Zardoz (1974)
UK 105m, Colour
Director: John Boorman; Cast: Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling, Sara Kestelman, John Alderton
Zardoz is a most decidedly eccentric science fiction/fantasy that takes itself more seriously than not. However, once you get past Sean Connery’s outrageous costuming, the cheesy dialogue, and the giant flying stone head that spits out firearm philosophy to its worshippers, the film begins to make some sense under closer inspection. In fact, the underlying story is full of interesting concepts which center around the consequences of a society whose members do not age. Although the screenplay can at times be somewhat befuddling with the various groups known as Brutals, Eternals, Exterminators, Apathetics and Renegades – all is made clear when Zardoz declares that “The gun is good. The penis is evil. The penis shoots seeds, and makes new life to poison the Earth with a plague of men, as once it was, but the gun shoots death, and purifies the Earth of the filth of Brutals” (Klaus Ming November 2010).
I can’t count the number of times I attempted to watch this on very late night TV over the years. It wasn’t until I purchased the DVD that I: (a) finally watched the entire move; (b) realized that it did make some sense; and (c) that I actually really enjoyed it.
Haha — I watched about 20 minutes of this and gave up a year or two back — I might give it another shot soon…
It’s certainly worth another attempt
I saw it for the first time in a theater and it seemed sort of normal. Says something about movies in the early 70s.
the 70s was a golden age for science fiction film!