Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Tweekums In a distant future, after the end of society as we know it, humanity is divided. A small number, the Eternals who are now immortal, live within the Vortex while outside the Brutals live. Those in the Vortex still need food and the Brutals provide it; giving food to the floating stone head, which they believe is Zardoz, their god, which takes it to the Vortex. Zed is one such brutal but he learns the truth about Zardoz and sets about getting into the Vortex. Once there he learns that life for the Eternals is far from idyllic; they are bored and many yearn for death. Others see Zed as a threat to their existence and want him killed.This is very much a film of the early seventies with its trippy visuals and general feel. The story itself is solid enough with its suggestion that eternal life would be more of a curse than a blessing. This depiction of immortality is well thought out with those who transgress being aged further but never dying and others being so apathetic that they barely move. Outside we see that the Brutals are far more 'alive' despite the violent way they are forced to live. I liked the way the invention of Zardoz is explained and how Zed learns the truth. On the downside the costumes are a bit of a distraction with Sean Connery's Zed wearing little more than a pair of red swimming trunks for most of the film and a distinctly hippyish look for the Eternals. The acting was okay although leads Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling have both done better. Overall I wouldn't say this is a must see unless you are a Connery completist or are a fan of somewhat camp sci-fi.

smatysia A truly weird sci-fi film. Some of the effects (specifically the stone head shots) are pretty cheesy, but it isn't fair to judge them by modern standards. Parts of the plot are highly interesting, and a few other parts are a bit ridiculous, but Sean Connery plays it straight throughout. (Although at the beginning of the film, he fires a pistol directly at the camera, seemingly a nod to his James Bond character) Charlotte Rampling is oddly good in this film as well. Sarah Kestelman and Niall Buggy played parts too odd to really describe. I liked it OK, partly FOR its weirdness.

verytea244 Pauline Kael referred to this film as a "lushly photographed piece of twaddle," and, of course, she was right about everything.

Scott LeBrun Filmmaker John Boormans' follow-up to "Deliverance" is admittedly not to all tastes. Boorman, who also produced and wrote the film, gives us a one of a kind experience that, ultimately, is better seen than described. Words like "weird" and "provocative" come to mind when viewing it, because it's full of ideas.It depicts a world of the future (the year 2293, to be exact) where a sly master intelligence, Zardoz, has contrived a way to keep unruly lower classes in line. One of the lower class people is an "exterminator", Zed (Sean Connery), whose job is to kill, period. One day Zed decides to seek truth, and hitches a ride in a great stone head, where he's transported to a "vortex", or environment, where the bored upper class, a group of immortal intellectuals, don't know what to make of him. He shakes up their world as much as they shake up his.The most striking element of "Zardoz" is the visual approach. Filmed on location in Ireland, it takes us from one surreal set piece to another, with deliberately stylized dialogue. The cast plays the material with very straight faces. Connery looks fairly embarrassed, and considering the fact that his costume partly consists of a red diaper, one can hardly blame him. (He wasn't too happy about having to wear a wedding dress, either.) Charlotte Rampling, Sara Kestelman, John Alderton, Sally Anne Newton, and Niall Buggy co-star; of this group of actors, Buggy does manage to inject some humour into the proceedings.This is sedately paced and short on action, but it's compelling in its own offbeat way, provided one is able to stick with the story. While it's not likely to be very appealing to a mainstream audience, it's not something easily forgotten for devotees of cult cinema.Seven out of 10.