# Zardoz an Under Appreciated Science Fiction  Classic



## BAYLOR (Apr 25, 2021)

A dystopian apocalyptic  A 1974  science Fiction  film produced by John Boorman  and staring  Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling which   didn't do well at the box office and did score   well with the critics . Connery plays Zed who,  is a member of group called the  Exterminators , they are few , but stronger ,faster  and smarter  than n the main group of human known as the  Brutal's . They  who are regular human being who have reverted  to savagery.  Zed and brethren's purpose as prescribed  to them by their God Zardoz  which a  flying head that periodically shows up,   gives them  weapons,  ammunition  and encourage them in their drive to keep  the Brutals in check. On day while he was exploring  a ruined library chaining after shadowy mysterious  figure after finding the book *The Wizard of OZ*  (which he was intended to find ) , through this book , he deduces  and leans that Zardoz isn't a god at all. L Frank Baum's book book tipped him off to this .  So, he decides   to stow away abroad  the flying head and,  ultimately  finds  himself  in the enclave of the Eternals who , are  humans from the time before civilization collapsed, they are of the same stock as the brutal  but,  have achieved immortality thanks  an all powerful  computer known as the Tabernacle which, contains the sum of all human knowledge. It also  guides  their existence and won't let them die. The problem for  theses Eternals  is that  they  they've  grown weary of of their eternal life and want it end.  Their enclave is not accessible because of  the Tabernacles defenses , so Zed and his people and the Brutals cannot get at them .  Zed now a slave learns that  he and his kind were created  by members of the Eternals for the expressed  purpose of bringing  about the the destruction of the Tabernacle and the end of them . Zed  finds  a way to destroy  the tabernacle  which frees the Eternals but,  he's  changed by his time among them and , he no longer has the desire to kill them or anyone else for that matter   The head Zardoz crashes down and Zed's  people  come in and finish  off  no longer immortal  eternals   save one,  played by Rampling who  Zed fell  in love with ,  saves  and takes with him . The two of them go off and  hid from the other Exterminators  and , take up residence in the crashed  head of Zardoz. They have a son  live a life and die of old age,


What are your thoughts on this movie good or bad  , classic or no ?


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## dask (Apr 25, 2021)

Don‘t remember too much about it other than not liking it too much.


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## BAYLOR (Apr 25, 2021)

dask said:


> Don‘t remember too much about it other than not liking it too much.



The first time I saw , I didn't like it . But having  seen it several times. Yes its loopy  and crazy but. it's  also a very interesting film.


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## dask (Apr 25, 2021)

Library doesn't have it but I'm sure the video store does. May give it a second look in the near future.


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## BAYLOR (Apr 25, 2021)

dask said:


> Library doesn't have it but I'm sure the video store does. May give it a second look in the near future.



I liked the Tabernacle computer and how operated .  For a 1974 science fiction film , this computer was way  ahead of the curb.


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## Robert Zwilling (Apr 25, 2021)

I have watched it on cable many times. Just do streaming and outdoor antenna now. Never shows up on the outdoor antenna, Amazon is renting it out, probably is free from time to time. I found the movie to be strangely realistic, maybe cause Connery was driving it. It was like it was done up in a highly artistic, stylized Hollywood gladiator fashion, except the swords were real. The acting and scenery was good. For me, there was an underlying edginess to the scenes and props, which made the looks and events all fit together in a strange sort of way. If we ever get to the point of flying cars, where we can order car bodies of our own design, the flying head would probably make a popular pickup truck.


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## Pyan (Apr 25, 2021)

I always thought that there were very good reasons for it being underappreciated - the plot, dialogue, acting and production design being among them. And shouldn't it be called_ Zardofoz_?


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## BAYLOR (Apr 25, 2021)

The 1970's to mid seventies produced a a number strange dystopian type science fiction films   , like  *THX1138 *, *Soylent Green* and* Logans Run . Quintet *


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## Rodders (Apr 25, 2021)

I saw it a very long time ago. I didn’t enjoy it at the time and thought it was an oddity of a movie. To be fair, I think I didn’t understand it. I have no desire to watch it again, though.


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## hitmouse (Apr 25, 2021)

Odd film. Sean wears one of the silliest costumes in the history of cinema.


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## BAYLOR (Apr 25, 2021)

hitmouse said:


> Odd film. Sean wears one of the silliest costumes in the history of cinema.



But  its sheer oddness is part of its charm .


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## BAYLOR (Apr 25, 2021)

Rodders said:


> I saw it a very long time ago. I didn’t enjoy it at the time and thought it was an oddity of a movie. To be fair, I think I didn’t understand it. I have no desire to watch it again, though.


Its very easily Sean Connerys strangest film and his unforgettable role.


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## Vladd67 (Apr 25, 2021)

BAYLOR said:


> The 1970's to mid seventies produced a a number strange dystopian type science fiction films   , like  *THX1138 *, *Soylent Green* and* Logans Run . Quintet *


Don't forget Phase IV now there is a 70's sci-fi film.


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## Robert Zwilling (Apr 25, 2021)

I never did get into Logans Run. Probably for the same reasons there are for Zardoz.  There were plenty of weird films from the 70s. Even big office successes courted weirdness. 2001 could probably fit into a 1 hour package with commercials. There is as much empty space in it as there is in an atom. Silent Running with Bruce Dern has the empty space packed with plants. Zardoz didn't have empty space.


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## BAYLOR (Apr 25, 2021)

Vladd67 said:


> Don't forget Phase IV now there is a 70's sci-fi film.



*Phase IV  *now that was a strong film . Barry Malzberg did the novelization of  this film 

Oh and there is also Novelization of *Zardoz *by John Boorman and Bill Stair.


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## BAYLOR (Apr 26, 2021)

Robert Zwilling said:


> I never did get into Logans Run. Probably for the same reasons there are for Zardoz.  There were plenty of weird films from the 70s. Even big office successes courted weirdness. 2001 could probably fit into a 1 hour package with commercials. There is as much empty space in it as there is in an atom. Silent Running with Bruce Dern has the empty space packed with plants. Zardoz didn't have empty space.


Ive seen *Silent Running * . A Douglass Trumble film , Grey special effects and model world for the ships Robts Huey , Deuy and Luey and the theme song by Joan Baiz . Theses ships also showed up as the agro ships in Battlestar Galactica.


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## BAYLOR (May 8, 2021)

Vladd67 said:


> Don't forget Phase IV now there is a 70's sci-fi film.



The ending was difficult to fathom


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## Danny McG (May 8, 2021)

I fail to understand why you all feel the costume in Zardoz was unusual


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## BAYLOR (May 8, 2021)

Danny McG said:


> I fail to understand why you all feel the costume in Zardoz was unusual
> View attachment 78307



That's the suite his chatter wore to the office every day.


Seriously , when Zed started out, he was zealot , fanatic and  believer  in the creed of his god  Zardoz .  Zed  didn't question anything , he did what he though was expected of him .  He and  fellow exterminators wore Zardoz  masques symbolizing their  belief and purpose  which , was to cull the  Brutals when commanded to do so by Zardoz.  For Zed , that all changes  when he finds book *The Wizard of Oz* in the old ruined library. This discovery , which turned out  to be not at all accidental , caused his  whole world to crumble because,  he   learned that everything that he was taught to believe was  false.  That was the beginning of his journey and his enlightenment.


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## Alex The G and T (May 8, 2021)

The rifle cartridges in his "bandolier" and "belt" would not fit into that handgun.

Nice boots, though.


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## HareBrain (May 8, 2021)

Danny McG said:


> I fail to understand why you all feel the costume in Zardoz was unusual



If that's because it's what you're going to start wearing when you decide joggers are too much effort, we don't want to know.



BAYLOR said:


> and his unforgettable role



Yeah, I never could remember the name of that guy he played with the dinner jacket and the Aston Martin.


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## Dave (May 8, 2021)

Did Ramírez have an Aston Martin?


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## Teresa Edgerton (May 8, 2021)

I'd say any costume that even Sean Connery couldn't carry off is _highly_ unusual.


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## BAYLOR (May 8, 2021)

I think that,  there is a bit  more to this film than meets the eye.


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## BAYLOR (May 8, 2021)

Alex The G and T said:


> The rifle cartridges in his "bandolier" and "belt" would not fit into that handgun.
> 
> Nice boots, though.



It looks like a Webley  pistol , a 19th century design gun . Interestingly, in time passage  sequence where , you see Zed and Consuella age and  die to music of Beethoven ,  you see on the back wall Zed's gun rusting away in that sequence .  It's the last thing seen at the end  of the film. In his life with Consuella , he never used it again. 

The problem with this ending is we never get any sense of what happened to the world beyond. With the flying head grounded and no longer a  operating and providing  weapons and propaganda , did Zed's  people continue in what they were doing in culling the Brutals or,  did they  simply stop and  become the new ruling class of the world?


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## J-WO (May 8, 2021)

BAYLOR said:


> The 1970's to mid seventies produced a a number strange dystopian type science fiction films   , like  *THX1138 *, *Soylent Green* and* Logans Run . Quintet *


Absolutely agree. One draw back of Star Wars was how it ushered out eccentric, intelligent sf movies. That was the paradigm before '77.


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## BAYLOR (May 8, 2021)

J-WO said:


> Absolutely agree. One draw back of Star Wars was how it ushered out eccentric, intelligent sf movies. That was the paradigm before '77.



Science fiction become Summer entertainment.


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## BAYLOR (May 30, 2021)

This film with a little reconfiguration , could easily  become the basis of a tv series .


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## paeng (Jun 6, 2021)

Fascinating, especially the ending.


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## BAYLOR (Jun 7, 2021)

paeng said:


> Fascinating, especially the ending.



Fascinating Yes, but also lacking.  I think they did what of because they didn't have time to do any kind long sequence of their life after the fall of Zardoz,  at least that's my take.


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## Danny McG (Jun 7, 2021)

I've just remembered that it also featured him off Please Sir


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## BAYLOR (Jun 7, 2021)

Danny McG said:


> I've just remembered that it also featured him off Please Sir



Danny maybe im reading too much into Zardoz but to me,  its and interesting film. 

You have the the Eternals who though Tabernacle have achieve everything that mankind has decides eternal life, eternal you nd access to all human knowledge a seeming utopia  which  for them turn monotonous and hellish existence  which they can't get out of because they've become trapped by their own creation , The Tabernacle. 

You Zed a believer , who loses  his beliefs and has to find a new truth , whose pup use is become a savior not only for the Eternal but the world he live in.


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## DrStrangelove (Jun 20, 2021)

I believe Zardoz may be hard to swallow because of the way camp aesthetics and arthouse work. The movie is strong on both sides, and these are both off-putting for people that do not already know how to deal with them. 

After showing someone movies from directors such as Carpenter or Argento I would risk approaching them with Zardoz, but not before establishing the bare minimum recquired to stomach such an outlandish vision. Definitely not for everyone, but an important piece of cinema history regardless.


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## BAYLOR (Jun 20, 2021)

DrStrangelove said:


> I believe Zardoz may be hard to swallow because of the way camp aesthetics and arthouse work. The movie is strong on both sides, and these are both off-putting for people that do not already know how to deal with them.
> 
> After showing someone movies from directors such as Carpenter or Argento I would risk approaching them with Zardoz, but not before establishing the bare minimum recquired to stomach such an outlandish vision. Definitely not for everyone, but an important piece of cinema history regardless.



I thought the concept of the machine entity known as the Tabernacle was brilliant.


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## asp3 (Aug 11, 2021)

Zardoz is my number one favorite movie of all time.  I love everything about it but can agree that sometimes the acting falls flat and it seems hokey at times, but I still love it.  Interestingly my top three favorite movies are:

1. Zardoz
2. Mary Poppins
3. A Clockwork Orange


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## BAYLOR (Aug 12, 2021)

In some ways you can compare this film the *Logan's Run *


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## Toby Frost (Aug 12, 2021)

I've never seen Zardoz, but it did yield a joke about a group of anti-literacy cultists who believe that "the gun is good, the pen is evil".


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## BAYLOR (Aug 12, 2021)

Toby Frost said:


> I've never seen Zardoz, but it did yield a joke about a group of anti-literacy cultists who believe that "the gun is good, the pen is evil".



If you can get  past the campiness, It's an interesting film.  It's also one Sean Connery's most usual films .   It's quite change from James Bond.


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## Robert Zwilling (Aug 12, 2021)

Logan's run seems much more remote, in terms of how close I feel I am getting to the issues and the players. They both explore issues that impact the future of humanity, but Zardoz seems to be much more personal and in your face. That might be because of the content, scenery and props. For me, Zardoz is like watching a play while Logans Run is a cinematic experience. At times it felt like your were in someone's back yard when watching Zardoz. I could think of Zardoz as a medium budget gladiator movie with really exotic locations and sci-fi themes while Logans Run would be a "hollywood" production.


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## BAYLOR (Aug 12, 2021)

Robert Zwilling said:


> Logan's run seems much more remote, in terms of how close I feel I am getting to the issues and the players. They both explore issues that impact the future of humanity, but Zardoz seems to be much more personal and in your face. That might be because of the content, scenery and props. For me, Zardoz is like watching a play while Logans Run is a cinematic experience. At times it felt like your were in someone's back yard when watching Zardoz. I could think of Zardoz as a medium budget gladiator movie with really exotic locations and sci-fi themes while Logans Run would be a "hollywood" production.



Zardoz like a play ? Interesting notion .


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## JunkMonkey (Aug 13, 2021)

BAYLOR said:


> The ending was difficult to fathom



There are different cuts.  It's one of those films which got hacked about a bit post production when the producers didn't like the director's cut.  From memory the ending Saul Bass shot, and the ending in the released print  were radically different. (Though I couldn't off hand tell you how.)


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## JunkMonkey (Aug 13, 2021)

Robert Zwilling said:


> Logan's run seems much more remote, in terms of how close I feel I am getting to the issues and the players. They both explore issues that impact the future of humanity, but Zardoz seems to be much more personal and in your face.



And it's not stultifyingly boring for its second half which _Logan's Run _ is.  Once they are out of the city it becomes a plodding bore.


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## BAYLOR (Aug 13, 2021)

JunkMonkey said:


> There are different cuts.  It's one of those films which got hacked about a bit post production when the producers didn't like the director's cut.  From memory the ending Saul Bass shot, and the ending in the released print  were radically different. (Though I couldn't off hand tell you how.)



Interesting ,  I wasn't; aware there was a different ending for Zardoz. It sounds a bit like what happed to thee original of  Orson well fIm *The Magnificent Ambersons .*


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## BAYLOR (Aug 13, 2021)

JunkMonkey said:


> And it's not stultifyingly boring for its second half which _Logan's Run _ is.  Once they are out of the city it becomes a plodding bore.



If they ever did a remake of this one, , Id like to see the remake  more in line wit the 1967 novel .


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## JunkMonkey (Aug 13, 2021)

BAYLOR said:


> It sounds a bit like what happed to thee original of  Orson well fIm *The Magnificent Ambersons .*



Happened often.  But The Magnificent Ambersons is a good example.  What's left of it it is still wonderful


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## BAYLOR (Aug 13, 2021)

JunkMonkey said:


> Happened often.  But The Magnificent Ambersons is a good example.  What's left of it it is still wonderful



There was story recently about an uncut print of Welles film  possibly being in Brazil ?


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## JunkMonkey (Aug 13, 2021)

BAYLOR said:


> There was story recently about an uncut print of Welles film  possibly being in Brazil ?



We can only hope.  After that missing footage from Metropolis turned up a few years ago - in shockingly bad condition but I thought I'd never see it - anything is possible.


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## paeng (Aug 14, 2021)

BAYLOR said:


> Fascinating Yes, but also lacking.  I think they did what of because they didn't have time to do any kind long sequence of their life after the fall of Zardoz,  at least that's my take.


I think I saw it as such because it was lacking.


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