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A box office failure, John Boorman's Zardoz has developed a cult following among science fiction fans whose tastes run toward more cerebral fare, such as The Andromeda Strain and Phase IV. An entrancing if overly ambitious (by Boorman's own admission) film, Zardoz offers pointed commentary on class structure and religion inside its complex plot and head-movie visuals; its healthy doses of sex and violence will involve viewers even if the story machinations escape them. Beautifully photographed near Boorman's home in Ireland's Wicklow Mountains by Geoffrey Unsworth (2001), its production design is courtesy of longtime Boorman associate Anthony Pratt, who creates a believable society within the film's million-dollar budget. The letterboxed DVD presentation includes engaging commentary by Boorman, who discusses the special effects (all created in-camera) as well as working with a post-Bond Connery. --Paul Gaita
| ACTORS: | Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling |
| CATEGORY: | DVD |
| DIRECTOR: | John Boorman |
| THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: | February, 1974 |
| MANUFACTURER: | Twentieth Century Fox |
| MPAA RATING: | R (Restricted) |
| FEATURES: | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen |
| TYPE: | Science Fiction |
| MEDIA: | DVD |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 024543013051 |
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Customer Reviews of Zardoz
Boorman's Odd Cod of Sci-fi ZARDOZ is bizarrely intriquing film.But not,perhaps,for reasons Director John Boorman "wishes" it to be. Geoffrey Unsworth's mist/mystical photography is effective; scenery(near Boorman's home in Ireland)is beautiful.The score--excerpts from Beethoven's 7th Symphony--is moving. Sean Connery,as usual,has excellent screen presence delivering fine performance as mutant/killer Messiah,Zed: ZARDOZ'licensed to kill,Angel of Death.
Only Sean Connery could get away with loping around in glorified jock strap waving a .44 seeming dignified; menacing and "dramatically" engrossed in a film whose script often devolves into high-level home movie, art school project.I'm amazed the Director of EXCALIBUR and DELIVERANCE...beautifully accomplished
adventures evoking icons and archetypal themes...should stumble so often in this one. It's not terrible movie making,technically it does marvelous things on a million dollar budget But, in my estimate, much of this excursion into fairy tales;myth;religion and 2001 Kinsey Report sexuality;is bogus(if not unintentionally goofy).
Boorman's frame-by-frame commentary is fascinating. There are "light years" between what he did on film; what he THOUGHT he did; and what he wanted to do. ZARDOZ has become cult attraction. It's worth a good look(maybe you'll become enamoured of emerald green bread). But it's not the classic it traded-on, or aspired to be. It's merely a not quite wonderous odd cod of sci-fi...
Cult Classic Sci-Fi --not to be missed
John Boorman's Zardoz was not a box-office success by any means. And it is surprising how many people who love sci-fi haven't ever heard of this film. Well, if you love off-center science fiction, and you love Sean Connery (who doesn't?) then you may well want to add this to your classics-of-sci-fi library.
Connery plays Zed, a sort of enforcer whose mandate is to eliminate Brutals, the usual bestial survivors of a post-apocalyptic society. Yes, this theme is well-trodden ground, (Mad Max,Planet of the Apes, and ten other films I can think of offhand.) At least Zed (Connery) is clad in a thrillingly brief red loin cloth while he discharges his duties. This should perk up any women watching the film.
A large stone head, Zardoz the god, flies about, making sure that Zed and his like are doing diligence, thumping those Brutals. But Zed isn't just a muscle-bound pretty face, he's intelligent and curious. He climbs into the stone head while it makes a pit stop and Zed is carried into a surprising new world, the world of the Eternals. Typically, eternal life ends up robbing those who enjoy it of the zest and tang of a nasty, brutal and short life. Zed sets about to put this problem to rights.
The film was made with a wonderfully low budget, on the order of a million bucks, so the scenery is quite creative; mostly weather balloons and tie-dyed parachutes. You don't notice this the first time you watch the film, because the cast, including the evilly beautiful Charlotte Rampling are captivating.
If you like weird sci-fi and don't need state-of-the-art special effects or a plot that has deeper meaning, you will thoroughly enjoy Zardoz. It's a classic, so get out the popcorn and try something a little different.
Something to Think About ¿ Burt Reynold Was Originally Sched
One afternoon, 10 years after it was released, I saw Zardoz in a moviehouse in Georgetown and didn't get it - except that Sean Connery was still very sexy. Recently, the serendipity of watching The Swimmng Pool with Charlotte Rampling suggested giving this Boorman allegory another chance. I finally get it and had fun seeing it again. Three reasons to watch Zardoz are John Boorman's emerging vision and personal iconography, the power of Sean Connery's presence and acting (especially at the point in his career when he was trying to break from the Bond type-cast), and Geoffrey Unsworth's masterful photography.
Boorman and his actors put their hearts and talent on the line. Connery pulls off wearing the red loincloth and wedding dress, pulling a rickshaw and effectively performing scenes like the lecture on libido with subtle irony. Charlotte Rampling, Sara Kestelman, and other actresses can survive wearing go-go boots or performing nude while portraying strong women in conflict reacting to Zed's mojo. The whole cast of immortals are such good actors that you can giggle about the horror of wearing macramé tops and overly foofed hair, but they suspend your belief in the nightmare society these characters have created. Unsworth not only films this movie; he validates the vision with clear images that indulges Boorman's penchant for setting archetypes and going all Jungian on us. It is beautiful to watch and mostly poetic.
Boorman stuffs the movie with cinematic references like Welles and Peckinpah, much like the immortals have stuffed their museum. In his commentary, he admits putting too much in the film and that he would do things differently with more money and experience. At the beginning, there are moments that almost feel like Monty Python's Holy Grail or Woody Allen's Sleeper, but the movie progresses past that. The set design was interesting, but I felt that the costuming was just a little too groovy. He also admits that some of this cult classic is laughable, but the actors and the camera take it seriously enough to trap us in the Vortex and follow Zed as he searches for the truth. I am a sucker for personal films, and everybody involved made this personal to their truth.
Given what has been going on in Silicon Valley, Zardoz is still very pertinent. The irony is that celluloid projections on glass, superimposed images on film and light refracting from faceted crystals simulated computers, which were used to depict John Boorman's vision of 2293. In any remake, instead of green bread, Boorman's successor would have to direct the brutals in assembling green pizzas, and a notion of a religious mystery commanding the terminators would be named by the corruption of the phrase - Stock Option. Their god would be called Ckoption. Nyahhh! Just watch Zardoz.