05/19/06 Zardoz

Zardoz (1974), directed by John Boorman

watched w/ Leslie; DVD rental (Netflix) @ home

Isn't it so utterly painful when a whole production team (writers, directors, actors, etc.) all join an effort that they hope will live on in the annals of cult classics...only to so early on in the creative process realize that they are about to make huge career mistakes by participating...only to push on with the effort as a team for some shred of dignity...and abruptly release it to a puzzled audience who firmly believe that all involved have finally "lost it." Such is the legacy of "Zardoz" I'm afraid. It seemed so campy and good-hearted in its silly approach to a futuristic chasm between the haves & have-nots. Well, anything that starts off its saga by having a humongous floating rock-carved head of a very evil-Santa-Clause-ish deity named Zardoz, spewing religion and guns (that's right, shotguns came flying out of his mouth) to the masses of loincloth-laden Brutals, only to reach the utopian land of the rivals the Eternals in death...well, it's too much junk in the trunk I say. I can't honestly believe that folks like idol Sean Connery or a young serious actress like Charlotte Rampling could have taken their roles seriously, what with all the talk of scientific explanations for male erections and catatonic hippies. It tries to speak about class structure and the void that grows between people (excuse me, the vortex if you will). Connery's character of Zed begins to question the whole thing, when he comes across a copy of Baum's "The Wizard Of Oz" (please read more into the title) and decides to disrupt life in his search for the truth. Oh Sean, yes the ladies liked you in the loincloth, but save it for the Bond sequels. Zardoz commands you so.

1 out of 5 stars