Review of Zardoz (1974) by Nick S — 23 Aug 2010

There is something absolutely baffling about the likes of Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling signing up to star in a John Boorman film in which the former is running around in tiny red pants and the latter has a whole speech about erection. It is also confusing to think that this is the film which followed Deliverance, a film which was powerful because of how quiet and minimalist it was in its approach. Zardoz is anything but that.

With lines like "The penis is evil!" or "You have penetrated me", it is literally impossible to take Zardoz seriously. Any serious satirical message Boorman was trying to convey in this trippy, bloated mad creation is lost somewhere amongst the floating heads, the sweat orgies and a scene in which Connery shows up in a wedding dress...yeah.

The camp value of Zardoz is through the roof and the ill-conceived costumes alone are worth a look. The pace of the film is pretty slow but the ridiculousness is so dense you'll never really get bored. It's like John Boorman saw Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and thought to himself "hm, not bad, but you know what this film's missing? a floating head.".

If you like bad movies or even fun, campy films like Flash Gordon or Barbarella, this is right up your street. I personally loved it and will never see Sean Connery or Charlotte Rampling in quite the same way ever again.

Note: The real rating would be more like 2 stars but I'm rating this on camp value alone.