Thankfully I caught this on Netflix, so I'm not out any money for the experience. I realize that they were trying to come up with a way to reuse all the stuff they had built for a film version of LotR which got axed at the last minute, but damn, what an incomprehensible wreck of a film. Even lots of exposed boobies didn't help this movie. Of course, it doesn't help much that Sean Connery spends the movie running around in go go boots and orange panties. (Seriously, this is not how one wants to see Bond.) I had loaded myself up with whiskey before watching this since I knew it was going to be bad, but clearly stronger substances are called for if one is going to attempt to enjoy this dreck.
An interesting connection between Zardoz and Superman... In the 1970s, the writers of Superman invented the character of Vartox, a superhero with powers similar to (and perhaps greater than) Superman. He became a friend and sorta mentor to Superman for a while, and would drop in every couple of years for a story. The connection to Zardoz? Well, here's Connery in the Zardoz costume: (I should note that, on any other person this outfit would be THE GHEY! But Connery's got such a sheer abundance of manliness, he's actually able to transcend questionable fashion.) Now, here's Vartox: (No, I don't know why he's talking in Swedish...the site I got the graphic from is in Sweden so it was probably from the Swedish edition of the comic.) See the resememblence? That's not an accident. Vartox's appearance was based on Connery's in Zardoz.
That's not a "cowboy" gun it's a Webley the standard service revolver of the British Empire for forty years or so.
Sean Connery is a bigger dude than I realized. That Webley is not a small gun. And he makes it look like a toy.
In the opening of the film he's carrying a Webley-Fosberry automatic revolver which was even larger than a standard Webley and he makes it look awful small.
That's kind of odd, because Bond's signature gun, the Walther PPK, is tiny by comparison, but it doesn't seem THAT small when Connery is holding it.
A PPK really isn't all that small, especially the way it often comes "equipped" in Bond's world: (Compare the full-size Glock below for scale...)
I will never forgive you for "Pink Flamingos". And if anyone is curious, this is as close to that movie as anyone should get: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Flamingos
ME? I seem to recall warning ya. I fired up the old VHS again some months ago, and after desensitizing with even worse movies, and being able to shrug off the gross-out scenes, it's kind of an adult Ren & Stimpy. The music choices, the way the characters act, the goofy situations, the fevered contempt for 50's suburbia...all that time, John Kricfalusi was making John Waters For Kids.
And in case you want to know what those worse movies are.. Henry: Portrait of a serial killer Last house on the left Salo I stand alone Riki-Oh: The story of Ricky Human Centipede Roh-hoh-ho-hohh!!
Because I was listening to this review of the film, and discovered that not only does the DVD contain the director's commentary (And, no, John Boorman does not say, "I'm really sorry about this whole movie. I've no idea what I was thinking, it must have been the drugs."), but Boorman also wrote a novelization of the film, which apparently goes into greater detail about the batshittery which is the world of Zardoz. I must admit that I'm somewhat tempted to get them.
You should hit yourself really hard with a baseball bat about five or six times. That will fix your temptation.
It's not a bad movie. And it has Charlotte Rampling in her prime with a nice outfit. And Mr. Connery. In a nice outfit. Grab a big bowl of popcorn. Your favorite beverage. And enjoy. If you like thinking, post-dystopian, Brit SF this is a pretty good flick.
It's definitely a strange one. But it is weirdly entertaining and did, as noted, give us the Superman character of Vartox.
