Zardoz (1974)
Zardoz Photos
Movie Info
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Cast
as Zed
as Consuella
as May
as Avalow
as Friend
as Arthur Frayn/Zardoz
as Star
as George Saden
as Apathetic
as Death
as Star
as Old Scientist
as Death
News & Interviews for Zardoz
Critic Reviews for Zardoz
All Critics (20) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (11) | DVD (4)
Such a wildly ambitious misfire that you can't help but root for it, or at least feel some twisted sense of affection for it.
Boorman puts a lot of heavy concepts into Zardoz, but seems uncertain whether he takes them seriously himself.
Weird, fatuous and tedious fantasy futuristic sci-fi cult film.
While it can't hope to achieve its grand ambitions, it's smart, it has some sharp dialogue, and the surrealism-on-a-shoestring visuals are undeniably striking.
Pretty contrived sci-fi with leathery Sean Connery.
Magnificently sensational. Love it!
Audience Reviews for Zardoz
An underrated futuristic social satire that is definitely self-indulgent but also more thought-provoking and smart than it appears to be, while its mind-blowing visuals and bizarre dialogue contribute to give shape to a surrealistic allegory that is both fascinating and original.
Super Reviewer
An "outlander" mortal killer stows away inside a flying head to reach "the vortex," a land of bored immortals who view him as either a threat, a curiosity, or a savior. The crazy mix of high camp (Sean Connery running around in a red diaper), serious speculative sci-fi and budget psychedelic effects could only have been made in the 1970s; it's a highly entertaining cult movie time capsule.
Super Reviewer
This is the weirdest sci-fi movie of the 70s, I think. The story is confusing until the end, and then you realize it was really stupid anyway. I hated it.
Super Reviewer
Zardoz Quotes
| Zed: | Zardoz speaks to you. |
| Arthur Frayn: | I am Arthur Frayn, and I am Zardoz. |
| Avalow: | Death approaches! We are all mortal again! Now we can say 'yes' to death, but never again 'no'. Now, we must make our farewells: to each other, to the sun and moon, trees and sky, earth and rock; the landscape of our long waking-dream. |
| Zed: | What is it you want? |
| Friend: | Sweet death. Oblivion. |
| Zed: | For yourself, or for the whole Vortex? |
| Friend: | For everybody. An end to the human race. It has plagued this pretty planet for far too long. |