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Summary: absolute Zardozzzzzzzzzzz....snore
Review: I saw this 20 years ago on Mexican Cablevision. My memory was beguiling. I ordered it from Amazon and sat down at the weekend in Japan to rewatch. 20 years older and wiser? I found it dated, trivial, hippiesque and boring. Notions of religion mixed with awful costumes and dreary warnings about world destruction. And of course not a jot of wit or tension in it. But lots of pretension. Rename it Zar-doze.
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Summary: ZARDOZ DVD
Review: "ZARDOZ SPEAKS TO YOU!, THE FILM IS GOOD.... ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN."Great transfer in the true anamorphic format. Captured Geofrey Unsworths cinematography flawlessly.. just with the film was flawless. Saw it in the opening premiere in NY in three channel magenetic sound (rage of the day). It was quirky, but impressive. Still fun to watch after all these years. Best trick on the DVD is John Boorman's insightful commentary....
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Summary: Zardoz
Review: I saw this movie, when it first came out in the 70's. I cut chemistry lab to take my wife to the afternoon show. When the show started there were maybe 10 people in the theater. About 10 minutes into the film there was maybe five. This is a great SF film, especially when you consider the time frame it was released. I could not wait to buy it when it was released on DVD. It is one of the SF classics of all time. Warning: this film is not for everyone. You might want to rent before you buy.
Rating: 
Summary: nothing, if not unique
Review: This film should get credit simply for the fact that it was made at all then for whether or not it's any good. I'd've loved to've been in the room when they pitched it to Connery, telling him he'd spend the entire picture running around in orange underwear with many of the strangest looking topless women England has to offer. Connery bullies around raping and causing problems for everyone who crosses his path and somehow manages to come out on top at the end. It has to been seen, to be believed. I recommend it not because it's any good (because it's near horrendous), but because it's unparalleled in its vision and storytelling.
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Summary: When the wrecking ball rests.
Review: A large stone head known as "Zardoz" descends upon a barron landscape,waiting to greet their god are the "Brutals"-savages of a world laid waste from famine and pestilence.In a bizarre speech,Zardoz orders his followers to go forward and destroy the penis,as it shoots new life,and mankind,at least to Zardoz and the Brutals,must be eradicated.Sean Connery plays Zed,leader of the Brutals,who ironically "takes" women,in the name of Zardoz,no doubt planting a seed as a result,presumably,so that the brutals may endure?When Zardoz orders Zed and the Brutals to end the Killings,and gather men,for harvesting purposes,Zed becomes suspicous,that something is missing from Zardoz,the truth.Zed is determined to find the reason why Zardoz has become so concerned with not killing,and in order to guarantee his own survival at least,Zed plans his escape from the Waste-lands,the only way possible,inside the stone head,inside Zardoz. The Vortex is a lush garden of young intellectuals,politically correct,shiny happy people,who's mission is merely to attain vast superiority over each other,as immortality is already an acknowledgement.The Vortex cannot be entered by the brutals,as it is guarded by an invisible shield.But a large flying stone head can pass through the vortex,and with it's new passenger,the sexually starved beautiful young women of the Vortex,will be given new life,courtesy of Zed. Fox DVD have done very well to present "Zardoz" in an exceptional transfer,correctly framed at 2.35:1,the picture has excellent depth,detail,colours are strong,flesh tones are near perfect.Only in the first few minuets of this film can slight traces of dirt be seen,then it clears up,and a sharp presentation continues.The sound on this disc is of an adequate nature,while being crisp and clear for the most part,it seems a little flat on scenes where,maybe,more emphasis should be.Also some very slight hissing in those first few minuets.Overall,fair quality sound,presented in 3.0c.Surround.Zardoz is an entertaining film in it's own right,but admittedly not to everyones taste.If you like surreal bizarre images and landscapes,wierd hallucinations,and giant flying heads giving bizarre speeches,heed Zardoz,and remember,you were lead and bred yourself!
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Summary: Forgotten Classic of 70¿s Sci-Fi
Review: A must see for fans of "dystopian" cinema. A giant flying head; a land of aesthete immortals; Sean Connery with hair... the weirdness never stops in this early '70's psychedelic sci-fi flick. Sure, it's a bit cheesy: Connery spends the entire running around as a loin-cloth wearing savage in a land of toga-clad immortals; but the film's bizarre Nietzsche meets Kafka meets Philip K. Dick plot is packed with more genuine twists and turns than most "A" level sci-fi flicks I've seen. If you're the type of film fan that can discuss Blade Runner's "exploration of the nature of humanity" with a straight face, yet relishes the trippy camp of "Omega Man" and "Logan's Run" this film is for you.
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Summary: A 70s relic that remains surprisingly relevant.
Review: The big surprise for me was not just rediscovering "Zardoz" after all these years -- now back to the land of the living in a fine 16x9 DVD edition -- but to find that it was a far better, more interesting movie than I had remembered. I grew up with "Zardoz" appearing on TV in a badly-edited form about once a year, and my brother and I would frequently drop everything to catch it. We didn't know what the hell it was about, but it was fascinating nonetheless. Here, reissued, it's dated only in some superficial ways (the costumes, etc.). The underlying story has, if anything, only gotten better with time. In the year 2273, the world has collapsed. The world is divided between the Eternals, who live forever inside protected utopian communies, and the Brutals, who squabble for what little existence can be had in the lands outside. Some of the Brutals have been raised up and appointed "Exterminators," charged with the task of keeping the Brutals in line. The object of their worshop and the source of their instructions is a giant stone head they call Zardoz (hence the title.) One of the Exterminators, Zed (Connery), stows away in the head one day to find out where it goes, and winds up inside one of the protected communes. The Eternals there are fascinated and repulsed by him at the same time, probably because he represents all the things they neither have nor can achieve (such as sexual potency and mortality -- and the two are intimately related, the movie argues). Slowly he reveals his true reasons for coming within their fold, and then chaos erupts. That's the basics of the plot; any more than that would ruin some of the movie's more interesting secrets, which really should not be given away carelessly out of respect for the audience. The movie's mostly infamous now for being that weird SF story where Connery ran around in a red diaper, but underneath the surface is a smarter and more philosophically astute film that most people would give it credit for. Don't let the production devices distract you. "Zardoz" is also interesting as being a product of a very short period of Hollywood's history when experimental, risky productions were financed with great zeal. Many of those movies were terrible duds -- anyone here remember "Futz!", "The End of the Road," "The Final Programme," "The Monitors," or "Glen and Randa"? Not surprisingly, a great many of these movies were post-apocalyptic SF headtrips, but "Zardoz" was probably the king and emperor of the bunch. And still is.
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Summary: ZARDOZ commands Sean Connery to wear hot pants
Review: I'd never heard of this movie before, but I'm a big fan of Sci-Fi and Sean Connery, so I gave it a shot. It was like some weird mix of The Prisoner, A Clockwork Orange, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, with a little acid thrown in. Beside the dated wardrobe (Sean Connery in hot pants, Gaahh!) and being a little long winded, it was an enjoyable movie. It was interesting to see the story unfold, watching utopia collapsing from within. I also like Charlotte Rampling. Whotta babe! Interesting movie overall, and I'd most likely recommend renting before buying, as it won't be everyones cup of tea.
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Summary: Leonard Maltin
Review: Leonard Maltin is a dweeb
Rating:
Summary: Not really a movie, more of an experience
Review: What can I say about this movie? I had never heard of it before until one night my roommate and I were watching some documentary about science fiction on A&E (or some similar channel). They were showing various movie clips and interviewing various SF authors, and then, out of nowhere, comes this clip of ZARDOZ: A stone head floats into view amongst masked warriors on horseback, makes a scary speech about how guns are good and the penis is bad, then a plethora of guns gushes out of the stone head's mouth. It blew my mind. Needless to say, as soon as possible a pilgrimage to the video store commenced and ZARDOZ was attained and watched. Twice. Then again. And again. It's a truly unique movie, after seeing it I really began to pay attention to John Boorman's other work (I've seen all of them, except for THE GENERAL and the current TAILOR OF PANAMA), this is a pretty good summation of 70's SF in general, with lots of winks to Heinlien in particular. The only problem is that it's dated, very much a 70's tainted view of the future...so much so at times it's laughable ("You have been found guilty of psychic violence..."). And Connery running around in a red diaper the whole time is most amusing. And ok, ok, it is rather pretentious at times. But this cheesiness is half the fun. Fundamentally, it's an intelligent and challenging film that reveals more with each viewing. I shall buy this DVD right now, as I'm interested in a)a sharp picture, the VHS copies I've seen were hopelessly grainy and worn and b)Boorman's commentary, I'm sure he's got some interesting insight. It's really quite simple, if you haven't seen ZARDOZ, you must. Immediately.
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