Zardoz
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Movie Reviews of Zardoz
Movie Review: One of the greatest, and most underrated, sci-fi flicks ever
Summary: 5 Stars
When director John Boorman made "Zardoz" back in 1973/4, hewas hot off of the success of his classic thriller "Deliverance",
and pretty much allowed to do whatever he wanted. The result
was this completely different sci-fi film "Zardoz", which took
place in the year 2293 and featured one of the most sophisticated
and complex plots of any sci-fi movie before or since. The movie
was savaged upon its release as pretentious and hard to follow,
and is today looked back on by movie guides as a campy 70s oddity, simply because it features Sean Connery running around
in oversized red underwear. However, even its harshest critics
are usually forced to admit that the film boasts an impressive visual style, which is indeed the case.
Written during the immediate post-psychedelic era, "Zardoz" was
a clear attempt to encapsulate the intellectual and spiritual
concerns of those acid-drenched times. The themes and plot
twists are quite dense--so it is not completely suprising that
many people are bewildered by it--although anyone who takes the
time to understand will find it filled to the brim with interesting and very deep ideas that were completely alien to
sci-fi at the time, and still rarely discussed in any genre of film. The plot concerns a future Earth where a group of
evolved immortals live a life of imposed isolation from the
rest of humanity, which has devolved into brutal anarchy and
violence. One of the immortals, Arthur Frame, attempts to keep
the brutals in line by appearing occassionally in a large flying stone head and impersonating a god named Zardoz (taken from "The Wizard Of Oz"). However, one day one of the Brutals named Zed (Connery) sneaks into the head and finds himself taken to the Vortex, the home of the immortals. There he finds that although they are highly advanced, with a plethora of knowledge and psychic abilities, they have failed to solve the mystery of life and many have become either renegades (punished for psychic violence and aged to senility) or apathetics (a result of the boredom of immortality). Zed is slowly educated by several of the immortals and comes to realize that he contains the key--the physical vitality and energy, embedded in the lower chakra centers--to liberating the immortals from their slow stagnation. He eventually does so, but only after confronting his own preconceived notions of god and self, which involves killing all that he once was, just as he had murdered his previous god, Arthur Frame/Zardoz, at the beginning
of the film. He then brings death back into the Vortex, which
is welcomed with open arms.
If this sounds confusing or perhaps too cerebral (some might
say pretentious) for you, then avoid "Zardoz". However, even if
one doesn't understand a word of what is going on, the visuals
will entrance: the movie was filmed in the gorgeous hills of
northern England/Ireland, the costumes have a colorful post-
psychedelic look to them, and Boorman's virtuosic directorial
style contains several notable sequences that are still discussed
by fans of the movie (most notably, the sequence where Zed receives the immortal's knowledge and powers through osmosis).
All of this is very trippy, with sequences sped up, slowed down
or reflected through mirrors, put through filters and other
tricks. And if some of what happens verges on over-the-top camp, what most critics curiously never understood was that
it was all intentional camp with touches of Monty Python-esque
humor, used to parody its own intellectual ambitions.
My favorite sequence is the one in which Zed figures out that
the crystal connects every immortal; it describes itself as
the equivalent of god with some brilliant dialogue which sounds
lifted out of a book on the Tao Of Physics. Zed then realizes that although this god is more daunting than the one (Zardoz) that he had believed in as a brutal, he must still penetrate and kill it (similar to Zen quotes which state that one must,
paradoxically, "kill the Buddha!"). He then finds (in a very trippy and symbolic sequence involving mirrors) that he
is really killing himself, or his previous ego, and must reconstruct who he is and then restore the harmony between
physical vitality and psychic/intellectual might that had been disrupted by the immortals. I cannot think of another movie
that has handled such occult spiritual topics with such wisdom,
humor or stylistic panache. Boorman's commentary in the marvellously restored DVD version is also quite interesting, as
he explains how many of the special effects and directorial
tricks were achieved, and attempts to defend the film against
all of the criticisms that have been put on it over the years.
Connery delivers a magnetic performance, and overall "Zardoz"
remains one of my favorite films, and one of the most overlooked, underrated and misunderstood movies ever.
Movie Review: Lovingly restored to DVD.
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm going to mostly keep my review limited to what they've done with the DVD since if you dig back far enough you'll find my thoughts on the film (somewhere...) Briefly though, Zardoz is really unlike no other film. Its wonderfully muddled by an overly-think plot, and enough symbolism to ensure you'll never really get to the bottom of it. I absolutely adore this film and have seen it at least a dozen times (I'm always showing it to someone.)The DVD finally does justice to this film--justice not done by the VHS or laserdisc. There is a considerable amount of material that was cut off the full-screen edition and even the LD was cropped. Now we can finally see Sean Connery shoot John Boorman in the head, as well as the shot where Zed sticks his finger through a painting. Visually this is SOOOO much better--the hazy effect which looked like tape degradation is now clearly the result of cinematic techniques which look awesome here. The sound is good, but it was never really that bad, so no complaints there. The director's commentary is a hoot if not super-informative, and you can (as a bonus) watch the film in French. Ironically I think Zardoz may even work better in French (but its just THAT kind of film.) There are a few other goodies, but nothing really notable. What's more outstanding is just the quality job they've done in reproducing the original film on DVD. If you are at all a fan of the film, you really do owe it to yourself to own this addition since this is the first time we've had a chance to see it the way it appeared in the theatre since its original theatrical release.
Lastly, to those who don't care for this film, the beauty of Zardoz that you're missing is how really deep it goes. Sure, it needs to be laughed at--Boorman tried to do WAY to much, but I'll take that any day over the hoards of films which do way to little. Zardoz actually does contain some greating acting and some poignant messages if you are patient with it. Sure, it looks weird...it looked weird back then! But films like this are a rare treat and the sort I enjoy tremendously, even if it isn't a -good- film in the conventional sense. I think a phrase I've used to describe it before is an 'enduring disaster'. Zardoz is definitely a mess, but it is a worthy mess--and so much more delightful on this DVD.
Movie Review: Zardoz does it!
Summary: 5 Stars
No matter how critical an attitude I bring to it, I simply cannot dislike this film! Its premises, performances, and images are a godsend to a lover of "thinking person's" science fiction. I have no idea what previous reviewers mean when they talk of a hippie sensibility pervading the film. I saw it twice during its initial release and have just seen it again after twenty some odd years; it still holds its special relevance and the satire still connects. Plus, it's a pleasure watching a science fiction film without a surfeit of gratuitous computer generated effects. Most of the story is told with the use of splendid cinematography, interesting sets, and a simple straightforward script with a few compelling twists. Some may argue that the actors' lines are trite; they are, but to wonderful biting effect. The masks worn by the Exterminators are marvelous, as is the floating head of Zardoz. The aerial photography and sound effects are also used to great effect near the beginning of the film to set the stage for the entrance into the Vortex and Zed's "big boy adventure" among the Immortals. Though Sean Connery's Zed chews most of the scenery, my favorite character was Friend played by John Alderton, especially after he received his sentence and was banished to the world of the aging Renegades. Hilarious! Even the time lapse ending was effective. Normally this device is used as a crutch for a filmmaker simply because he/she doesn't know how to develop a denouement. Not here; it works perfectly!
This DVD release is crisp and vibrant with stunningly saturated colors and fine sound. I concur with a previous reviewer; this has to be the finest use of the Second Movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony ever in a film, heard in both it's original scoring and in a special choral arrangement--slow, stately and at a funeral march tempo, the way it should be despite the composer's score markings! I haven't heard the director's narrative track and am in no hurry to do so; the film speaks well for itself.
In my opinion, this rightfully ranks as a "must have" for fans of lovingly-made, imaginative, and thought-provoking films. Bring an open mind and a sense of humor along with the popcorn; you're in for a treat!
Movie Review: Connery's "Barbarella"
Summary: 5 Stars
There are lots of reasons to love--or hate--Zardoz, depending on your tastes. Technically, its a weak screenplay, a meandering plot that goes round in circles and seems to make little sense, too much T&A (and beefcake) to qualify it as much more than a glorified peepshow, yet not enough sex to be actually erotic. In that way, the movie is immensely frustrating--I either want there to be less sex or a whole lot more.
If you're a straight guy tuning in for either the sci-fi aspects or the boobshow, you might get a little tired of seeing Sean's half naked body, clad for the entire movie in something resembling a giant orange diaper. Girls and gays however, may really learn to love that diaper, along with the novelty of seeing "James Bond" in a semi-raunchfest.
I imagine that, in its time, it must have been considered very dirty and radical. By today's standards, of course, it would just barely earn its "R" rating, despite the aforementioned bare breasted ladies and sexual situations. And for those considering buying it to see Mr Connery in the altogether, there are no butt shots to be found--despite poster art to the contrary depicting him on a massage type table with his posterior exposed. Alas, despite the brevity of costume and abundance of sexual scenarios, the sex in "Zardoz" is mostly implied, not shown.
As with "Barbarella", "Zardoz" is elevated, if not outright saved, by the presence of its star. Just as Fonda lent "Barbarella" a dignity it didn't quite deserve (by giving ridiculous dialog her all, and playing what was essentially a cartoon character with a commitment that actually gave it pathos and intelligence), Connery is so obviously overqualified for this job that one wonders exactly why he's even IN this movie to start with,. This, of course, lends"Zardoz" its camp incongruousnes which is essential to any cult classic.
Without Connery in fact, this would be--in spite of its sporadically imaginative sci-fi imagery, a largely forgettable film. His presence secures its cult status and renders it a guilty pleasure for the ages. It's actually easy to rewatch--owing mostly to the trippy imagery.
And the orange diaper.
Movie Review: An acquired taste
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, the DVD is fantastic - the picture and sound quality are ace (it has a ghostly, ethereal look to it and there's a French dialogue track to make the film seem even artier, although unfortunately the voiceover artist doesn't attempt to imitate Connery's accent). There's a trailer and some photo galleries, but best of all is a commentary by director John Boorman, who seems to project a mixture of pride and embarrassment at the film ('You can skip this bit', he says at one point, and elsewhere he admits that the film may have had too many ideas and that some became lost in the mix).And what a film. It's perhaps the epitome of the early-70s post-2001 'head' film, a conceptual sci-fi opus in which immortal survivors of a future cataclysm gather together in a forcefield-protected country mansion to seemingly participate in a telepathic version of 'The Weakest Link', only one in which everybody has to be nice to each other for fear of being artificially aged. Sean Connery is a mutant superhuman savage in a loincloth, there's a giant stone head, it's filmed in the countryside, all kinds of things are squashed together to form a film which doesn't make a great deal of sense but has a barmy power to it. The soundtrack has an excerpt of Beethoven's Seventh symphony and there are lots of naked women, and I'm sure that there's at least one early-70s folk/rock concept triple-album that draws its inspiration from the film.
Actually describing its appeal is very hard. Its easy to dismiss it for being tripe, or to go the other way and herald it as a masterpiece . John Boorman had a knack of creating films which lend themselves to endless analysis, and you could make comparisons between the elitist society in 'Zardoz' and the dot-com boom, all kinds of things.
This is very much a 'try before you buy' thing. Oh yes.