This is a horrible film. And it's a fantastic film. It's laughably bad, and ponderously excellent at the same time.
The overall idea is both ludicrous and compelling. Giant stone heads vomit forth firearms to zealous "enforcers", who terrorize the neo-medieval agrarian countryside on behalf of an elite aristocracy who dwell in what could be described as an ivory tower paradise for self-loathing twits.
The execution is both atrocious and irresistible. Sean Connery parades bare-assed through much of the film, in one of his less-memorable roles. Bond? No, no James Bond niceties here, he's a primitive killer in a loincloth with just enough curiosity to get him deeper into the plot. Overall the acting stinks nicely, and gratuitous death is a welcome release that never fails to generate applause from the viewing audience.
The cinematography and effects are both beautiful and cheesy. Boorman must have given up halfway through the editing process, deemed his film an unworkable mess, yet released it to the distributor anyway after a few last-minute comments. Still, "Zardoz" survives this attempted murder by its creator and enough of the original creative spirit remains to lend it an ambiguous air of authority -- perhaps even a demented sort of genius.
This is not a film to watch sober, unless you happen to be stuck on a satellite with two robotic companions and an evil scientist is attempting to drive you insane with dubious movies. (Ah, MST3K, where are you when we need you?) This movie, for me, is the epitome of the 5 rating, being schizophrenically split hard between its aspirations to high art and its devolution into utter BS. You'll hate this film so much you might just end up liking it. It's a true Classic. It's complete Garbage. It's a 1. It's a 10. Grab your choice of inebriants and enjoy.
The gun is good. The penis is evil. Go forth and kill. 5/10.
The overall idea is both ludicrous and compelling. Giant stone heads vomit forth firearms to zealous "enforcers", who terrorize the neo-medieval agrarian countryside on behalf of an elite aristocracy who dwell in what could be described as an ivory tower paradise for self-loathing twits.
The execution is both atrocious and irresistible. Sean Connery parades bare-assed through much of the film, in one of his less-memorable roles. Bond? No, no James Bond niceties here, he's a primitive killer in a loincloth with just enough curiosity to get him deeper into the plot. Overall the acting stinks nicely, and gratuitous death is a welcome release that never fails to generate applause from the viewing audience.
The cinematography and effects are both beautiful and cheesy. Boorman must have given up halfway through the editing process, deemed his film an unworkable mess, yet released it to the distributor anyway after a few last-minute comments. Still, "Zardoz" survives this attempted murder by its creator and enough of the original creative spirit remains to lend it an ambiguous air of authority -- perhaps even a demented sort of genius.
This is not a film to watch sober, unless you happen to be stuck on a satellite with two robotic companions and an evil scientist is attempting to drive you insane with dubious movies. (Ah, MST3K, where are you when we need you?) This movie, for me, is the epitome of the 5 rating, being schizophrenically split hard between its aspirations to high art and its devolution into utter BS. You'll hate this film so much you might just end up liking it. It's a true Classic. It's complete Garbage. It's a 1. It's a 10. Grab your choice of inebriants and enjoy.
The gun is good. The penis is evil. Go forth and kill. 5/10.