Post by Quorthon on Sept 28, 2009 9:03:23 GMT -5
Zardoz
Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction
1974
Color
MPAA Rating: R
Directed by: John Boorman
USA
Zardoz is… well, actually, there’s no easy way to finish that sentence, paragraph, or what-have-you. Zardoz is a weird, very weird, post-apocalyptic science fiction opus that is as hard to describe as it is to turn away from once you begin viewing it.
Some two hundred or so years after “the end” (which is never elaborated upon), human society has essentially collapsed into very strange little splinter groups. There are immortal humans (Eternals) living far away in a droningly inept society, and there are the “regular” uneducated humans (Brutals) who roam the destroyed country-sides, and there are humans who wear masks (Exterminators) of a grimacing figure called Zardoz who ride around on horses pretty much randomly killing the uneducated swaths of humanity, which apparently consist of the highest number of remaining humans. Zardoz is a giant flying stone head regarded as a god by the Exterminators, and Zardoz supplies them with guns and odd lessons in the “goodness of guns” and “evilness of the penis.” Are you following this so far?
The film stars Sean Connery as an exceptional Exterminator that infiltrates the Zardoz head, and then the sanctuary of the Eternals and eventually turns everything topsy-turvy. Sean Connery also spends the bulk of this film wearing an outfit consisting of a red leather (or maybe some kind of rubber) briefs and either thigh-high boots or shoes resembling moccasins. The underlying themes seem to be life and death and how this future society lost basic understanding of both. The Eternals lost the ability to procreate and are impotent due to their being immortal, and the Brutals and Exterminators have death and tons of it, but in so far as they’ve come to have next to no respect for life.
Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
--The story, for what it’s worth, is rather intriguing, creative, and interesting. It’s just so bizarre that it’s difficult to watch, or for that matter, understand.
--Special effects aren’t too shabby for 1974, and the film does have a wealth of interesting visuals, optical tricks, unusual background designs, and some nudity.
--Perhaps a little strange for 1974, the film has a rather heavy and forward-looking theme of sex and sexuality in it. Essentially, the themes presented didn’t feel like they came from the early 70’s so shortly after the MPAA rating system was formed. Some of the writing felt like it belonged in a film from, perhaps the 80’s or even 90’s. Which shows some of the progressive ideas the film dealt with. This is largely my perception, however and others may feel differently.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help:
--Environments and scenery are fairly interesting, although, for a post-apocalyptic setting, it would have been nice to see more ruined landscapes and the like.
--There’s quite a bit of “riding on horses hunting people” scenes a la Planet of the Apes—these probably could’ve been cut down a bit.
--It’s hard to read the quality of the acting when the writing and overall style of the film is as bizarre a brand of science fiction as this is.
--Apocalypse really never explained, nor is there concrete reasoning for the strange separations of humans in the film. About all the reasoning we’re given is that the Eternals run the show from behind the scenes, but without really knowing what’s going on out there. For instance, when they learn what it’s like in the “real world,” they find it all extremely interesting and perplexing.
--The film is intriguing and interesting enough that it can generally hold attention, even through the banal slow segments. When it’s over, you get the feeling that if you watched it again, you’d fully understand what the movie was trying to say and you’d get it. Unfortunately, because of the many other meddling issues with the film, the chances you actually ever feel like watching it a second time are pretty slim.
--Character development rolls along fairly well, although a little strained as Connery has very few lines in the film. Some characters have well-portrayed personalities that add some semblance of human realism to the film.
-- Dialog can be stilted and strange. Some will feel it does too little to advance the story, some may feel that it’s a little unrealistic or silly, and some will no doubt feel that it fits the overall setting fairly well. Personally, I found it had all of these qualities.
--The film has some pretty good cinematography and camera work. It does have it’s own flavor and uniqueness. However, as I’ll mention in the next section, it fails to deliver real emotional response from the viewer. So the cinematography isn’t quite as good as it could be.
--There’s a decent amount a violence, and pretty much all of it is gun violence and a couple rapes that are more or less just implied. There’s no real gore aside from some gunshot wounds.
The Bad:
--The film’s pacing is uncomfortable, and occasionally plodding. There are quite a few instances where scenes do little if anything to further or expand on the plot, and some that do aid plot development seem to last too long.
--The film is almost too damn weird. The rituals and customs, looks and styles of the Eternals often feels like it’s weird for the sake of weird. Due to the impotence brought on by the immortality, all the males have become very feminine in appearance and largely in attitude. The Eternals are psychic, by the way, and have customs and ceremonies that deal with the psychic connection they all share. Sometimes it’s eerie, sometimes it’s just plain pointless.
--The Eternals live almost exclusively on a diet of some kind of bread. No, really. This is an advanced society we got here.
--Perhaps you recognize John Boorman’s name as the director. Perhaps you’re far more familiar with the film he made that preceded this: Deliverance. That’s right. That guy wrote and directed this thing.
--Music doesn’t really work for the film.
--For science fiction buffs, the timeline of this film is going to be a little hard to swallow. This takes place roughly 200 years in the future, although the Eternals and the Zardoz head seem to have been around for just as long. Since the Eternals generally lack the ability to advance themselves, they are largely living on technology developed during our time, and all that we see here is a little lofty to believe. On top of which, some of it seems less like “technology” and more like some kind of bizarre “magic.”
--Who the hell gave this one Zardoz guy the sole authority to basically run the world without anyone else’s input?
--Extremely bland atmosphere for the most part. There is no tension, no feelings of wonder, you know, like you maybe felt upon viewing Star Wars for the first time, or perhaps something like The Dark Crystal or The Neverending Story. Which is another issue:
--Oftentimes, the film feels like a strange fantasy picture rather than the science fiction epic it’s attempting to be. And the world never feels inviting, scary, or awe-inspiring enough.
--The movie feels too long, and at times, too long-winded. I’m all for great science fiction epics, but they need to be built on a more solid foundation than what this film had.
The Ugly:
-- Along with the red undies, Sean Connery also sports a ridiculous “Zapata” mustache and a pony tale. Couple this with his penchant for rape, violence, and—of all things—The Wizard of Oz, and you have yourself just about the strangest character in the history of film.
--The movie’s opening sequence shows a guy wearing a headdress similar to that of some ancient Egyptian Pharaoh while his head floats around the screen and he explains the back-story of the film. This was not a good opening. For one thing, having his head floating around while he stares through us is distracting from what he’s saying. For another, it’s plainly evident that his head is “cut off” with some kind of flat black barrier below his chin and the camera is likely just moving around to make it appear as if his head is floating. On top of which, the obviously drawn-on (like with a Sharpee) mustache and goatee of this guy—who is the human version of Zardoz—bring the imagery down a few pegs since it isn’t explained until far, far later in the film that it’s meant to be drawn on. Starting out this way gives the film an overall feel of cheapness that puts the viewer in the wrong mindset right from the start. From this point on, it becomes difficult to take much of the rest of the film seriously.
--This film has a lot of things that are very unique to it and a lot of potential that somewhere along the way, was squandered and lost. One can’t help but blame the direction. Ask anyone, I’m a fan of overtly strange films, video games, music, and stories—but the stranger something is, the more solid it’s direction must be. There has to be real confidence and competence behind the scenes to pull off films like this. Take a film like The Neverending Story or even something like A.I. or The Dark Crystal. These are all very strange films, with bizarre sights, and weirdness everywhere. But they work. They work because the direction was strong and the crew had a passion for the work. Somewhere along the line, Boorman failed to give this film the direction and focus it actually needed to be something good. The original film poster compares it both to 1984 and 2001: A Space Odyssey and isn’t even remotely as appealing as either of those films.
Memorable Scene:
--That early scene where the Zardoz head gives out guns and tells us that penises are evil. Classic.
Acting: 6/10
Story: 7/10
Atmosphere: 5/10
Cinematography: 7/10
Character Development: 6/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 6/10
Dialog: 6/10
Music: 4/10
Direction: 5/10
Nudity: 3/10
Sexuality: 7/10
Violence: 5/10
Gore: 1/10
Cheesiness: 6/10
Crappiness: 3/10
Overall: 5/10
I’d like to say, “well there you have it,” but with this film I just can’t. I’m not really confident that I’ve given enough of a view of this film for it to actually be understood properly. What you really need to know is that it’s essentially a sci-fi epic that fell well short of expectations. Recommended to sci-fi and post-apocalyptic fiction buffs and that’s about it.
Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction
1974
Color
MPAA Rating: R
Directed by: John Boorman
USA
Zardoz is… well, actually, there’s no easy way to finish that sentence, paragraph, or what-have-you. Zardoz is a weird, very weird, post-apocalyptic science fiction opus that is as hard to describe as it is to turn away from once you begin viewing it.
Some two hundred or so years after “the end” (which is never elaborated upon), human society has essentially collapsed into very strange little splinter groups. There are immortal humans (Eternals) living far away in a droningly inept society, and there are the “regular” uneducated humans (Brutals) who roam the destroyed country-sides, and there are humans who wear masks (Exterminators) of a grimacing figure called Zardoz who ride around on horses pretty much randomly killing the uneducated swaths of humanity, which apparently consist of the highest number of remaining humans. Zardoz is a giant flying stone head regarded as a god by the Exterminators, and Zardoz supplies them with guns and odd lessons in the “goodness of guns” and “evilness of the penis.” Are you following this so far?
The film stars Sean Connery as an exceptional Exterminator that infiltrates the Zardoz head, and then the sanctuary of the Eternals and eventually turns everything topsy-turvy. Sean Connery also spends the bulk of this film wearing an outfit consisting of a red leather (or maybe some kind of rubber) briefs and either thigh-high boots or shoes resembling moccasins. The underlying themes seem to be life and death and how this future society lost basic understanding of both. The Eternals lost the ability to procreate and are impotent due to their being immortal, and the Brutals and Exterminators have death and tons of it, but in so far as they’ve come to have next to no respect for life.
Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
--The story, for what it’s worth, is rather intriguing, creative, and interesting. It’s just so bizarre that it’s difficult to watch, or for that matter, understand.
--Special effects aren’t too shabby for 1974, and the film does have a wealth of interesting visuals, optical tricks, unusual background designs, and some nudity.
--Perhaps a little strange for 1974, the film has a rather heavy and forward-looking theme of sex and sexuality in it. Essentially, the themes presented didn’t feel like they came from the early 70’s so shortly after the MPAA rating system was formed. Some of the writing felt like it belonged in a film from, perhaps the 80’s or even 90’s. Which shows some of the progressive ideas the film dealt with. This is largely my perception, however and others may feel differently.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help:
--Environments and scenery are fairly interesting, although, for a post-apocalyptic setting, it would have been nice to see more ruined landscapes and the like.
--There’s quite a bit of “riding on horses hunting people” scenes a la Planet of the Apes—these probably could’ve been cut down a bit.
--It’s hard to read the quality of the acting when the writing and overall style of the film is as bizarre a brand of science fiction as this is.
--Apocalypse really never explained, nor is there concrete reasoning for the strange separations of humans in the film. About all the reasoning we’re given is that the Eternals run the show from behind the scenes, but without really knowing what’s going on out there. For instance, when they learn what it’s like in the “real world,” they find it all extremely interesting and perplexing.
--The film is intriguing and interesting enough that it can generally hold attention, even through the banal slow segments. When it’s over, you get the feeling that if you watched it again, you’d fully understand what the movie was trying to say and you’d get it. Unfortunately, because of the many other meddling issues with the film, the chances you actually ever feel like watching it a second time are pretty slim.
--Character development rolls along fairly well, although a little strained as Connery has very few lines in the film. Some characters have well-portrayed personalities that add some semblance of human realism to the film.
-- Dialog can be stilted and strange. Some will feel it does too little to advance the story, some may feel that it’s a little unrealistic or silly, and some will no doubt feel that it fits the overall setting fairly well. Personally, I found it had all of these qualities.
--The film has some pretty good cinematography and camera work. It does have it’s own flavor and uniqueness. However, as I’ll mention in the next section, it fails to deliver real emotional response from the viewer. So the cinematography isn’t quite as good as it could be.
--There’s a decent amount a violence, and pretty much all of it is gun violence and a couple rapes that are more or less just implied. There’s no real gore aside from some gunshot wounds.
The Bad:
--The film’s pacing is uncomfortable, and occasionally plodding. There are quite a few instances where scenes do little if anything to further or expand on the plot, and some that do aid plot development seem to last too long.
--The film is almost too damn weird. The rituals and customs, looks and styles of the Eternals often feels like it’s weird for the sake of weird. Due to the impotence brought on by the immortality, all the males have become very feminine in appearance and largely in attitude. The Eternals are psychic, by the way, and have customs and ceremonies that deal with the psychic connection they all share. Sometimes it’s eerie, sometimes it’s just plain pointless.
--The Eternals live almost exclusively on a diet of some kind of bread. No, really. This is an advanced society we got here.
--Perhaps you recognize John Boorman’s name as the director. Perhaps you’re far more familiar with the film he made that preceded this: Deliverance. That’s right. That guy wrote and directed this thing.
--Music doesn’t really work for the film.
--For science fiction buffs, the timeline of this film is going to be a little hard to swallow. This takes place roughly 200 years in the future, although the Eternals and the Zardoz head seem to have been around for just as long. Since the Eternals generally lack the ability to advance themselves, they are largely living on technology developed during our time, and all that we see here is a little lofty to believe. On top of which, some of it seems less like “technology” and more like some kind of bizarre “magic.”
--Who the hell gave this one Zardoz guy the sole authority to basically run the world without anyone else’s input?
--Extremely bland atmosphere for the most part. There is no tension, no feelings of wonder, you know, like you maybe felt upon viewing Star Wars for the first time, or perhaps something like The Dark Crystal or The Neverending Story. Which is another issue:
--Oftentimes, the film feels like a strange fantasy picture rather than the science fiction epic it’s attempting to be. And the world never feels inviting, scary, or awe-inspiring enough.
--The movie feels too long, and at times, too long-winded. I’m all for great science fiction epics, but they need to be built on a more solid foundation than what this film had.
The Ugly:
-- Along with the red undies, Sean Connery also sports a ridiculous “Zapata” mustache and a pony tale. Couple this with his penchant for rape, violence, and—of all things—The Wizard of Oz, and you have yourself just about the strangest character in the history of film.
--The movie’s opening sequence shows a guy wearing a headdress similar to that of some ancient Egyptian Pharaoh while his head floats around the screen and he explains the back-story of the film. This was not a good opening. For one thing, having his head floating around while he stares through us is distracting from what he’s saying. For another, it’s plainly evident that his head is “cut off” with some kind of flat black barrier below his chin and the camera is likely just moving around to make it appear as if his head is floating. On top of which, the obviously drawn-on (like with a Sharpee) mustache and goatee of this guy—who is the human version of Zardoz—bring the imagery down a few pegs since it isn’t explained until far, far later in the film that it’s meant to be drawn on. Starting out this way gives the film an overall feel of cheapness that puts the viewer in the wrong mindset right from the start. From this point on, it becomes difficult to take much of the rest of the film seriously.
--This film has a lot of things that are very unique to it and a lot of potential that somewhere along the way, was squandered and lost. One can’t help but blame the direction. Ask anyone, I’m a fan of overtly strange films, video games, music, and stories—but the stranger something is, the more solid it’s direction must be. There has to be real confidence and competence behind the scenes to pull off films like this. Take a film like The Neverending Story or even something like A.I. or The Dark Crystal. These are all very strange films, with bizarre sights, and weirdness everywhere. But they work. They work because the direction was strong and the crew had a passion for the work. Somewhere along the line, Boorman failed to give this film the direction and focus it actually needed to be something good. The original film poster compares it both to 1984 and 2001: A Space Odyssey and isn’t even remotely as appealing as either of those films.
Memorable Scene:
--That early scene where the Zardoz head gives out guns and tells us that penises are evil. Classic.
Acting: 6/10
Story: 7/10
Atmosphere: 5/10
Cinematography: 7/10
Character Development: 6/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 6/10
Dialog: 6/10
Music: 4/10
Direction: 5/10
Nudity: 3/10
Sexuality: 7/10
Violence: 5/10
Gore: 1/10
Cheesiness: 6/10
Crappiness: 3/10
Overall: 5/10
I’d like to say, “well there you have it,” but with this film I just can’t. I’m not really confident that I’ve given enough of a view of this film for it to actually be understood properly. What you really need to know is that it’s essentially a sci-fi epic that fell well short of expectations. Recommended to sci-fi and post-apocalyptic fiction buffs and that’s about it.
