Zardoz is so bad and yet so good
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- The John Boorman cult classic - what's going on?
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Yes! There were many dystopian/acpolayptic movies in the 70s but this one might be my favorite. The way it takes the California New Age mindset to its ultimate end is brilliant. Double feature with this and Demolition Man would be the best.
When i first saw demolition man i had just been watching star trek for the first time. Its is the best mockery of star trek ive seen yet lmao
This is a definite cult classic. There is so much bad in this film, yet that’s also part of the charm to it. It’s awesome to see you talk about it. Hope you’re doing well David, have a great weekend!
it is indeed in a rare "so bad it's good" piece of media club
truly a classic
Holy cow! I'm literally getting Zardoz from Amazon today! Ordered it on Tuesday. Been meaning to watch it for years.
people will not regret googling the picture of saun connery in a mankini.
Their epic ambitions were much bigger than their budget. But they manage to do quite a lot with those limitations that I think adds its 70s charm. The one budget limitation that really irks me though is that although the Eternals and Hunters had their bizarre costumes the brutals just had their 70's rural cloths which makes it look like just a year after the collapse instead of a millenium. Couldn't they just get some tunics from some medieval production, or just turn some blankets into kilts and cloaks with a single stitch. Apart from that though this is one of my favourite movies, guess I like being startled by weirdness and a dozen philosophical ideas at the same time.
Boorman also filmed EXCALIBUR in his backyard in Ireland. Better fit, methinks.
Maybe Ralph Bakshi could've pulled it off in animation.
Sounds like an idea that would be ripe for a legitimate remake given the production choices. No Timmy Shallow-Meh or Zendaya, please.
11/10 movie just for Sean Connery in a speedo
12/10 for the scene in the library where they reveal the true meaning of "Zardoz".
Zardoz is one of those classic bad films that probably would have faded into complete obscurity if it wasn't for the insane cover art with Connery in the red diaper. I'm guessing half the budget went to getting him in the film and the rest went to the massive amount of drugs everyone making this thing had to be taking.
It was actually a quarter of the budget...
I heard he told his agent to give him something as far as he could from "James Bond" and that's why he accepted and signed onto Zardoz.
It was a good fantasy flick, I wouldn't go out of my way to rewatch it, but it's definitely something that you must see once and stands out.
I watched it blind without spoilers and that's how it should be seen...
A huge part of this film and other great bad films of the 70s and 80s is that they have such earnestness despite their absolute goofiness, and that is how it's able to maintain a relevance half a century later.
I was really let down by Zardoz, because people made it out to be the weirdest movie ever made. It was fairly pedestrian aside from the giant floating head spewing guns (I'll have more of that, please). I felt that I could see what Boorman was going for, and that really negated the weirdness that others saw. So, as you say, the ideas did shine through the flaws.
It sounds like the usual sort of take from Silent Generation/Boomers on the topics God/religion and society. That it borders on being a 70's adult film is also typical and perhaps unsurprising.
I like that there's a movie that examines the necessity of death in a fallen state. That we end up destroying God and/or learning that He's fake for the bliss of a familiar materialism is a miss. However it is pretty typical too of Hollywood in general.
I watched this as a kiddo, was really impressed by Charlotte Rampling.
Fun, in-depth analysis. Every other CZcams video or article I've seen on this movie is stuck on superficial stuff like "hurrr Sean Connery" or "hurrr funny dialog."
Not once did I hear someone talk about the actual plot! We were missing out.
Altered Carbon was an impressive TV series that provided a good critique of the concept of human immortality.
very conceptually weird and more memorable than entertaining.
Definitely not a blockbuster-type exciting movie, but it certainly holds your attention.
@@DVSPress not even exclusively in a trainwreck way either. There's *something* there and its not just pure trash nor so and its good only. Plenty of talented actors and directors have collaborated to make bad or even terrible films but Zardoz very nearly stands alone in almost being that but not quite.
It's been a long time since I've seen Zardoz. Isn't there a scene where the Eternals touch each other and experience some kind of awakening? I remember thinking that part looked like a drama school exercise!
I've never seen it. Until seeing your video, it was an "avoid at all costs" movie.
I watched this about 15 years ago on the recommendation of an older co-worker. I never made the connection that this was made by the same guy that made Excalibur. He really does like naked women and I have absolutely no issue with this.
This is definitely top 20 SciFi for me. But back in the day at the video store the cover was a bit of putting. So I only watched it about 10 years ago.
Another way Zardoz is interesting: despite its deathly and tragic tone, everybody wins.
THE GUN IS GOOD.
I'm not familiar with Deliverance, but when I hear than name my mind always jumps to Excalibur.
Saw it half a year ago, certainly unique and some good portrayl of what hollywood could look like if they all became immortal and the rest of the world dies. But not very entertaining by nowadays standards and yeah they surely were high back then making that. Also for anyone who likes these kind of themes I can recommend the anime shin sekai yori even tho it teenagers as protagonists mostly but there is a lot to think about that society there also has eugenics etc. they got super powers, rats as servants and also cant harm each other directly usually.
You said "mid century saw a change to big ideas and big concepts and speculative fiction". What was it before that? How was science fiction not that before?
Stories were much more focused on the fantastical and adventure plots.
Things like Princess of Mars, Flash Gordon. Star Wars was much more influenced by those than post war sci-fi.
They were more like pulps and serials. Post 'Nam we started to get social sci-fi that was more interested in social and political ideas, and less interested in the adventure of space travel. This was one reason why SW was such a huge deal, it broke with the dystopian "depressing" types of sci-fi that was prevalent at the time, departed from heavy social commentary and social engineering tropes, and returned to that Flash Gordon serial feel and pace.
@@droe2570 The problem is the "thesis Sci-fi" was really just garbage shallow ideas, or shallowly explored, that actually prevented good story telling. I'm not against the concept of using big ideas, but you have to have the depth to make a story out of them, which always begins with: What would actually happen that might be surprising and feel true to life, or at least true to the invented reality.
@@wrathofatlantis2316 Yep. But writers can't write beyond their own wisdom and knowledge and thought. Shallow writers with poorly defined ideas divorced from historical context could only create shallow poorly defined stories. This is why Heinlein and Bradbury were so good.
@@droe2570 True. Bradbury delved into big ideas to the point he may have been hard to adapt, but I remember his stories as reasonably grounded. He did not like a lot of the new 60s and especially 70s sci-fi... Despite this I would not say it was a bad period compared to today. There was a huge and varied volume...
Sounds like it had less luck and budget than it deserved. I'll give it a try...
Always liked this movie
Hello Fellow Immortals, do you u have a moment to talk about gnosticism? How to trick the demiurge and escape your flesh prison. 😂 Thanks, for the review.
I’ve never seen this movie before, not sure if I’ve even heard about it.
4:23 Why do some people honestly still find nudity offensive? Nobody ever wore clothes when they came out of the womb, so why in the world is a person's body more off putting than a person getting shot at and killed? Does a person's (especially a woman's body) natural body really warrant a R or even a PG rating?
I absolutely loved how weird this film was. I couldn't stop thinking about it for days afterwards.
It seems strangely relevant in our world full of antinatalist hedonistic woke cultists.
6:35 'Today's standards' of special effects usually equates to the same old tiresome PS4 looking fair. That's not what i would call a good standard for effects, for a movie to look like a game. Half decent filmmakers should learn to move away from that. And yes, the head in Zardoz has way more creativity and charm behind it.