zardoz

2001: A Space Odyssey set a new precedent for realistic special effects in science-fiction films. In fact, it set the bar so high few studios or filmmakers were willing to take a chance on competing with its meticulous craftsmanship, fearful that audiences would snicker at the attempt...not to mention the risk of losing money, time, and effort spent trying to duplicate the model-sized masterpiece.

But the trippy final act of Kubrick’s film had distinct coattail riding possibilities. No one was really sure what it was about, but the “kids” all seemed to dig those psychedelic visuals and cosmic philosophies. So it’s likely that angle (and the success of Deliverance) that gave writer/director John Boorman the green light for Zardoz (1974); one of the more willfully bizarre movies ever released outside of the experimental film circuit.

Set in the year 2293, mankind has evolved into a race of Eternals, perfectly coifed debutantes who live forever in a bubble-enclosed paradise. Their manual labor however is provided by the Brutals, men slightly lower on the evolutionary scale, forced to farm in squalor outside the protective Vortex.

Zed (Sean Connery) manages to break into the Vortex courtesy of Zardoz himself: a oversized floating stone head that speaks with the voice of God, keeping the Brutals in line and encouraging their violent, self-destructive behavior. His savagery and virility are a source of great interest to the Eternals, who, with no further need to propagate the species, have lost the power to achieve an erection (talk about your untapped pharmacological goldmines!). But Zed keeps an even deeper secret, one that might bring about the doom – or salvation – of the entire Eternals culture.

For both Boorman and Connery, Zardoz is one of the more interesting aberrations in their respective careers. As the opening narration suggests (delivered by a different floating head…this one alive), the film aims for social satire, skewering the dichotomy between the Eternal one-percenters and the great unwashed Brutals; a theme that’s been tossing around sci-fi cinema since Metropolis. But it’s Boorman’s ability to highlight the films eccentricities - from the costumes and sets to the casting of Connery himself (only one movie removed from Bond) - that makes Zardoz so wonderfully risky.

While the script is credited to Boorman, it fits comfortably with sci-fi literature of the time: post- Planet of the Apes adventure stories mixed with an almost unadaptable free-love aesthetic. In short, this is a movie that took balls to make. A movie that opens with a giant stone head proclaiming, “The gun is good…the penis is evil!” A movie that serves up counter-culture ideology in a most unconventional way. A movie that – as critics are often wont to say – simply couldn’t be made today.

Twilight Time has upped this limited edition Blu-ray to 5000 units from their usual 3000, available exclusively at . The hi-def transfer is remarkable, doing wonders with Boorman and DP Geoffrey Unsworth’s work, which tend to be on the foggy side intentionally. Extras include an isolated score track, theatrical trailer, radio spots and two separate commentaries; one from a trio of film historians and another from Boorman himself.