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Zardoz By Paul Gaita
A bewigged Sean Connery is Zed, a savage "exterminator"
commanded by the mysterious god Zardoz to eliminate Brutals, survivors of
an unspecified worldwide catastrophe. Zed stows away inside Zardoz's
enormous idol (a flying stone head) and is taken to the pastoral land of
the Eternals, a matriarchal, quasi-medieval society that has achieved
psychic abilities as well as immortality. Zed finds as much hope as
disgust with the Eternals; their advancements have also robbed them of
physical passion, turning their existence into a living death. Zed becomes
the Eternals' unlikely messiah, but in order to save them--and himself--he
must confront the truth behind Zardoz and his own identity inside the
Tabernacle, the Eternals' omnipresent master computer.
A box office failure, John Boorman's Zardoz has developed a cult
following among science fiction fans whose tastes run toward more cerebral
fare, such as The Andromeda
Strain and Phase IV. An entrancing if overly ambitious (by
Boorman's own admission) film, Zardoz offers pointed commentary on
class structure and religion inside its complex plot and head-movie
visuals; its healthy doses of sex and violence will involve viewers even
if the story machinations escape them. Beautifully photographed near
Boorman's home in Ireland's Wicklow Mountains by Geoffrey Unsworth (2001),
its production design is courtesy of longtime Boorman associate Anthony
Pratt, who creates a believable society within the film's million-dollar
budget. The letterboxed DVD presentation includes engaging commentary by
Boorman, who discusses the special effects (all created in-camera) as well
as working with a post-Bond Connery.
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