Review of Zardoz (1974) by Captainhowdy — 11 Jul 2023

Writer/director John Boorman (Deliverance) failed in his attempt to adapt The Lord of the Rings to the screen, so he wrote the bizarre fever dream that is Zardoz instead. This film has some admirably high aspirations, but there's no denying that it's a bona fide hot mess.

While the artistic design is memorable, the story jumps all over the place, with no clear rhyme or reason to anything. Aggressively opaque pseudo-spiritual mumbo jumbo abounds in an attempt to make the film seem deeper than it actually is, but it makes so little sense while taking itself so seriously that it's hard to enjoy the film, even on an ironic level.

An odd film indeed, but by no means necessary viewing.