Review of Zardoz (1974) by Afzal S — 18 Apr 2008

When people talk of strange forgotten films, the first they should mention is Zardoz. Made for a pittance by Boorman in his backyard (well the Wicklow Mountains) after the success of Point Blank and Deliverance, Connery, floundering post-Bond, swallowed his pride and wore what looks like a male hooker's outfit to play a savage hitman in the future, who stumbles upon uncomfortable facts which overturn the world he believes he lives in.

You can dismiss it if you want, and we all love the idea of a flabby, disconsolate Sean romping around the wilds of Ireland and being smuggled around in a bridal dress, and being attacked by a bunch of crazed old people (no joke, it has to be seen to be believed!), but then Boorman was having a laugh- but not just a laugh. No, he was making a comment (and doing it well) on organized religion and elitism, as well as the dangers of overcivilisation and science. And the thrilling, disturbing denouement is worth all the cheap props and effects and Boorman's idiosyncracy.