 Shaka Zulu 8/10
Overall, though a tie, Shaka Zulu (1986) still stands out for me, but Shaka Ilembe is very good and worth the second and third season so that we get that full story rendering!
If you haven't watched it, I recommend you do so. Whenever they release this series on video, I shall be the first to buy the set like I did Shaka Zulu.
PS: On language? I am kind of stuck, whilst the Zulu language is original and cool, it makes Shaka Ilembe not carry any quotable quotes unlike the old one.
In the Shaka Zulu original, there are so many memorable dialogues and conversations worth mentioning!
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
