Zardoz (1974)

In the distant future, a savage (Sean Connery) trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that alone preserves humanity's achievements.Roger Ebert called it a "genuinely quirky movie, a trip into a future that seems ruled by perpetually stoned set decorators... The movie is an exercise in self-indulgence." Well, that is is a very polite way of putting it.Of course, it was inevitable that this would be a cult film. Sean Connery in a weird outfit somewhere in the future where the 1970s still exist, only in a strange way. How can that not find a home as a midnight movie? Not really a very good one, but with enough strange moments (including the "erection experiment") to amuse some viewers.

Zardoz (1973)Plot In A Paragraph: In the distant future, Zed (Connery) a savage trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that alone preserves humanity's achievements.Director John Boorman started to write Zardoz while preparing to adapt The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, but when the studio became hesitant about the cost of producing film versions of Tolkien's books, Boorman continued to be interested in the idea of inventing a strange new world, and pressed ahead with this one. After the success of his last movie Deliverance, he was allegedly given Carte Blanc to do as he wanted on the movie by 20th Century Fox. And it shows. Originally, Burt Reynolds was cast in the lead role (having just worked with Boorman) but had to pull out due to an injury and was replaced by Connery for $200,000. Allegedly Boorman never got over it, and thought Reynolds had let him down. As a Reynolds fan, I'm glad he didn't do it. It is awful. Truly awful. All actors have a real stinker or two in their resume, and This is one Connery's. There was not much for Connery to do but lend his physical presence to the role. He made his first entrance, firing his gun straight into the camera (deliberately recalling Bond) He was in excellent shape and ware very little (and orange line cloth and thigh high boots) for the third non Bond movie he was sporting a mustache, and this time he If you want to see Connery in a wedding dress, this may be the movie for you. I can safely say, I'll probably die, having never rewatched this movie again!!On a budget of $1.5 million Zardoz grossed $1.8 million at the domestic box office.

What's wrong with this movie? Well it's production quality isn't the best and it's not intended for a widespread audience, but it's a marvel that it exists. The creativity and stylistic flair of this film is beyond what is acceptable today, the ideas and deconstruction of ideas will not ever see the light of projectors again. If you've ever experienced living in a political cult you will know what this movie is about, the echo chamber of repetitious ideas being spewed incessantly from the mouths of the "virtuous" and the expulsion of the outside thinkers. The powerful Begging to be killed because there is no longer a way out of a cycle they have created them self, no longer is there masculinity or femininity but a androgynous cult of immortals who's only task is to feel superior to everything else outside their "safe space" the vortex.The death of gender, the death of sex, the death of freedom of speech and the living death of the immortals. Zee is the only one who is free in the world, he educated himself rather than follow indoctrination of Zardoz and this makes him aware of the corruption of power that is ruling the world. This is a lesson that is valuable to us all today, information is available everywhere freely but the masses are only guided by social principles and pressures to conform.Zardoz is a legit social commentary and it's good entertainment, I feel like people can enjoy it's zany presentation and it's absurdity as it is a low budget sci-fi and perhaps appreciate the social commentary. It's kinda like one punch man, you can enjoy the portrayal of each villain in OPM as it shows creatively what Saitama finds to be evil in the world but you can also just enjoy the great action and the spectacular display when he destroys his opponents with a single blow, very cathartic indeed. The social commentary in OPM is very subtle to most but everyone finds the show entertaining at the very least, this is kinda how I feel about Zardoz.Zed's a goofy looking hero taking out the enemy after exploring their purpose, he takes them out with little effort at all. If there were a remake today I would definitely go.

The perspective one has on Zardoz will depend on whether or not one saw it in the original theater run. Growing up in the 1970's brings a perspective that modern viewers just won't have.This review was prompted by a re-viewing of Zardoz prompted by a text message from a friend who claimed he wasted 2 hours of his life watching this awful tripe. My friend knew I would know Zardoz.I originally saw Zardoz first run at the Eastown Theater. The Eastown theater was the last big screen theater in the USA in the 1970's. Back then the neighborhood laughed their buns off for weeks over how silly it was. Zardoz is like an extended Monty Python script that goes on and on.The attempt at a sociological statement is laudable. The result is laughable.The giant floating head spews guns and ammunition. Well, how does the weaponry get manufactured? There are no manufacturing facilities anywhere. Also...would not ejecting Winchesters up into the air and down on the ground damage at least some of the weapons? Wouldn't it be wiser...since the Brutals enter the head to put in the grain...to just have the Brutals pick up the weapons on the way out? The Immortals in the Vortex have lost all sexual desire. OK...don't they still have to use the bathroom (like, where is the trash and sewage system in the vortex)? Don't their clothes get stinky (no one ever changes clothes...unless you became a banished aged one...which means)? Who makes the clothes for the banished aged immortals? What do the women do when they have their menstrual cycle (no stores to buy tampons at; do they bleed down their legs)? These are just a few of the unanswered but obvious questions about life in the Vortex. Life in the Vortex makes no sense.The film is also weighted down by the film construct of better than half the movie being made of motionless people standing or laying around pontificating. Note to all authors and filmmakers: if you want to bore your audience to tears then orate like heck with no motion and you will have them snoozing in no time.As teenagers we thought Zardoz was silly. As an adult I found it to be a nice idea for a movie but an idea for a movie doth not a movie make. I still found Zardoz to be silly