10 MORE War Movie Plot Twists Nobody Saw Coming

Helm's Deep ain't got nothing on these chaps. Chronicling the miraculous defence of Rorke's Drift during the Anglo-Zulu war, 1964's Zulu is a masterful war outing.

Based on a remarkable true story, Cy Enfield's film depicts a struggle against seemingly impossible odds - the tale of how 150 British soldiers held off a force of more than 4,000 Zulu warriors. To lend some context to the feat of this extraordinary account, 11 men received the Victoria Cross for their exploits in the battle - the most ever awarded for a single action to this day.

Amongst these individuals was one Private Henry Hook, introduced to viewers as a serial malingerer confined to Rorke's Drift's hospital after consistently feigning illness. Described as "a thief, a coward and an insubordinate barrack-room lawyer" by his superiors, James Booth's Hook hardly seems the type to throw himself into any undue heroics if there's nothing in it for him.

As such, the unmasking of his true character comes as a shocking plot twist in the bloody chaos of the battle that soon ensues. After the Zulus set the hospital on fire, Hook gallantly rallies the patients to repel their attackers. This unlikely hero even manages to get several stricken patients to safety, hacking a hole in the wall to allow them to escape as the hospital collapses in flames.

Don't judge a Hook by its cover.