Zardoz is a quirky science fiction film, and one of Sean Connery's first attempts to break out of the James Bond mold. This is a truly bizarre and out of the box feature, and today may seem dated, but is also unique. In a time in the future when an experiment gone wrong leaves the earth mostly destroyed except for the handful of immortals and the others who grow their food for them and are routinely exterminated to keep their numbers in check. Sean Connery plays Zed, one of the executioners commanded by the floating Head of Zardoz. Zed's curiosity gets the better of him and he finds his way to the immortals. They ask of him one thing. Finding immortality boring they actually are seeking death. With the music of Beethoven (2nd Movement 7th Symphony) as counterpoint to the story The conclusion of the film is not what you might expect. If you like far out fiction, this is the one for you.
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rooprect26 February 2009Any time a film begins with a giant, 5-story stone head saying, "The gun is good. The penis is evil," you know you're in for a wild ride.
Oh, I also forgot the horribly silly prologue spoken by some dude with a magic marker moustache and an equally contrived pseudo-Elizabethan accent which is really what makes most people throw in the towel after 5 minutes. But if you can get past all that, it gets a lot better.
Once the Beethoven music begins (7th Symphony, 2nd movement--one of the most powerful compositions ever. Check it out on YouTube), the film takes on a decidedly more serious and legitimate personality. Some IMDb reviewers have said this is SOLELY due to the Beethoven music, and I suspect they're right. But hey, all is fair in film-making.
Anyway, whether it's due to the music or whatnot, the film progresses from the initial cheeziness shock, and we start to uncover some complex & interesting themes. The plot itself becomes more challenging as we realize it's not as straightforward as we had assumed at first. Some nice twists & turns, some clever deception, and a good old fashioned whodunnit type mystery come to the surface. There are some really surrealistic scenes like at the insane asylum which border on Kubrickian genius if you're into that sort of thing (the 3rd part of 2001 A Space Odyssey).
Acting is very good. You even come to accept the goofy guy with the magic marker moustache after a little while, because you realize he's just a jokester... sort of like the Shakespearian "fool".
And stay tuned because the payoff is the meaning of the word "Zardoz" which makes a powerful metaphor if you're paying attention. Overall, this is a nifty flick which--if you're into cool 70s dystopian scifis (Rollerball, Logan's Run)--you'll really enjoy. I'm tempted to rate it higher than a 7/10, but I just can't get over that gun/penis line LOL. -
gridoon18 January 2003"Zardoz" is either a brilliant visionary masterpiece, or the biggest blunder Sean Connery ever appeared in. I still haven't decided which (must watch it again first!). It has beautiful visuals and a surprisingly multi-layered script (the revelation of the title's meaning is a stunning moment), yet it also has parts so embarrassing (the "scientific examination of the male erection" scene comes to mind) that make you wonder how the participants managed to keep a straight face through them (the filming of this movie must have been great fun!). Ultimately, it's a film that defies ratings, but I'll try my best......*** out of 4.
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Infofreak12 January 2002I've seen some weird movies in my time! 'The Holy Mountain', 'Human Highway', 'Men behind The Sun', 'Nude For Satan', 'Pink Flamingos', 'Dune', but NOTHING as weird as 'Zardoz'! Nothing!
'Zardoz' has the feel of a Alan Smithee movie. It's like you're watching a movie made by committee or recut behind the director's back. But you see that it is written, produced and directed by John Boorman, the man who made the still dazzling revenge thriller 'Point Blank', and the first rate hillbilly suspense classic 'Deliverance', and you realize that this movie is EXACTLY what Boorman intended it to be. And your mind boggles!
'Zardoz' is neither a mindless sci fi action movie not a serious SF-as-ideas film ala Tarkovsky or Kubrick. It's... well, I don't know WHAT it is! A trippy Dystopian fantasy that cribs a few ideas from other sources (Huxley's Savage, Wells' Eloi and Morlocks, Moorcock's Jherek Carnelian), adds plenty of philosophical gobbledygook, some semi-naked babes, an embarrassed looking pony-tailed Sean Connery, and by the look of it, mixes in a bucket full of psychotropics, and hey presto! you end up with a movie like no other before or since!
'Zardoz' MUST be seen! By you. Right now. Unforgettable. -
Hey_Sweden28 April 2015Filmmaker John Boormans' follow-up to "Deliverance" is admittedly not to all tastes. Boorman, who also produced and wrote the film, gives us a one of a kind experience that, ultimately, is better seen than described. Words like "weird" and "provocative" come to mind when viewing it, because it's full of ideas.
It depicts a world of the future (the year 2293, to be exact) where a sly master intelligence, Zardoz, has contrived a way to keep unruly lower classes in line. One of the lower class people is an "exterminator", Zed (Sean Connery), whose job is to kill, period. One day Zed decides to seek truth, and hitches a ride in a great stone head, where he's transported to a "vortex", or environment, where the bored upper class, a group of immortal intellectuals, don't know what to make of him. He shakes up their world as much as they shake up his.
The most striking element of "Zardoz" is the visual approach. Filmed on location in Ireland, it takes us from one surreal set piece to another, with deliberately stylized dialogue. The cast plays the material with very straight faces. Connery looks fairly embarrassed, and considering the fact that his costume partly consists of a red diaper, one can hardly blame him. (He wasn't too happy about having to wear a wedding dress, either.) Charlotte Rampling, Sara Kestelman, John Alderton, Sally Anne Newton, and Niall Buggy co-star; of this group of actors, Buggy does manage to inject some humour into the proceedings.
This is sedately paced and short on action, but it's compelling in its own offbeat way, provided one is able to stick with the story. While it's not likely to be very appealing to a mainstream audience, it's not something easily forgotten for devotees of cult cinema.
Seven out of 10. -
utgard143 November 2016John Boorman's stylish sci-fi silliness about a bizarre future where a flying head named Zardoz is worshipped as a god, and people are divided into two factions, immortals and mortals. Sean Connery stars as Zed, a ponytailed mortal "exterminator" who runs around in a skimpy red outfit that has to be seen to be believed. He kills the man behind Zardoz (the wiZARD of OZ - that's cute) and finds himself transported to the place where the immortals hang out.
Lots of trippy ideas and visuals, which is the main selling point of this movie for many. But it's hard to take any of it seriously and the whole thing is dripping with pretentiousness. Connery does fine attempting to take his absurd role seriously but the best part of the cast is Charlotte Rampling, who actually made me forget I was watching nonsense for a bit. It's worth watching at least once, for the interesting imagery and the unintended laughs. There aren't any other movies quite like it and seeing Sean Connery in that outfit is enough to give anyone a case of the giggles. -
Witchfinder-General-66625 February 2009Director John Boorman is best known for the violent cult-classic "Deliverance" (1972) and his glorious version of the Arthurian legend, "Excalibur" of 1980. His bizarre and highly original Sci-Fi/Fantasy "Zardoz" of 1973 is yet another worthy entry to Boorman's repertoire, and while the film is far from flawless, it does deserve the certain cult-status it enjoys. His role in of Zed in "Zardoz" was the second for the great Sean Connery after his last engagement as (the only true) James Bond (a role which he should reprise in 1983 in "Never Say Never Again").
The film begins in the post-apocalyptic wastelands of 2292. The tribe of the "chosen ones", masked men with guns, is ordered by their bizarre deity, a huge flying head named "Zardoz" to massacre the "brutals", the common people. When Zed (Connery), a 'chosen one', climbs the flying head, which spits out guns for the followers of Zardoz, it turns out to be a machine, which leads him to the Vortex, a paradisaical place inhabited by bored immortals. The arrogant (human) immortals, who feel superior to the rest of humanity, keep the "brutals" out of their Vortex by using the "chosen ones" as their weapon... Sounds bizarre, and it is, in a great manner. Connery is great as always, and I could hardly imagine anyone else to play the role. It is also always a pleasure to see the very hot young Charlotte Rampling. Rampling is a great actress and stunning beauty, and she fits perfectly in her role of the Consuella, the most hostile of the immortals. Visually, the film is very interesting, and very much a product of its time. Both the uniform of the Chosen ones, which consists of masks, red speedos and long boots, and the psychedelic hippie-fashion of the immortals epitomize a future made in the 70s. The settings are great and the film's wonderfully bizarre tone makes it a must-see for lovers of cult-cinema. Yet the film has some flaws, the main of which is that it seems a bit too confused occasionally and sometimes becomes a bit boring in-between. However, the films many great qualities easily make up for its flaws. The performances are great, especially those of Connery, Rampling, Sara Kestelman and John Alderton. All in all, "Zardoz" is a highly interesting film, and the ending is simply brilliant. Highly recommended! -
AaronCapenBanner7 September 2013Sean Connery stars in director John Boorman's strange(to say the least) Sci-Fi satire as Zed, a warrior in a future Earth divided into two groups; Zed's, a violent world of marauding raiders struggling for survival, and costar Charlotte Rampling's, an intellectual world of thinkers inside a dome who have grown bored, and look at the outsiders as subhuman savages to be studied. They kidnap Zed to study him, but Rampling's character becomes attracted to his handsome vitality, and escorts him around their world, which has become a very weird place indeed...
Oh yes, a giant flying head appears periodically to the outsiders to give them weapons, which eventually leads to a war.
Bizarre satire is undeniably original and ambitious, but at some point, it becomes obvious that someone connected with it isn't taking this at all seriously, since it rambles close to self-parody(the eventual fates of the intellectuals comes to mind.) A noble failure, best viewed rather than described(Worth seeing at least once, not that I can honestly recommend it of course!) -
Red-Barracuda8 August 2016Ah, you've got to love the 70's. Only in that decade could a film so wilfully weird as Zardoz be released by one of the major studios. This was the decade where Hollywood went left-field and consequently released a large number of brilliantly odd movies. It would probably be fair to say that Zardoz is among the most bizarre. In those halcyon days between the release of the highly popular but highly strange 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and the decidedly more straightforward but astronomically successful Star Wars (1977), what constituted cinematic science fiction was often more conceptual than action-oriented. Zardoz is a pretty good example of this. Its writer and director was John Boorman who had just come off the back of the highly successful, yet decidedly disturbing, Deliverance (1972). The success of that film gave him enough leverage with Twentieth Century Fox that they gave him full control on his next feature, which was of course Zardoz. The result was a highly unusual and distinctive science fiction oddity. On release it seems to have quickly attained something of an infamous reputation. It was considered by the critics as an incoherent and self-indulgent mess. In fairness, it's not really surprising that it attracted such hostility, as while it is a film with lots of ideas, they are presented in a confused manner, with a somewhat muddled plot. However, I think from the point-of-view of today, this can surely now be mostly forgiven and we can appreciate the very fact that this was a sci-fi opus that wasn't afraid to simply let loose and go for it fully, with impressively little regard for commercial considerations.
Just recounting a brief synopsis reminds me just how strange the basic story for this one actually is. In the 23rd-century, in a post-apocalyptic Earth, we have a character called Zed. He is an Exterminator, one of the professional killers who eliminate Brutals on orders from a god known as Zardoz, who in turn is a giant floating stone head who spews forth weaponry for the Exterminators to use. Severe doubts lead Zed to stow away in the head of Zardoz and from this vantage point he enters the Vortex, which is the world of the immortal Eternals, a group of fey fops who are guardians to human culture and art. The introduction of this savage mortal into their midst is the catalyst for irrevocable changes in the Vortex.
See what I mean? The synopsis reads like madness. This is about as far removed from a high concept movie as you are likely to get. Its story-line is totally out there. But that is a significant part of this film's appeal, as unlike most films this one is highly unpredictable. You just can't really work out where it's going to go next and this is something of a serious plus point in its favour. It considers the ideas of utopia and immortality, and the resultant boredom associated with each. There is maybe a little too much convoluted high-minded dialogue about various matters but some of the ideas connect. It's stylised in that it is the future as seen from the 70's. Some people used the word 'dated' to describe the likes of this. I personally do not like that word and consider it meaningless, moreover I think the look of the future from the point-of-view of the 70's is actually a pretty interesting one and is another plus point for this film. Visually, this one has much going for it generally, with some psychedelic sequences and surreal moments. It's colourful, bizarre and imaginative. In films so offbeat as this acting performances often feel like something of an afterthought but special mention has to be made for Sean Connery who is in a role about as far removed from James Bond as is emotionally possible. He goes around in a deeply unflattering outfit but does so in an impressively committed way, so kudos to Connery for giving such a serious performance in a nappy. Ice queen Charlotte Rampling is also on hand, and is perfectly cast as one of the aloof Eternals; it sometimes feels like Rampling only appeared in cult movies and, well, this sure qualifies as another one. In summary, Zardoz is most certainly not for everyone but it's a movie that grows on you, there really is nothing else like it. -
claudio_carvalho17 August 2003In 2223, Zed (Sean Connery) is a kind of priest of a new religion: he terminates with the brutals. This 'new religion' of admirers of Zardoz controls the society simply killing the so-called 'brutals'. The confused plot is presented in flashbacks, so any comment may be a spoiler. Therefore, it is better off not make additional comments. Watching Zardoz in 2003 sounds strange. This low budget B-movie was made 1974, when the world has the 'Peace and Love' generation, the remake of 'Lost Horizon' one year before, 'Logan's Run' two years later and 'Hair' some five years later. In 2003, Zardoz is aged, but twenty-nine years ago it was a cult movie in close touch with the pop culture of that moment. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Zardoz"
Note: On 15 February 2021, I saw this film again. -
Prismark1016 July 2016Director John Boorman made a trippy, hippy film that is preposterously 1970s. It is some kind of pseudo intellectual futuristic allegory about society and religion.
This really is an cultish, obscure film. Everyone knows about the silly costumes in the film but it is so rarely shown, very few people have actually seen it.
Zardoz stars Sean Connery wearing some kind of mankini, at least he had the physique for it. He is a pony tailed barbarian who kills and slaughters in order to keep the population under control. They obey a giant stone head who regularly appears to collect the harvest from the slave population and spews out guns so the barbarians can launch a killing spree.
Connery gets inside the head and into a vortex where he finds a race of Immortals who cannot die but they can age as punishment into senility unless they are born again. It looks like death would be welcomed by this people. There is a joker in the pack who pushes Connery to read and realises that Zardoz is pointing him to a yellow brick road.
The Emerald isle stands for this futuristic Emerald city, having a real man about causes some eroticism amongst the women inside the vortex but the film is so loosely structured with some bizarre 1970s fashion, oh my John Alderton and his golden locks, please sir, just put it away.
The film is rather impenetrable, bizarre and yet wondrous. Despite some not very good effects and not being such a good film it is an important part of British/Irish sci fi. -
ShadeGrenade20 March 2010'Zardoz' is the kind of fantasy which tends to be overrated by some, underrated by many. It came out when science fiction cinema consisted mainly of bleak visions of tomorrow, such as 'A Clockwork Orange', 'No Blade Of Grass', 'Soylent Green' and even the 'Planet Of The Apes' series. 'Star Wars' came along in 1977 and everything changed.
Set in a post-atomic future where Mankind has divided into two factions - the Brutals, who practice violence and worship a flying stone head called 'Zardoz', and the Eternals, who possess immortality and psychic powers. Zed, an Exterminator, ( Sean Connery ), becomes curious about Zardoz and, after hiding away in its mouth, is taken back to its point of origin. The Eternals live in the Vortex, a sort of techno-hippie commune guarded by a force field. Zed is regarded as a freak, and used for scientific study by May ( Sara Kestleman ). But his presence in the Vortex has been planned - weary of living forever, the Eternals wish Zed to relieve them of their monotonous existences. He does so, but keeps Consuela ( Charlotte Rampling ) alive, and the film ends on an optimistic note with the birth of their son.
Written and directed by John Boorman, fresh from the hugely successful 'Deliverance', 'Zardoz' was made in Ireland in 1973 on a low budget, and is a visually arresting experience. Like Godard's 'Alphaville', it overcomes its limitations. The first thirty or so minutes are powerful, as we enter a world that is terrifyingly staggering. The sight of the open-mouthed 'Zardoz' flying across the countryside is enough to induce nightmares. But it grows cluttered as Boorman unwisely tries to get as many messages across as possible. The Vortex was created by scientists, who having achieved their goal of immortality have become apathetic. The last forty minutes or so minutes are tough going, but ultimately rewarding. The scene where Zed tells May how he came to realise 'Zardoz' was fake ( he had read 'The Wizard Of Oz' in a children's library ) is wonderful.
Yes, Connery goes through the whole movie in a loin cloth ( luckily, he was in good physical shape back then ), but gives a strong performance. Charlotte Rampling is a stunning 'Consuela', and John Alderton ( of 'Please Sir!' ) sports a curly blonde wig in the role of 'Friend'.
I have watched this many times and do not claim to understand every word, but the basic theme - one man standing out from the crowd to get at the truth - is unmistakable. 'Zardoz' hails from a time when film makers were free to experiment with ideas, and not restricted by the need to dumb down their work in order to achieve popular success. -
neil-47625 March 2010I'm a baby boomer. I'm also a science fiction fan and a movie fan. But, until the coming of Star Wars, there were precious few science fiction movies to satisfy us post-war babies.
So I greeted Zardoz with enthusiasm. And it was great! Murderous thugs - the Brutals (catchy name, I wonder how they came to choose it) - swanning around a grim and gritty post-apocalypse landscape,gunning down innocents, while a giant flying head spews out firearms and ammunition to fuel the status quo.
Then one of the Brutals - Sean Connery - shows he had some brains, stows away on the giant flying head, and discovers a secret hidden valley where there was a group of people who didn't live in mud. Plus they were clever and immortal and hippie-ish and didn't do killing.
Well, OK. Not so much fun as riding around shooting people in mud, but I'll give it a chance.
The trouble is it then gets a bit talky and existentialist or metaphysical or something and, to be frank, a tad difficult to follow. Anyway, it all ends up for the best - the Brutals break in and kill all the clean, hippie-type people, and Sean Connery swans off with Charlotte Rampling and starts a family. And then they die. Or something.
Oh, and Sean Connery wears the least macho costume ever worn by a macho protagonist in a mainstream movie.
Sheer genius. I could never have thought of it. -
paulclaassen6 August 2023If you're a Sean Connery fan, you have to see 'Zardoz' - not for the film; for him!! This meaty hunk of a man with his lean body and hairy chest is wearing nothing more than what looks like a nappy for almost the entire movie! Allow me to wipe the drool from my mouth...
'Zardoz' is about...uhm, well... its about Sean Connery in his underwear!!! No, seriously, this is a fantasy adventure set in 2293 where the world is divided between God-like immortals and farmers - or Brutals- who produce food for these immortals. The immortals live in luxury in a Vortex, but they've become bored.
Sean Connery stars as Zed, a brutal who finds his way into a giant stone head (supposedly a god to the brutals), and is taken into the Vortex - where no mortal has ever been. Arriving in the Vortex, Consuella (Charlotte Rampling) wants Zed destroyed. However, through voting from the other immortals, it is decided he should be kept alive for study purposes. (I would have liked to study him, too - in detail!!).
Originally believed to be an inferior "beast", the immortals discover Zed is in fact far superior to them, and that he holds the power to destroy them, if he wanted to.
'Zardoz' has a confusing plot. It is all very satirical, off course. It's a mix of modern and medieval. Much of the Vortex might as well have been a depiction of hell. The film is also a mockery of religion, so Christians might view it as blasphemy. There's no denying, this is a very weird film. The final moments, especially, are weird - to say the least!
You have to love some of the silly dialogue, for instance "Guns are good. The penis is evil. The penis shoots seed and make new life...". There's also the scene where the immortals can't understand how a penis can go from flaccid to erect (what, so these immortal men can't?!!), so they show Zed sensual images, waiting for him to have an erection. (I would, too...). This scene has everyone - men included - looking at his crotch.
There are many funny moments and also unintentional funny moments. Ultimately, this is one fantasy adventure that's going to confuse the hell out of you, and which definitely is not going to satisfy everyone's palate. I can't really recommend this - unless you want to stare at a manly physique in the form of Sean Connery... -
The supremely visionary gifts of imagination of director/writer John Boorman rival those of legendary Arthur C. Clarke in this production, one even more amazing today than it was nearly thirty-seven years ago. Almost a template of what social engineering has wrought as a model for our future, depopulation and protected environment exclusively for the elite (with even a presumption of immortality thrown in) Zardoz is about manipulation through myth and where any ultimate conclusion to inherently confined and opportunistic "unnatural selection", as opposed to that natural selection of evolution, leads. This leap in inevitability is thus an utter inspiration inspired by profound wisdom in the acknowledgment of the complex that makes humankind unique in their adaptability. The very thing social engineering most frequently overlooks, in its mindless service to the elite.
The performances of Sean Connery as, Zed and that of Charlotte Rampling as, Consuella are among this film's many gifts, not the least of which is its beautiful setting, choreography, special effects, and scene changes. Be all this as it may, however, the value of this movie in expressing a potential for the future wholly untenable for most to at once conceive at the time it was made....now, which is becoming more and more apparent, at least in intent, is worthy of utmost praise. JCH -
barnabyrudge18 November 2004There are conventional films, then there are unusual films and, from time to time, there are downright weird films. Zardoz is several stages beyond downright weird. It is a one-of-a-kind science fiction vision which will alienate many viewers because of its sheer bizarreness. In terms of plot, characters and visuals, it is completely unlike anything made before or since. And, on top of all that, it has a few mainstream stars to boot (Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling being the main ones). I can't think of a weirder film than this with such familiar faces in it.
In the future, planet Earth has suffered from years of crime and pollution. Society has split into two groups. In the outlandslive theBrutals, savage and simple people who live in near-medieval conditions and are policed by a group of remorseless, organised killers called the Exterminators. Protected from this savage society within an impenetrable vortex is another group - the Eternals, intellectual people who have learned to live peacefully in an idyllic paradise and have developed knowledge of how to become immortal. One Exterminator, Zed (Sean Connery), penetrates the Vortex by hiding aboard a flying stone head called Zardoz (a God-like invention of the Eternals, who use it to trick the Brutals into doing as they say). Zed's arrival in the world of the Eternals revives long dormant emotions of sexuality and aggression, and brings about the downfall of society in the Vortex.
Zardoz is heavy-going and somewhat confusing, but the more times you watch it the more sense can be made of it. Visually it is wonderful and thematically it is always interesting, though the pretentiousness does get irritating from time to time. What I like about it is that it isn't just a story of good .vs. evil, with lots of laser gun shootouts. Director Boorman is trying very hard here to imagine a plausible future society, and to show the dangers of social division and the even greater dangers of achieving immortality. It's very much a thinking man's sci-fi film, and even then it requires patience and repeat-viewings to unravel the complexities. Zardoz is not enjoyable - it's far too challenging and heavy-going for that - but it is interesting, and it definitely provokes thought and discussion. Best described as a very noble failure. -
Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling star in this cold, meandering, often howlingly silly science-fiction melodrama which has futuristic savage Sean led into a world of decadent youths who mean to exploit and kill him. Convoluted premise is cluttered up with pseudo-intellectual dialogue, uninteresting characters and set-pieces, and one embarrassed-looking male lead. John Boorman, who wrote and directed (perhaps on acid), doesn't look as though he gained the trust or confidence of his cast; they stumble about with question marks on their faces. Pretentious in all respects, the film looks bad and has no soul, and the secret behind the title astounds one with its obviousness. The worst funny line (among many) occurs when a male voice, transmitting from a crystal, says to Connery, "You have penetrated me!" An ordeal which completely alienates the audience. *1/2 from ****
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Bored_Dragon5 April 2020This one definitely goes to "WTF I Just Watched ?!" list. Low-budget independent SF with Sean Connery in the lead role, whose fee of $200.000 makes one-fifth of the total movie budget. Given the very low ratings on the movie sites, I probably would never have looked it up, but when I saw Sean's outfit, the film immediately jumped to my priority watch-list. The movie definitely lived up to my expectations, and Sean's red panties are not by far the silliest thing to see. The whole aesthetic of the film screams the seventies and is reminiscent of the odd blend of "Flash Gordon" and "A Clockwork Orange." But all the cheapness of the production, as well as the over-the-top moments and acting are not a flaw here, but are at the service of the surreal atmosphere and messages that the film conveys. And there are quite a few, and if you don't allow yourself to be distracted by cheesy colorfulness, the movie will give you some interesting topics to contemplate. The symbolism of this film and the philosophy behind it could be discussed broadly, but I think it is better if you experience this unusual and, I believe, unforgettable experience yourself.
7,5/10 -
SnoopyStyle23 May 2015It's the year 2293. Humanity is divided into the immortal "Eternals" and mortal "Brutals". Arthur Frayn is Zardoz, a fake God and an immortal. He directs his followers the Chosen Ones to exterminate Brutals and gives them guns. Zed (Sean Connery) hitches a ride in the floating head and shoots Arthur Frayn. He comes to the Vortex and meet other Eternals with psychic powers like Consuella (Charlotte Rampling), Friend (John Alderton) and May (Sara Kestelman). The Eternals are suffering from a disease that makes them Apathetics.
This is quite a weird psychedelic sci-fi. It borders close to camp. The big flying head is imaginative and outlandish. It's a real eye catcher. The problem is that the cheesiness never stops. If Sean Connery's outfit doesn't make you laugh, then the crystal obsessed flower-power rejects may cause a few chuckles. The story of struggling immortals is slightly interesting but lacks any excitement. The story has no tension but the silly style is at least interesting. -
DaJ10 July 2005Without question, the most brilliant bad movie EVER made: Red man-panties, gun-vomiting hot air balloon stone heads, flying books on fishing line, neat-o dance numbers (or at least ballroom catharsis), magic marker facial hair, elitist-hippie government, inexplicable backward-masking (check out Friend in the kitchen), the ugliest bride in the history of cinema, cool jewelry, the Internet before the Internet was the Internet (or even computerized), Big Brother, HAL, and David Niven merged into one, lots of flowy sheer curtains, EXCELLENT decorating ideas, nifty forms of mass transit, a profound sense of anatomy, and, perhaps most chillingly, an apocalyptic warning that, if we do not change our ways, we face a future COMPLETELY DEVOID OF UNDERGARMENTS.
Genius. Simply genius. -
bkoganbing12 December 2006Zardoz is one of the most ambitious films ever undertaken. It may have been a little too ambitious for its own good. There's a whole lot to keep in your head and it does take away from the enjoyment of the film.
It's an interesting alternative telling of the Garden of Eden story with a mixture of the Wizard of Oz. Only this particular Eden is a trap where the people in it, a self created elite, are so bored with immortality they long for the release of death.
Outside of the Eden known as the Tabernacle, in the rest of the war ravaged future Earth live the Brutals. Those are the folks who didn't make the cut of membership for the elite. They just survive out there, hunting, farming, whatever and they have to watch out for a special group of trained killers who are given guns by the elite of the Tabernacle to kill them just to keep the population down. Wouldn't teaching them about condoms and the pill been a little less bloody?
Anyway one of the killers, a chap named Zed played by Sean Connery, breaks into paradise where no one from the outside has been in several hundred years and he becomes an object of fear and curiosity. Study him or kill him is the debate that rages for the rest of the film.
There's a lot to digest with Zardoz. One of the consequences of immortality is the fact that with no need to propagate, certain sexual functions in the male have been discarded. That's causing a certain antsiness in the females of paradise and Connery might be an answer to a lot of prayers.
Like the Garden of Eden story, Connery gains knowledge through in this case more than one Eve and knowledge destroys the garden. But here the population of Eden can't wait to be released from paradise one way or the other. The final moments showing Connery and Charlotte Rampling as the new founders of a renewed human race are unforgettable.
I saw Zardoz in the theater back in the day and back then the critical response wasn't good. It's an interesting film, but more cerebral than entertaining. Maybe it provokes too much thought for its own good.
One thing you might be wary of. Depending on your view and tolerance of controlled substance you should be forewarned or urged as the case may be in seeing Zardoz while stoned or high. -
planktonrules20 April 2007This is a weird psychedelic-style movie from the 70s that probably could not be made today, as this movie was NOT commercially-oriented and seemed designed for a "hip" audience--the average person then, as now, would probably have no interest in this film. While I like sci-fi and did like SOME aspects of the film, the weird, "artsy-fartsy" and often sterile nature of the film really put me off and left me thinking that with a re-write, this COULD have been an exceptional film. I like the idea of a dystopia--a future society that is worse and more repressive than current society (sort of like BRAVE NEW WORLD or 1984), but in this case the style of the film really annoyed me. The stupid costumes and hairstyles (that were highly reminiscent of FELLINI SATYRICON) were just distracting and seemed inspired by LSD. For example, seeing Sean Connery running around with his weird ponytail, strange loin cloth red garb and REALLY hairy body were at first very funny to see...at first. But combining this with all the other over-the-top elements just looked like it was the illegitimate step-child of BARBARELLA but with a much more serious and bizarre storyline. And speaking of story, the film did have some good points to make about stagnation and a perpetually ignorant race of slaves was pretty novel and interesting to a point. But the elderly people with dementia and all the other goofy bits just made the story to overwhelming and silly to be taken seriously. An interesting experiment that ultimately failed.
By the way, the film has a lot of nudity and is very sexual in nature, and so parents are advised to think about this before letting the kids watch this. -
miszel26 July 2005This movie just about defines what a Great Bad Movie is supposed to be.
It starts off with Sean Connery dressed only in red diapers and bandoleers sneaking into a giant levitating stone head, passes through a fruity utopian post-nuclear society, and then heads into post-modern literary references.
The film looks like it was cooked up at an LSD fuelled party in the 70's that I wish I had been at. I wonder if Boorman came up with Excalibur at the same party. Visually there is a similar thread in both films. One is just a whole lot more coherent than the other. At first viewing Zardoz makes no sense at all, but is so wonderfully weird, so out there that you stare at it in disbelief. How did they get James Bond to run around Northern England in his undies? Why is the bread green? What's with the magic marker mustache? These are the types of questions that come to mind and keep you wading through the mess on the screen. The questions keep your mind occupied while your eyes feast on state of the art 70's futuristic concepts. It's as brilliantly fascinating as a 10 car freeway pile-up and you can watch it with considerably less guilt.
Everything is so beautifully, perfectly confusing in this film that it was with a heavy heart that I had to admit after the 4th viewing that it DOES MAKE SENSE. I will not spoil the fun for anyone else but the whole thing really does come together. I can only say that you should enjoy the cacophony while it lasts because once you get the film's storyline it's not half as fun. Though there are still some great lines of dialogue left: "I'm voting for him, Monster" being my favourite.
In any case viewing the film from a 21st century perspective reminds me that back in the 70's some very original, idea based SF movies could be made with a fittingly large budget. Some of these films have become classics which is more than I can say for the big-budget, no-brainer crap that mostly comes out of Hollywood nowadays.
I wholeheartedly recommend Zardoz for those who can admit to cinephilic guilty pleasures! -
Dan1863Sickles12 December 2004I had heard for years what an awful movie this was, so when I saw it at BORDERS the other day for just $7.99, I thought I'd give it a try just for fun. I was really surprised -- this is one of the most beautifully photographed, sexy and intriguing science fiction films ever!
The big ideas of the film are not very interesting -- immortality is a curse, nature cannot be denied, and so on. Playing Dracula, Bela Lugosi said everything this film says about immortality in two lines, without even drawing attention to himself. "To die -- to be really dead -- that must be glorious. There are far worse things awaiting man, than death." Lugosi said it best, this movie simply repeats. And repeats.
What does break new ground is the sensual way the movie explores gender roles and power. In this decadent, passionless immortal world, women have far more power than men. The sumptuous sets and revealing costumes all create a languorous mood of luxury, where women rule and men are perpetually powerless puppets. When shaggy, strong, self-confident Sean Connery enters the realm of cool, calm, steely Charlotte Rampling, the stage is set for the most exciting clash of wills since -- well, since Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, if you could picture them actually wearing sexy clothes and going at it full on with grunts and animal style, and with luxury and elegance and full color photography!
The way that the brutal Zed and the prim Consuela clash and spar and finally come together should make this picture a great romance, sort of like THE African QUEEN meets 2001. Unfortunately, the endless babble of aging immortals and philosophical junk soon overcomes the movie's real strength. Instead of riding off into the sunset on horseback, as they should have, Zed and Consuela are hurriedly buried in a really lame time lapse sequence that lamely repeats yet again (for the umpteenth time) the message that mortality is a blessing. Sure it is. But this was a great love story that should have been. -
I've seen ZARDOZ about a billion times. I'm not kidding. Every time it's on TV, I watch it. I'm endlessly fascinated by it because it's a type of film that was made in the 1970s which isn't being made anymore today: so-called bold far-out ideas told in a very atmospheric manner with lots of flash and pretension, with almost complete disregard of the audience. I really miss those kinds of films. Films like SOYLENT GREEN, DEMON SEED, PHASE IV, etc.
With that being said I have to admit that ZARDOZ is basically an unfiltered end result of John Boorman's massive ego than about actual bold ideas. It's one thing to have what seem to be far-out ideas and work with them in a bold way but it's another thing altogether to basically turn everything into a masturbatory celebration of one's ego. There's no point in giving examples, everything IS on screen. But the most telling part is the last shot with Connery and Rampling, wearing what looks like Irish green costumes and both looking like Robin and Marian, aging rapidly while their natural offspring grows up between them. After going through the entire film only to end up with a trite ending that basically promotes an Adam & Eve ideal, well that last scene basically kills the entire movie and one suddenly realizes that Boorman is not interested in far-out mind-bending ideas but in the same old, same old.
Basically, the entire film is just Boorman taking everything to task, smashing all of it against his own trite personal philosophy in a tired effort to dismiss everything that's not in concordance with his views. Pseudo-Hippies, women, non-violent men, technology, etc, all end up being obliterated so that Adam & Eve can reign supreme again. There's nothing forward thinking about Adam & Eve.
I love mind-bending sci-fi or fantasy films filled with ideas that make you think. ZARDOZ is not one of them. It's a blunt egotistical attack (spiced with humor) on anything that's not the status quo masquerading as fantasy/science-fiction.
If it's on TV, I'll still watch it. Like Boorman's EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC, ZARDOZ is a kind of big pretentious over-the-top messy film that's not being made anymore.