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Click above to purchase "Zardoz" at amazon.com
Zardoz
review by Anthony D.
Rated R
Studio: Fox
Running Time: 106 minutes
Starring Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling, Sara
Kestleman
Written and Directed by John Boorman
Retail Price: $22.98
Features: Audio Commentary With John Boorman, Radio
Spots, Still Gallery, Theatrical Trailers
Specs: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Dolby
Digital 3.0, French Stereo (some portions are in English
with French subtitles), English Subtitles, Spanish
Subtitles, Chapter Search
A scowling stone face soars above the green hills. A
tribe of red-diapered men pursue. The stone head hovers. The
tribesman raise their arms to the skies. A flurry of
automatic weapons spew forth from the behemoth's mouth. The
tribesmen gather the guns. The colossus speaks, "The gun is
good. The penis is evil." One tribesman picks up his gun and
aims it straight at the camera. He shoots. Thus is our
introduction to the characters of Zardoz, the god of Zed
(Sean Connery) and his tribe of "Brutals" in John Boorman's
neo-mythological cult film, "Zardoz." Following this
mystifying opening, the next time we see Zed is in a shot
often used by Boorman: Zed's clenched hand and arm emerges
from a pond of grain, housed within Zardoz. (Boorman used a
similar approach with a nightmare sequence in "Deliverance,"
but the shot would only attain immortality as The Lady of
the Lake extends the titular sword in "Excalibur.") Working
through a mythos of his own creation, Boorman challenges the
viewer with a world that is not quite primitive, not
altogether futuristic, always visually arresting, but not
quite always coherent.
Zed is a member of "The Brutals," a race of people who
worship the flying god-head, Zardoz. The Brutals are chosen
genetically by Zardoz to create a race of strong, killing
machines. Zardoz has assured The Brutals that if they are
faithful to his will, and conduct the massive slayings he
desires, they will receive immortality. Somewhere along the
line, Zardoz has changed his request to the The Brutals,
they are now to oversee the planting and harvesting, and
kill only the disobedient. It is this change in Zed's
lifestyle that forces him to stowaway in the giant floating
godhead, and unravel the mysteries of life. (Trust me, it
makes some sense in the grand scheme of things). Zed meets a
man in the godhead, and kills him. The man was Arthur Frayn
(who appears in a prologue that was inserted at the studio's
request, spouting drivel which would lead an audience to
believe that they are about to see a comedy). With the death
of Arthur, Zardoz crashes into a lake. Arthur was of another
race; the genetically mastered "Immortals," whom Zed
encounters when he washes ashore. These Immortals, led by
the stunningly-freckled May (Sara Kestleman) and Consuela
(the always watchable Charlotte Rampling) don't know what to
make of Zed. Conseula suggests killing him, while May wishes
to perform scientific experiments on him, as if we have
wandered into a "mad scientist" movie. Zed is attracted to
May. Through thorough psychological telekinetic research,
Zed strapped spread-eagle to a glass table, The Immortals
learn of Zed's brutality. May insists that her
experimentation is not finished, and with the approval of
the council, Zed is granted three weeks to live under the
guardianship of Friend, a male Immortal. Zed is used as
slave labor in Friend's sculpture-lined studio, where he
asks, "Are these your gods?" in reference to the fallen
idols. With so many plot threads going on, Boorman adds yet
another: The Immortals are just that, they will never die.
Should an accident befall any one of them, they are
regenerated, some have been regenerated as many as six
times! They each come equipped, like a Mattel® doll,
with a crystal embedded in their foreheads to allow mas
quantities of thought transference. Just when you think that
you know where the film is going, out of left field comes
another plot twist (and this movie is less than two hours
long!): it seems that Arthur Frayn, now regenerated, had
grown tired of immortality (as had many other immortals), so
he created Zardoz so that he could watch over The Brutals in
order to choose the right Brutal to put an end to the curse
of immortality, which is not all that it's cracked up to be.
Hey, if you were a male immortal, and all these gorgeous
Irish lasses were walking around half-naked, and you being
an immortal had lost the ability to become aroused, wouldn't
you rather NOT live, too? Zed is the right Brutal, but will
he still do the will of this false god, this humbug? Zed's
course of action takes up the final third of the film,
leading to a bloody siege of The Immortal's habitat, and a
final happy ending with a twist that was never really hinted
at, for all.
Ah, the power of visual story-telling. John Boorman's
Panavision (2.35:1) ocular essay has been given a nifty
transfer from FOX. "Zardoz" looks as good as I remember
seeing it in theaters, which is soft-focused, hazy and
imagery-laden. These were the days before CGI, and all
special effects were done within the camera. The opening
scenes alone, of the floating Zardoz head, linger in the
mind's eye. Fox's anamorphic transfer displays virtually no
artifacts of age, even if the film itself hasn't aged well,
this print has. Colors are subdued, in line with Boorman's
directorial decisions, so that even the loincloths look as
if they've been stone-washed one too many times. The clarity
displayed (through the filters and the haze) is top-notch:
Sara Kestleman's freckles are amply displayed, Connery's
loincloth shows more of James Bond than most viewers need to
see...(let me rephrase that, no visible panty lines here),
and one can actually make out the genders of the
glass-encased nude bodies in the process of regeneration.
Skin tone, and there is a lot of skin on display in
"Zardoz," is rendered correctly, though never vibrant. A
sure sign that "Zardoz" was made abroad is the
matter-of-fact nudity (virtually all female) scattered
throughout the film. According to Boorman, some of "The
Brutals" are actually naked, with loincloths painted on
them, due to budget restraints. There is a slight amount of
grain inherent in the print, which Boorman claims he would
change if doing the film today. The graininess is confined
to darkly lit scenes, or to scenes with major amounts of
smoke and fog. While not reference quality, Fox's
presentation of "Zardoz" (with all its inherent flaws) is
quite pleasing.
As for the sound, FOX has still another form of Dolby
Digital up its sleeve, the Dolby Digital 3.0 sound
experience. This new form of Dolby, well, new to this
listener's ears, is all up-front: Left, Center and Right
speakers. "Zardoz" seems to have its dialogue placed firmly
center, with music and directional ambient sounds to the
left and right. There is some more than adequate bass
response, which leads me to wonder why they didn't go that
extra yard for an independent LFE channel. As befitting a
film of limited budget, the dialogue is often tinny, but
never harsh. There are many instances of studio-produced
dialogue, especially in the use of crowd murmurings, and
often a line of dialogue will come out when not one of the
extra's lips are moving. The electronic score sounds nice,
and Beethoven is always welcome in a
science-fiction/fanatasy presentation. A pleasant treat for
me was watching "Zardoz" with the French soundtrack enabled;
the two channel stereo track en francias can't make "Zardoz"
any less baffling, but it sure does make it more foreign!
And there are quite a few films from France ("Last Year at
Marienbad") with a higher baffle quotient than "Zardoz."
An audio commentary by John Boorman is always welcome in
my house. This man is probably more gifted at verbal
story-telling, than his films would let on. And what a
memory he has! I thought that his delightful, blunt
commentary on Warner's "Excalibur" was one of the all-time
great commentaries, but possibly because I've always been
fond of "Zardoz," I found his reminiscences here to be far
more engaging, though equally as blunt. His dismay at the
studio's decision to add the corny prologue is priceless, as
are his equally amusing details of working with Connery.
This is a scene-specific commentary, and a surprising
addition to a film whose merits are highly debated among
critics and audiences. Fox's original theatrical trailer for
"Zardoz" ("HE brought them the gift of Death") is presented
in a widescreen format, and is a typical "70's Psychedelia"
selling of a virtually un-sellable film. The six Radio Spots
(four at 60 seconds, two at third) use the taglines of
"Beyond Death" or "Beyond 1984" to good effect as voiced by
a Rod Serling sound-alike. Under the "Fox Flix" heading are
five additional trailers, all for sci-fi related films: "The
Abyss," and "Independence Day" are presented in widescreen,
whereas "Aliens," "Enemy Mine" and "Alien Nation" are
represented with full-framed frazzled and faded prints.
"Zardoz" also features a still gallery with production
photos, lobby cards, concept art, press book and the one
sheet poster.
In the long run of events, "Zardoz"sadly never caught on
with audiences. Too cerebral for some, too confusing for
others, "Zardoz" possesses a certain charm and has developed
somewhat of a cult following. Even though Boorman's
visionary screenplay simply couldn't be achieved on such a
small budget, there are some interesting conceits and
concepts that an attentive viewer will find rewarding.
Hopefully, Fox's budgetary-conscious pricing of "Zardoz"
will garner it new fans. Curiosity seekers will not be
disappointed, remember "Zardoz" is the only film in
existence wherein you can see Sean Connery in a wedding gown
in one scene, and displaying his acting skills, as well as
other attributes throughout in his snug, form-fitting,
tailor-made diaper.
 (4/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (3/5)
(3/5)
 (2/5)
(4/5,
NOT an average)
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