Zardoz (1974) - Five Facts

[@Humanechoes]

Huge shout out to Miranda Laabs! She helped gather some of these facts when my brain refused to focus.

[@numbersix8919]

One of my favorite movies. It is hardcore science fiction. It addresses the Big Question of science fiction: given the most advanced technology we can conceive, just how far can the human race go?

[@Frank_42]

The oddest thing about this movie is that it is a reflection of the world we live in now on multiple levels. It illustrates the dangers of becoming part of a collective where people are psychically connected through a physical crystal based internet where everyone knows what you are thinking. Negative thoughts or going against the collective becomes a crime punishable by robbing the person of life force and eventually their sense of relevance. It's a world where the aged and even the founders are put in old folks homes to be ridiculed and taken out of circulation. It's a world where the elite have a death wish due to apathy and self loathing that ultimately prompts them to remove their barriers to the outside world thereby allowing the vengeful barbarians in to destroy everything. Just the presence of these external influences causes everyone to go crazy. They also breed genetically "awakened" beings who are capable of destroying the power of the existing collective god authority held in the tabernacle. Intentional or not, the stone head does resemble Karl Marx, and it does fit in the sense that the brutals were being made to farm grain, yet they were forced to give away their all produce to the collective. Resistance meant being shot, which actually was what happened in Russia. Really the more you watch this movie the more sense it makes. It is anything but a random art film like Holy Mountain (which made no sense on any level). If you think the costumes were ridiculous then look no further than the costumes worn by the celebrity musicians of today. The biggest challenge this film had was how to illustrate intangible psychic abilities on film. The reality is that real magic is nothing like what you see in Harry Potter. It's difficult to visualize and any attempt to do so can only be an abstract representation.

[@michagrobi6771]

I am a fan of your comment. I have seen ZARDOZ 100+ times. And in that review another aspect took grip. He took her in the name of... A shortversion of ZARDOZ is the 5 minutes musicclip HOPSIN I should have known. Please check it out.

[@Maldoror2112]

I believe Jodorosky's film The Holy Mountain did make a lot of sense, but you have to know the symbolism which is presented in a surreal manner. If you're familiar with alchemical processes, you can spot them being acted out. It's about the transformation of oneself through enlightenment. Halfway through the movie, Jodorowsky claims that he and the actors went on a real "vision quest" and that they met people on their journey who helped them. In the end, the movie admits that it was in fact just a movie-- a play of light, motion, and sound. It still communicated it's message to the audience who then must choose to follow their own paths to transformation and enlightenment. In comparison, Zardoz seems much more simplistic and easier to understand. For a stranger movie experience, check out Clifton Childree's "The Flew" or E. Elias Merhige's "Begotten."

[@buckaroobonzai9847]

Excellent assessment of the movie, bravo.

[@NGC6144]

On of my favorite movies. I would say it's an allegory about decadent high civilizations destroying themselves from internal rot. e.g. ancient Greece, Rome, the USA now. It seemed to me some of the underlying notions are from pop eastern philosophy around at the time. I had listened to a lot of Alan Watts by the time I saw it and basically didn't have much of a problem understanding the film. Wonderfully outlandish, subtle and deep; No wonder the brutals didn't care for it.

[@Humanechoes]

This is a great perspective on it. Definitely adds better context to view it as these towering civilizations like Rome before the fall.

[@michagrobi6771]

Todays equivalent is a 4 minutes clip by Hopsin by the name YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN I WAS COMING. TRUMP2Q2Q

[@teamdoghouse7920]

@@michagrobi6771 Trump Lost. Thank God.

[@sherriebrunell2151]

My best friend introduced me to Zardoz about 25 years ago. I was confused at first, but I couldn't get it out of my head. I watched it again and now I absolutely love it. It's a movie my friend and I watch together about once a year. For me, it's at least in part, a commentary on the achievements and perils of human civilization and especially the role farming played in humans developing civilizations. Then again, I also think Boorman dropped acid one night while listening to Beethoven's 7th symphony and wrote Zardoz during that trip. Besides, it doesn't get any better than Sean Connery running around in a red diaper with thigh high leather boots!

[@gothling1955]

I first saw "Zardoz" during its initial theatrical release, as a double feature with the animated film, "Fantastic Planet". So, between those two titles, it made for a truly unusual evening -- but certainly not in a bad way. I've always had a fondness for "Zardoz". I think it tried to say a lot of weighty things, while also exhibiting some wicked humor in places. Still, it certainly has its flaws. It doesn't matter to me. I was very pleased when it finally made it to DVD, with that director's commentary track. I'm aware that this is a movie which has bad word-of-mouth issues, largely by people who like things spoon-fed to them, I'll wager. "My God, don't even try to make us think!", they must've said to themselves. Oh well, long after those people are dust, "Zardoz" will still be around, still fascinating and perplexing people.

[@Humanechoes]

I think the word of mouth these days is more about how fascinating and bizarre it is. At least that's how it reached me. Thanks for the comment!

[@johngl7009]

Seen Zardoz at the theater in 1974, It was weird then but I've liked it ever since. Zardoz remains a very cool movie.

[@Humanechoes]

It very much is. It'll never stop being weird but still good.

[@maxrockatanski9422]

I absolutely loved this movie .. it was great way to spend a late Saturday night.

[@jimink8815]

Thanks for thoughtful and informative commentary and evaluations of Zardoz. It's in both my Top 10 movies and Sci Fi movies lists. It's a considered rumination about the consequences of immortality, and the end game ramifications of living in a meritocracy. It does have 60s hippie culture excesses, but every generation brings cargo with them in the making of creative endeavors especially of a speculative nature. It does not stand alone in it's consideration of an elite class ruling the fate of the Earth/*insert fictive planet here*. It has parallels to Roger Zelazny's classic SF novel "Lord of Light". That also suffers from hippyitus, but is a great, grand eccentric thing in it's own right, and worth reading if you haven't. Would not be surprised to find out that Boorman read it, prior to... As a last comment, I'm soooo tired of people carrying on about Zed/Connery's wardrobe in this film. It's like people going on and on and on about the paper mache boulders in the original Star Trek. People need to move on.The joke is rotting dead. Haw haw haw... On an ending note, I'd just say this is the movie/cultural entertainment that actually helped me come to peace with mortality in a positive way...

[@Humanechoes]

Love this comment and your insight. I'll definitely have to look at Zelazny's work. I think the wardrobe is just silly and fun, it didn't detract from the film. It is worthy of note though.

[@jimink8815]

@@Humanechoes yes it is silly. I think part of the idea is that Arthur Frayn is designing costumes for his puppets. People (not you) use these things to dismiss the film, that's what can grind my gears. But of course there are plenty of other goofy things to keep people away. Mine is when Zed is breaking through the Saran Wrap, and someone yells -"It's never been done before!" I always get a laugh out of that...

[@deeterdeeter1622]

Now that it's 2022 I think Boorman was spot on to where the future of civilization is going.

[@ericcancer7936]

I think Zardoz is unique and thought-provoking. Anyone who dwells on Connery’s costume is missing the point.

[@douknewcomb9478]

Can you imagine how devastating immortality would be to our society? Power and wealth would become even more concentrated than it already is.. The true value of the movie ZardoZ is that it forces us to think about these unintended consequences.

[@danieljackson654]

I saw it when it opened in 1974. Definitely in my top ten. Saw it twice and memorized the opening monologue; I still use the last sentence although with a slight rearrangement. The ending with the Cro-Magnon cave hand prints reminded, and still does, of several contemporary sci-fi novels where the advanced civilization is merely a prelude to our own epoch. Definitely camp but oh so relevant in the Time of Plague.

[@alexmitchell9277]

I first saw it on PBS in 1983 when I was 10 when I lived in the States. It was weird then and it's weird now in 2019. I just re-watched it online the other night. I realised I love this movie, I don't mind its flaws as it's the ideas and concepts that have stood the test of time, if certainly not the costumes, set designs and effects. It's a very original movie. I have to wonder sometimes if it wasn't influenced by someone who was taking LSD.

[@Humanechoes]

Almost all weird movies from the 70s have some sort of psychedelic influence. Just part of the times.

[@michagrobi6771]

Anyone commenting and not seen the movie at least 10 times has a kind of limited view on it. OK a stable genius needs only two times. It took me 100+ times and guess what still room to improve

[@SunBunz]

I first heard about Zardoz from a joke in Golden Girls. I later saw a BIZARRE trailer from a DVD (can't remember which) but I was intrigued by how ridiculous it was. lt's kind of a cool idea, immortals that WANT to die, and only Zed can grant them that. Pretty unique, just a bit artsy-fartsy, 70s psychedelic, weird-ass movie. It wouldn't surprise me if they actually had druggy orgies between takes. But still, pretty damn unique. The ZARDOZ head's voice cracks me up, so did Sean's outfit. He looked like Burt Reynolds cosplaying Shiva from Mortal Kombat or something. When that magician dude flipped his head and said, "IT WAS _I!_" I laughed so hard. It was almost as silly as a Monty Python skit. When Zed tries to rape an "Apathetic" woman (the catatonic beings) once he realizes she's just a rag doll, he chucks her into a bale of hay like a cheap suit...and for some reason I laughed really hard. He's like, "Pfft! Bitch, you're no fun!" (Rape is awful, it just looked so damn silly the way he throws her aside) Quite quotable too! "Guns are good. _PENIS IS EVIL."_ 😂 "DESTROY IT! KILL THE TABERNACLE!" "THE TABERNACLE IS INDESTRUCTIBLE AND EVERLASTING!!!" The movie posters are pretty dope, though.

[@michagrobi6771]

This movie is a masterpiece in it's meaning. The effects are totally secondary nature. TRUMP2Q2Q

[@BlackburnBigdragon]

Zardoz is one of those movies that has many elements that don't work but those elements that do are damn brilliant. Movies like it are so rare and they're hard to get right, hitting the right marks.

[@Humanechoes]

They are insanely ambitious. I always admire when someone can pull off a high concept art film. Or am just confused and feel like I'm dumb.

[@michagrobi6771]

TRUMP2Q2Q

[@jsfbr]

I remember very little of the film, except that I did enjoyed it. It's time to watch it again. Thanks!

[@Hal891]

As a kid I had Starlog's Spaceships issue and it had Zardoz in it. I stopped watching it when I was 10. Years later, watched it twice in my teens and liked it. It took me 2 times to finally get what Zed was trying to do. I still watch it from time to time

[@Humanechoes]

I'm surprised at how often I find myself thinking of this strange little movie. It really has something weird and special to it.

[@Hal891]

@@Humanechoes but it is a good story. How many of us thought about what eternity would be like and what if you ran out of things to do. I often think about a remake if you can get a bigger budget

[@michagrobi6771]

@@Hal891 watch the reinterpretation HOPSIN you should have known I was coming

[@richardmcmurry9102]

Saw it in 1976 and loved every minute of it. Still love it.

[@zardozspeakstoyou5625]

Great film. Regardless if one likes it or not, it really stands out as an icon of the auteur period of 70s filmmaking. A most unique, imaginative take on a post apocalyptic future. Even before I saw it (I was 15 upon its release), I was fascinated by the visuals, like the Exterminators and their red costumes and white masks. I did have the book and so was able to enjoy that, but that imagery never left my mind. And now, all these years later, it's one of my top 10 films.

[@rgaleny]

it gets high marks for originality

[@Humanechoes]

It does. And for absurdity.

[@michagrobi6771]

ZARDOZ is the best movie ever.

[@frankcolumbo4481]

I saw this movie when it first came out in 1974. I was 12 years old, and seeing it at that age it made a big impression on me.

[@Chicago_Podcast_Authority]

I found it to be a fascinating flawed masterpiece.multiple viewings are rewarding

[@wvhaugen]

As a hippie since 1966, I saw Zardoz in 1974 as rather tame but interesting. It's not Kurosawa, but then it shouldn't have to be. There were many good ideas in this film and Sean Connery as the protagonist was a good choice. There are many good laughs in this movie.

[@zuludawn9932]

I first saw this movie on T.V when channel 5 KTLA was an independent station and had there sci fi week of films. Well myself and my syblings thought the film was odd but yet we had fun watching the film. Even now I still like the film. I have a niece that takes medical marijuana for her microphialga i want to show her this film when she's high as a kite. But honestly I don't think she is intellectually capable of appreciating this movie for it's oddness and uniqueness . Sigh

[@Humanechoes]

Well she might still find joy in it. It's worth a shot.

[@vadimreleza3837]

Hey. I watched Zardoz for the 1st time about... 25 or 30 years ago, when I was a teenager. I wanted to see that movie because there was Sean Connery and it was a science-fiction movie. In the middle of the 80s, science-fiction movie was meaning huge special effects. So, seeing Sean Connery in a red pants-suit, in a cheap movie (in terms of special effects, sets and outfits) was kind of lousy. But on the other side I could see that the movie was bringing social and religious allegory, symbolism that must be understood and that caught me. I watched it for the 2nd time this week-end. I didn't feel the cheap aspect anymore and I love this movie even more. I love the ambiance, the symbols, the enigmatic ending. You know, when I was a kid I was obviously fan of Stars Wars. Now I'm not anymore. I feel like you have to be a child to like it. But Zardoz, that is adult science fiction. In terms of video games for example, its like comparing WOW with Morowind or Pathologic.

[@michagrobi6771]

I have seen the movie 100+ times and first time was 1984. It is my favorite movie by far. TRUMP2Q2Q

[@masterjames876]

It deserves a modern remake. The story is almost as big picture as you can get. Is it inevidable on some level? Maybe. Alas that is why I like to say it is the 'greatest' story ever told. They also have an optica quantuml computer so truely visionary in that sense too.

[@olaniyi570]

Just watched it on Hulu. My head is still spinning. No pun intended.

[@pazzoredento2191]

Zardoz was ahead of its time

[@konli]

Zardoz,was way ahead of it's time. Analise god,meaning of life,sexo,things at that tome,You find not see in movies.great movie

[@chazblitz]

Watched it on the big screen while tripping at our high school auditorium when they did Friday night movies. This was in 77 or 78. One of the greatest nights ever! Personally, I think Boorman should have used the red diapers in Deliverance.

[@zardoz7900]

It's great. It's my favorite, together with Ciao Manhattan.

[@theparalexview785]

Some friends have talked about Zardoz since Sean Connery's recent death. I had intended to avoid ever watching anything resembling a James Bond as Borat in a mankini movie. But they actually spoke favorably of Zardoz. So I watched the prologue clip. Yeah, it felt a bit tacked on, as most prologue explications do. But it actually intrigued me enough to watch it. Not tonight. But soon. Well, some day.

[@Jazzman-bj9fq]

You missed the obvious Rick and Morty reference to Zardoz episode, Raising Gazorapzorp, lol. I think this is a great movie and any sci-fi or dystopian future film fans would enjoy this movie. It tells a great story even if it's unintentionally funny but that's the beauty of movies such as this.

[@siamiam]

watched it a few decades ago, it was quite odd then and is still odd now O_O i cant imagine it with out connery

[@Humanechoes]

It was almost Burt Reynolds. Might have still worked.

[@michagrobi6771]

Hahaha close decision but Sean might the way more better decision. TRUMP2020

[@char1737]

I saw the film and then all of my close friends went to second level with me

[@MAGICJACKATX]

Saw it when it arrived at theaters in 1974. It was a mind blower for us and we weren't even stoned. There wasn't much to compare it with in that era. Parts of it were out of our comprehension but we just flowed with it. Viewing in later years I realized that I found the pyramid and mirrors segment rather boring and lengthy. For it's time it and it's time it stood out for me. Thanks for your review. It's pretty accurate.

[@deeterdeeter1622]

Rainbow bridge with Jimi Hendrix is just as brilliant.

[@MAGICJACKATX]

@@deeterdeeter1622 I saw him live twice back in the day.

[@michaeldreibelbis9529]

Finally picked this up on DVD. Had vague memories of this movie from when I was younger... and seeing some serious late night weirdness. The movie is much deeper than it first appears. Has been a favorite for a while.

[@woodyreed2882]

What did Sean Connery think of this film?

[@YT-kc8wu]

Just bought the movie to watch it. Honestly for me it was the interest from a cards against humanity card.

[@WrongTimeline]

Like the film fine. I’ve never done LSD, but a stoner in college once said to me: “You mean you’re Not high??” I was once the go to man for a PhD English lit to explain the film to him. It all was a big puzzle to me to solve, that’s what the film was. Think I did a fair job.

[@philipripper1522]

You asked for context. I saw it when I was 11 or 12, which was 1992 or so. I don't remember what channel. But i had a warning about nudity so I snuck out of my room at night and watched it in the living room. Oh, the days before internet, and what dumb boys would do to see a boob. That's how I first saw it and know about it. Since then I've seen it twice as an adult, and each time I was more concerned that it seemed totally normal to me as an 11 year old.

[@Humanechoes]

I'm sure 11 year old you was more entranced by the ladies of this movie than the plot. I'm 31 and I know I was.

[@hank964]

All I can say this film is beyond weird and bizarre. I saw this film almost three decades ago on HBO and it just blew my mind. I bet Connery must been on drugs when he did this film I know the director Boorman was

[@Humanechoes]

It was a weird wondrous time for making films on massive amounts of drugs.

[@hank964]

It was a very different time in the late 60's and 70's that both actors and directors were stoned out there minds

[@Humanechoes]

It made for some amazing and awful art. Everything from The Holy Mountain to The Devils of Loudon. I love the period but can only take so much at once.

[@hank964]

Very indulging time remember Exorcist II: The Heretic a few years after Zardoz directed by Boorman absolute bomb in the box office him trying to rewrite the original Exorcist with this nonsense

[@michagrobi6771]

@@hank964 ha! Glad you connected Zardoz with Exorcist 2. Connect Zardoz with 4 Minutes HOPSIN you should have known I was coming

[@inmarsat7]

I am not Arthur Frayn, and I am not immortal. I have not lived for 300 years, and I do not wish to die. That stated, I choose renegade. Vote now. Vote now...

[@Siamko]

Zardoz is up there with Caligula, and 12 monkeys.....................sooo out there man

[@Sohave]

Two mistakes. 1) It was not Vladimir Lenin but Karl Marx the communist news paper was concerned about Zardoz resembling. 2) The Rick and Morty episode referencing Zardoz was "Raising Gazorpazorp" where they had a flying head resembling the one in Zardoz spewing out sex dolls. not "Get Schwifty" which you referenced.

[@mxbrvrgvs0]

My friends and I took some acid before watching Zardoz, and one the greatest moments of my life is being in a smoke filmed room with my pals, while chanting the word "Tabernacle" in unison.

[@rgaleny]

dystopian stories are hard to like at first

[@Humanechoes]

I've always liked them but I'm a weirdo.

[@ChiefSmackahoLLC]

Eternal salinity? Eternal saltiness lol

[@CannibalWHORE22]

What I get out of this movie is the person or people behind the curtain aren’t invincible and we all die no matter what!

[@DJ3ric]

Funny how after listening to your commentary on this movie..... "Zardoz" = (wi)zard - oz Just a thought after you mentioned that movie.

[@benevolentbrood8575]

It was a good movie in my opinion it had a lot of stuff that was weird or abnormal but the plot about an artificial intelligence ruling people based on its own set of moral laws, was of illuminating the flaws that might come if we ever set out on that idea and made it reality, so it had some good lessons about a lot of things even though it had its weird moments. Not a movie for everyone though thats for sure.

[@There_Will_Be_Bond]

Nice vlog, any extra intel on the costumes or what happened to them? Thanks

[@scottcleaves1040]

As much as I love his movie, I will say this. Do not watch this on TV or you will be totally lost. Get The DVD. It's a good movie but you loosee alot of it on TV as it is heavily edited.

[@Humanechoes]

If you cut much of anything from this it would completely lose coherance. It's a movie that takes some focus anyway. I don't even understand how they would cut it.

[@michagrobi6771]

Best movie ever. Best PRESIDENT ever. TRUMP2Q2Q

[@pappajudas9267]

A friend got me a bootleg copy of the movie. I was following everything fine until the end when Sean Connery began controlling time with the crystal, that part of the movie felt cheap and out of place. Otherwise felt the movie though odd worked even if it was trying to be smarter than it really was.

[@michagrobi6771]

Please check Hopsin. you should have known I was coming. TRUMP2Q2Q

[@dawnklug6986]

Watched in the mid 1980's and had to view it many times to understand the concept being that it's so disconnected, I LOVE Sean Connery, so he was the main draw.

[@numbersix8919]

Hey, the stone head looks like Marx, not Lenin. But thanks for the fact, I didn't know that!

[@philipripper1522]

I think the apathetics are the general audience.

[@philipripper1522]

*ahem* Pardon me. i think actually all of the bad things represent people who will not play Dwarf Fortress games on this channel like a good person would.

[@Humanechoes]

Ouch! Shots fired. I didn't know the guys talked smack about me on there.

[@dirkdiamondify]

Yep it is very odd, but I do really like it. I've seen the Zardoz-head = Lenin thing mentioned before. I think it's much more likely what Boorman had in mind was Karl Marx's grave at Highgate cemetery. Same idea, wrong attribution. www.hamhigh.co.uk/polopoly_fs/1.3835865.1415271209!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_1024/image.jpg

[@alisonholland7531]

As a 60+ who saw Zardoz back in the 70's when it was released I think you're all overthinking it, it was a typical, weird, sci-fi crossover booby movie - we just didn't think like that in those days - much the same as Logans Run 🙄

[@combcomclrlsr]

Zed is the anti-Jesus. He brings salvation through death.

[@Coabeous]

I liked the remake, "Book of Eli" better.

[@samueledvardsen1723]

I thought it was a great film for what it is, I don't get all the criticism.

[@HyperspacePictures]

He was robbed of Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson is a film student compared to the visionary that made this great film.

[@robothunter1035]

One fact that you make a mistake about is that the giant Zardoz head was really based in all of it's proportions (and countenance) on a study of the actual head of the United States senator from Texas, Ted Cruz. Betcha didn't know that.

[@volvo480]

I saw the movie when I was young on late night TV and years later I've bought the DVD because the movie somehow intrigued me. A female friend of mine told my then-girlfriend (now wife) while looking through my DVD collection "do you know what weird taste in movies he has? He's got a movie with Sean Connery in high boots wearing red nappies and a ponytail!" Well yeah, that bit did look weird, but the ultimate boredom of the people in power is what gripped me. And the closing sequence with Beethoven's Seventh is haunting. It's a kind of movie you need to see late at night with some beers or, because it's Sean Connery, good whisky.

[@SP-fc9bx]

Just saw this movie and enjoyed making my wife sit through it... It's a complete S' show. It's amazing that this is seriously the second worst movie Connery is in.... We all know the worst.

[@gingrinch]

Always destined to be a cult film.

[@michagrobi6771]

Thanks for this nice infos. Normally I do not comment when the comment count is 45 and I ALWAYS comment when it is 44. The movie ZARDOZ is by far the best movie I have ever seen. I have seen seen it 100+ times. And I appreciate any conversation about it. TRUMP2Q2Q

[@Humanechoes]

Thanks for watching. What makes it your favorite?

[@michagrobi6771]

@@Humanechoes it's complexity and the anticipation of technical and societywise revolutions. Have you seen Hopsin You should have known that I was coming meanwhile?

[@Humanechoes]

Listened to a fair amount of Hopsin but not sure about that track.

[@user-ok7nw3hd4k]

I thought it was brillent and genuis and definitely more relevent in 2023 than when it was released.