"Um, it was the 70’s, and I was doing a lot of drugs. Frankly, even I’m not entirely sure what parts of the movie are about. " John Boorman himself about the film.
@@AliceBowieit also predicts a future society run by scientists and elites that demonized the MAGA/hard working lower classes. Notice how the elites were feminized men? If he talks about it now, he has to get himself cancelled.
How to end a Zardoz review? Finish watching the movie with a blank look on your face and then age in the chair without moving, turning into the Starchild from 2001 while the music of Brazil plays. But I supposed that would be cliche.
The IRA - being an industrious and enterprising group of people - would take it upon themselves to run their own import/export service, skipping the red-tape and putting them in a prominent position within the elicit firearms market with a little help from the Irish-American community and Uncle Qaddafi. It’s a tale as weird as Zardoz.
I have never fully appreciated the phrase from the Dave Chappelle show where Rick James says Cocaine is a hell of a drug. But having seen this review i can see all the nuances of that statement in a new light.
I've seen this movie many times and never did I realize this movie had a fairly low budget. That fact is insane to me cause what they did with how little money they had is crazy.
There’s a scene on The Simpsons in which Krusty the Klown reacts to watching an Eastern European version of Itchy and Scratchy. He cries out “What the hell was that?!?!” That was me watching this movie.
Personally I'm disappointed we didn't get to hear Zardoz's opinions on other weapons and body parts. Zardoz: "The battle axe is not bad! The pancreas is garbage!"
And that's a movie that's literally about a young man taking copious amounts of mind altering drugs. I would have been curious to see his take on "traveling without movie" becoming the "Kwisatz Haderach" and the "Mentats."
Boorman was drugged out of his mind when he made this and admits that not even he knows what the movie's about, calling it a sociological masterpiece is beyond absurd.
@@KaleidosXXI Taking half-overheard third hand quotes without any context and repeating them as straightforwardly factual is what's beyond absurd, sir.
I watched this on Comcast Demand when I was 15 or 16, and for the longest time I thought it was a fever dream. Nobody else had ever heard of it. I eventually found a magazine clipping of Sean Connery in his iconic outfit, so I clipped it out and carried it in my binder for two years.
I remember going into this one fully expecting it to be classic trippy 70's What-the-Fuckery, and I still got thrown for a loop just by the opening sequence. Of all the weird 70's shit I was expecting, a giant flying disembodied stone head screaming about penises being evil while vomiting up machine guns to a braided Shaun Connery wearing an orange diaper was still not even remotely on the list.
@@AnInsideJoke Not even psychedelic weird, It sounds like someone just used some dudes report on a mild datura trip. The opening just pure surrealism doesn't scream sci fi at all.
I thought I was the only one that saw the bouncing ball screen saver with a different bit map image. I think it can still be done but no one thinks to do it because bouncing ball screensavers have not been a thing for over 10 years and the people who know it don't react and the rest may have ever had the privilege of using Windows XP when we all said goodbye to Windows 95 or 98 or God forbid Windows ME. That reality started to sneak up on me, not that I'm living in the year 2010 or 11 and haven't moved on but my understanding of computers seemed to have stagnated. I should get Windows 10...
Actually, that is not accurate. The disembodied speaking head in the film's prologue is not a screensaver. "Zardoz" is a film from the early 1970s, and that was before personal computers would popularize the idea of a screensaver. Though the film takes place in the future, there is nothing in the storyline that suggests that there are personal computers with screensavers in that fictitious future, so even in the context of the fictitious universe of "Zardoz" it is inaccurate to think of the disembodied speaking head as a screensaver.
I defend this film quite a bit. Yes, it's silly in some respects. Some of it doesn't make sense. But it's also pretty philosophical. What would you do if you couldn't die? How would a society organize itself between immortals and mortals? I think the greatest sin any movie can make is to be dull, and Zardoz was not boring. I found myself quite entertained the whole time.
@@kev3d I can’t think of another film that outlines just how bad immortality would be for humanity, for spirituality, and human ambition. And how it would essentially rob our lives of any meaning.
You are correct when it comes to boredom, being the nadir of art. Boring is worthless. Bad, or over the top, can at least be Riffed. :) Cheers from Canada
Boorman's Lord of the Rings. The movie that would have included: The story of the ring being reenacted at the Council as a Kabuki play The Fellowship throwing Gimli in a sack and beating him to get the password to the Mines of Moria Frodo having sex with Galadriel in order to see into the Mirror Ending with Shadowfax riding across a field carrying a plow behind him.
Saw it in the theater, first run. My first weird, independent film. Not expecting what I got, but drawn in despite the weirdness. Actually, it's a guilty pleasure.
Me and my brother saw it on daytime television (yeah, really) in Australia in the early 80s and didn't understand anything but quoted it ever since. I can fully appreciate the film now and can see a real connection to The Lord of the Rings. The film has a lot of interesting things to say about themes like mortality, science and religion, as Tolkien does in his works.
Connery and a gang of Danny Trejos? Could you imagine a movie with them together? Too bad the last thing Connery did was a shitty kid's cartoon film. And yes, you should review that some time.
The thing that's horribly depressing is that Connery came out of retirement to voice that thing because he thought it was going to be this big gesture of Scottish pride to have a Scottish animated movie for a Scottish audience. And all over the board, everyone preferred Brave as a signature Scotts film.
It's one of those bad European kid's movies that has multiple names for some reason. It's either known as "Sir Billi" or "Guardians of the Highlands."
4:48 He was also the cinematographer for the 1949 film adaptation of Henry De Vere Stacpoole's *"The Blue Lagoon"* (before the more recognizable 1980 version) and the 1958 docudrama of Walter Lord's *"A Night To Remember",* which is still considered by many as the best film about the Titanic disaster. Plus, it also starred several actors who would go on to star in the Bond films, including Honor Blackman and Desmond Llewelyn. Sadly, Sean Connery never really appeared in the 1958 film, but he - alongside Gene Hackman - nearly starred in James Cameron's *"TITANIC"* (1997) as Brock Lovett, before the role went to Bill Paxton.
I got the chance to see this at a Sean Connery retrospective a few years ago and yes, it was awesome to see on the big screen. This is the kind of acid trippy, weirdly insane yet visual brilliant flicks of the 70s I love. John Boorman, despite the rep he got for Exorcist II, is a visionary and imaginary director and this film is a strong reflection of all of that.
He had a thankless task with “Exorcist II” given the studio saw $$$ signs and wanted to do it. Boorman never even saw the first film (that was his claim) and didn’t want to make a sequel & it does show though he kinda tries. “Excalibur” is a major step up from that
@@LucyLioness100Boorman did see the first film and has openly said that he hated it so he conceived the sequel as "a metaphysical drama" instead of a horror film.
About time we covered one of Sean Connery’s weirdest films 😂 and the man said he didn’t understand “The Matrix” or LOTR, but understood this? I’ll never get it but this film is required viewing for lovers of bizarre cinema
You're right about one thing: Zardoz will stay with you for the rest of your life. I can also say this is probably the movie that I absolutely loathe that I still want to own on Bluray.
"The Freaks" were absolutely hated in the 1930s! Bladerunner reached cult status years after release. Lot of films need time to be truly understood and loved.
I had heard of this movie and of course seen the infamous shot of Connery in his bondage gear. But sweet baby Jebus. What absolute lunacy. I have a certain degree of fear and respect for someone who could get as high as you would have to to come up with this insanity and not die. And be functional enough afterwards to bring the film to reality. Respect to you Boorman, you mad bastard.
This was the only way to review Zardoz; by making me want to watch it again after 20 years, just to see why it stuck with me. Cheers, Cinema Snob, you've earned my subscription
First time i saw this movie was in the late 80's as kid on cable while I was home sick from school drifting in, and out of sleep with a fever, and good lord that Zardoz head gave me some creepy nightmares for a few days afterwards.
Zardoz is a visionary half-baked masterpiece from the poor man's Stanley Kubrick. Say what you will about Zardoz, but Boorman never commits the cardinal sin of cinema--it's never boring.
I prefer to think Zardoz and Exorcist 2: The Heretic drained Boorman of enough crazy to allow him create the exquisite Excalibur. Therefore the previous two films were essential to my happiness.
3:47 Eros versus Thanatos. 4:11 Webley-Fosbery, the first semi-automatic revolver. Yes, it's semi-automatic, not double-action. It could also be described as "inertia-operated single-action." But notice how Zed has to cock in manually per shot. That's because blank cartridges don't provide enough inertia to reciprocate the upper frame to rotate the cylinder.
I too love Zardoz. I’m a little surprised you didn’t include any of Friend’s “God isn’t interested in technology rant... “If I were creating a world, I would start with lasers! Eight o’clock, day one!” Check out Orbital’s “The Gun is Good.”
This'll be interesting, 'cause I've never seen this movie. I mainly remember it being mentioned in a documentary about the original Star War Trilogy where it was cited as an example of how Sci-Fi and fantasy films in the late 60s and early 70s were dominated by bleak, nihilistic stories, and there was doubt that a more light-hearted story like Star Wars would be successful.
Until Star Wars had lines literally going around the block full of people wanting to see it, then Hollywood went all in on the light-hearted stories and threw all of that bleak nihilism in the trash.
They never DO explain why the character suddenly knows we're there watching, and points his gun at US the audience! 4:12 Whatever you personally make of Zardoz it is _amazing_ that they managed to make this gorgeous, weird epic for just one Million $
Dark Star, Phantom of the Paradise, Chinatown, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, The Cars That Ate Paris, The Conversation, F for Fake, Gone in 60 Seconds, Fritz the Cat, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Woman Under the Influence, and Zardoz… 1974 was a hell of a year for movies, perhaps the last great outpouring of gonzo cinematic creativity before Jaws ushered in the blockbuster era the following year.
I just finished watching this film. It had me for the first hour and 15 minutes. Then it got reeeeeeaaaaaaally trippy. So I’ll be needing to watch it again.
When I first saw this film I thought, "What the FUCK did I just watch!!!!". Now when I watch it, (The very few times I watch this insane shit.), my reaction is "What the FUCK did I just watch!!!!!".
When you said “ you said you always wanted to be in the wedding scene from OHMSS!” I had such a good laugh. This was a funny and entertaining review. 👍🏻
Yes Yes Yes!!! Now and again, with reviews like this and “Phantom Of the Paradise”, Brad gets back to his cult roots. Awesome to see. You know, you watch the movie and you realize - Zed should’ve ended up with May. The Charlotte Rampling character has no reason to exist in the last third of the film. Zardoz really is an ambitious, amazing film. People getting hung up on the outfit is just a shallow observation
The Charlotte Rampling character embodies how rotten at the core the seemingly civilized Eternals have become, as they quickly descend into barbarism and savagery. She starts out as a cold, haughty, immortal goddess, pure intellect, who is embarrassed when Zed gets an erection by being near her, but by the end she's leading a lynch mob, hunting him and engaging in wanton destruction. She's become just like the Exterminators she was so contemptuous of. It's only when she realizes this and decides to leave the Vortex with Zed that she truly becomes human again.
One of my all time fave. films for many years! a seriouly WTF?! good time weirdo film for sure! Great review man! I was cracking up so much! CHEERS! :)
In speaking of posters you had hanging on your wall from the first set, last summer, I bought myself an 11x17 poster to the original Evil Dead to hang on my own wall, because I wanted my mancave to look like a cross between a movie theatre and a video store. BTW, at least you still have your Caligula poster throughout all these years. 1:25- Is it Beyond Thunderdome? =P 2:35- Is this better or worse than Harrison Ford's narration in the theatrical cut of Blade Runner? 7:41- You should. I've been waiting for you to do so after your VHS copy of Bolero fell on your head in the Carrie/Jennifer episode. I'm not the type of person who eats Soylent Green brand bread. 15:28- Yeah, I had to re-watch your Exorcist II review on archive.org in preparation for watching this episode. 27:09- Finally, a reference to the 1980 movie, The Exterminator. And yes, I DO want the sheets. Sorry, Brad, but Zardoz is just to trippy for my taste. If I want to see a 1970s sci-fi epic, I will stick with Star Wars: A New Hope, thank you very much.
BRAVO SNOB!!!!!!!!!!!! MAN, have been hoping you'd do ZardOz someday!!! It's... it's ummm... it's... well... YES! Isn't it just? LOL It's an experience, an amazing experience. Plus... like our dear Snobek, I'm in the Cult Of Sean Connery, so how could you NOT love this? The Testosterone blasting from the screen probably caused a baby boom, since every female in the cinema (and probably 10% of the males) spontaneously got pregnant. I've never totally understood it, but the cinematography, music, and cast make it possibly the only incoherent yet perfect movie ever made. I remember seeing with my parents, and my mother said (in her thick Yiddish accent) "If ANY other actor but Sean Connery did this, it would the stupidest movie ever be... but Connery... he makes it working". I disagree... Brad... imagine Tom Atkins in this...
Your review of this movie caused me to think back to another science-fiction from the 70s which is also mighty trippy,although not nearly as high-minded,nor,I think,is it a cult movie like this is:The final Programme,also known as The Last Days of Man on Earth.I don’t think there are many,if any,reviews of this movie on UA-cam,and I’m curious to know what you think of it,if you can make he’d or tails of it.Would you please review it,if you haven’t already?You could even do it as part of a theme and call it”psychedelic Freak out week” or or “month”or whatever.Thanks.I appreciate it.Most snobs I can’t stand but you are one I’m glad to keep coming back to.
"Is god in show business, too?" THAT'S where that line comes from?! I heard that audio snippet in a My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult song ages ago and never knew where it came from.
I once attended a convention where a group of local comedians did a live Riffing of this god-awful movie. They were pretty funny. Thanks for finally doing this one, Snob!
Now that I've heard a synopsis of the _whole_ movie (I started watching around the second half), I think it's safe to say this isn't a movie to be watched just once. I've been unable to do so, so it's been lost on me until now.
"Um, it was the 70’s, and I was doing a lot of drugs. Frankly, even I’m not entirely sure what parts of the movie are about.
" John Boorman himself about the film.
I don’t believe that at all
ZARDOZ is great
He really shoulda used that quote for The Exorcist 2: The Heretic 😵💫
I thought it made sense. It's just very weird and psychedelic.
@@AliceBowieit also predicts a future society run by scientists and elites that demonized the MAGA/hard working lower classes.
Notice how the elites were feminized men?
If he talks about it now, he has to get himself cancelled.
How to end a Zardoz review? Finish watching the movie with a blank look on your face and then age in the chair without moving, turning into the Starchild from 2001 while the music of Brazil plays.
But I supposed that would be cliche.
Eh, maybe a little?
Being Irish i might as well say that the reason guns weren't allowed to imported was because of the IRA.
@Drew Taylor ok that is funny
SF Debris dug a little deeper on that and confirmed two things referencing what you are commenting about
@@Maniac536 Also the fact that they almost buy the guns from IRA.
Stanley Kubrick also had this issue. And he was threatened by The Provo's to leave the country.
The IRA - being an industrious and enterprising group of people - would take it upon themselves to run their own import/export service, skipping the red-tape and putting them in a prominent position within the elicit firearms market with a little help from the Irish-American community and Uncle Qaddafi. It’s a tale as weird as Zardoz.
I have never fully appreciated the phrase from the Dave Chappelle show where Rick James says Cocaine is a hell of a drug. But having seen this review i can see all the nuances of that statement in a new light.
@A Catalan Liam They had coke too. It explains Studio 54 perfectly. It was just kind of a snobby drug. In the 80' s it became affordable...
@A Catalan Liam Bro, cocaine was common place long before the 80s, however the 60-70s stimulant of choice was amphetamine.
Zardoz is one of those films where I feel like I'm sleeping after mixing cheap whiskey and cold medicine. Love it :)
Gotta get that purple drink.
cheap whiskey,cold medicine AND.......lsd because seeing zardoz is like a alcohol/nyquil/acid trip. lol
I guess I need to watch it while being drunk
I've seen this movie many times and never did I realize this movie had a fairly low budget. That fact is insane to me cause what they did with how little money they had is crazy.
I love this hidden gem.
I get the feeling that this thing initially had a budget, but they blew 2/3rds of it on drugs.
@@AnInsideJokedrugs aren't even mentioned at all in this movie.
@@sadenbrick How can someone be this dense? They blew the movies budget on drugs!
There’s a scene on The Simpsons in which Krusty the Klown reacts to watching an Eastern European version of Itchy and Scratchy. He cries out “What the hell was that?!?!” That was me watching this movie.
I love that scene in the simpsons very iconic
Don't insult Worker and Parasite, it is masterpiece of Soviet animation!
Hocht Hect!
Weirdest fuckin movie ever
Try watching meet the feebles. It’s that Simpson’s example x1000
I remember that Futurama episode when Professor Fransworth dressed in that very crazy outfit.
What’s the name of the episode?
@@Ihartwalrusguy it's episode 125. Entitled 31st Century Fox.
I remember that episode, I just thought the professor was just into bdsm.
@@Master_Yoda1990 That could work too.
The crazy son of a gun did it. He's finally reviewing Zardoz. Coincidentally enough, I shaved my head this morning lol. Keep up the great work man.
If Connery’s outfit from this movie isn’t featured in Marvel’s Eternals I boycott AND riot
The sad thing is I can think of several contexts where that costume could be used.
Sadly it was not
So now I realized that I saw a lot of parodies on this movie.
Have you seen/heard of Zardox or Zardozxx? Adult film parody
Personally I'm disappointed we didn't get to hear Zardoz's opinions on other weapons and body parts.
Zardoz: "The battle axe is not bad! The pancreas is garbage!"
The longbow is great if you have a decade available to master it! The back is traitorous.
ROFL More!
@@toro5280 The submachine gun is substandard in many situations! The left kidney is truly marvelous, BUT ONLY THE LEFT!
Nunchucks are extremely impractical. AND SO IS THE FRIGGIN' SPINE!
The minigun is... meh. The pinky toe is friggin' sweet!
Actually Boorman would have done an interesting Dune movie.
Now that would have been interesting.
I would watch it
It likely would have ended up just as crazy as Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune
Shit, the things he'd do. I don't even think the drugs can justify it.
And that's a movie that's literally about a young man taking copious amounts of mind altering drugs. I would have been curious to see his take on "traveling without movie" becoming the "Kwisatz Haderach" and the "Mentats."
Zardoz is legit a sociological masterpiece
Boorman was drugged out of his mind when he made this and admits that not even he knows what the movie's about, calling it a sociological masterpiece is beyond absurd.
@@KaleidosXXI Taking half-overheard third hand quotes without any context and repeating them as straightforwardly factual is what's beyond absurd, sir.
@@KaleidosXXI Doesn't matter to me. Still a goddamn great movie
@@KaleidosXXI You simply don't understand it.
Sean Connery in his leather speedo is what an independent Scotland would look like.
So a bunch of boggy creek monsters
@@CynnamonSpyder A bit, but still very manly boggy creek monsters.
Maybe it's a good thing the English keep a lid on Scotland then?
You say that like it's a bad thing.......😏
Scottish parliament is more like the vortex, not much masculine energy there.
Ooh step on me harder EU, I don't like to vote.
I watched this on Comcast Demand when I was 15 or 16, and for the longest time I thought it was a fever dream. Nobody else had ever heard of it. I eventually found a magazine clipping of Sean Connery in his iconic outfit, so I clipped it out and carried it in my binder for two years.
You were right about it being a fever dream. Then again, a lot of 1970s cinema was.
Felt the same way about Logan’s Run!
you carried a picture of Sean Connery half-naked for two years?
Many of Borman’s Lord of the Rings ideas got repurposed into “Excalibur”
Now that you say that I can't unsee it.
Zardoz is my go-to example of "a film where everyone was obviously on drugs"
Have you seen Ernest Goes to School? lol
I remember going into this one fully expecting it to be classic trippy 70's What-the-Fuckery, and I still got thrown for a loop just by the opening sequence. Of all the weird 70's shit I was expecting, a giant flying disembodied stone head screaming about penises being evil while vomiting up machine guns to a braided Shaun Connery wearing an orange diaper was still not even remotely on the list.
Seems like there was a Golden Age of psychedelic movies from 1968 - 1974.
Yellow Submarine remains mine.
@@AnInsideJoke Not even psychedelic weird, It sounds like someone just used some dudes report on a mild datura trip. The opening just pure surrealism doesn't scream sci fi at all.
Obviously The Lord of the Rings is better, however Zardoz gets points for actually including Tom Bombadil, or "Arthur Freyn" as this movie calls him.
In the future, society will forget how to properly wear suspenders.
And that diapers are undergarments. Yet Floating heads vomiting guns are a thing so it ain't all bad.
The Universe needed this. 2021 is already superior to 2020.
I kinda wanna see an alternate timeline hippy Estus Pirkel.
Ambitious, the movie begins with a screen saver bouncing head.
I thought I was the only one that saw the bouncing ball screen saver with a different bit map image.
I think it can still be done but no one thinks to do it because bouncing ball screensavers have not been a thing for over 10 years and the people who know it don't react and the rest may have ever had the privilege of using Windows XP when we all said goodbye to Windows 95 or 98 or God forbid Windows ME.
That reality started to sneak up on me, not that I'm living in the year 2010 or 11 and haven't moved on but my understanding of computers seemed to have stagnated.
I should get Windows 10...
At least it wasn't the flying toasters. :)
Actually, that is not accurate. The disembodied speaking head in the film's prologue is not a screensaver. "Zardoz" is a film from the early 1970s, and that was before personal computers would popularize the idea of a screensaver. Though the film takes place in the future, there is nothing in the storyline that suggests that there are personal computers with screensavers in that fictitious future, so even in the context of the fictitious universe of "Zardoz" it is inaccurate to think of the disembodied speaking head as a screensaver.
@@michaelerickson985 Maybe he inspired the creation of screensavers. It is actually surprising that no one has made one based on it.
I think Zardoz is a brilliant film. It’s more complex than most people realize, and a lot of people just can’t get past Connery’s costume.
I think the costume was a big mistake. This film has deep themes and unfortunately you're right about how the costume affected the film's reception.
I defend this film quite a bit. Yes, it's silly in some respects. Some of it doesn't make sense. But it's also pretty philosophical. What would you do if you couldn't die? How would a society organize itself between immortals and mortals? I think the greatest sin any movie can make is to be dull, and Zardoz was not boring. I found myself quite entertained the whole time.
@@kev3d I can’t think of another film that outlines just how bad immortality would be for humanity, for spirituality, and human ambition. And how it would essentially rob our lives of any meaning.
You are correct when it comes to boredom, being the nadir of art.
Boring is worthless. Bad, or over the top, can at least be Riffed. :)
Cheers from Canada
Boorman's Lord of the Rings. The movie that would have included:
The story of the ring being reenacted at the Council as a Kabuki play
The Fellowship throwing Gimli in a sack and beating him to get the password to the Mines of Moria
Frodo having sex with Galadriel in order to see into the Mirror
Ending with Shadowfax riding across a field carrying a plow behind him.
Thank god that was not made
Sounds legit.
That goes to my list of things too great for this world, right besides Jadorowski's Dune and Superman Lives, staring Nick Cage
I really can't tell if you're joking or not.
I would watch it.
An awesome bit of 70's whatthefuckery. I'm actually surprised it took Brad this long to cover this movie.
Lol nothing "exudes raw masculinity" like a red diaper
You had to use the word "exude" didn't you :-D
A red diaper with suspenders, no less.
Saw it in the theater, first run. My first weird, independent film. Not expecting what I got, but drawn in despite the weirdness. Actually, it's a guilty pleasure.
Me and my brother saw it on daytime television (yeah, really) in Australia in the early 80s and didn't understand anything but quoted it ever since. I can fully appreciate the film now and can see a real connection to The Lord of the Rings. The film has a lot of interesting things to say about themes like mortality, science and religion, as Tolkien does in his works.
You know I always thought the man who plays Arthur Frien was Eric Idle
I had thought that it was Saul Rubinek.
@@grantbitman1448 I mean after last week
the part with the guns being vomited out of the big Zardoz head and the guys in masks grabbing them looks like something out of Monty Python
Too bad that giant stone(?) head wasn't filled with eels, too. Missed opportunity.
NIall Buggy (yeah, I know) was also an inmate in the second Alien movie.
Connery and a gang of Danny Trejos? Could you imagine a movie with them together? Too bad the last thing Connery did was a shitty kid's cartoon film. And yes, you should review that some time.
Oh Lord that will break Brad’s brain 😂😂
I like to think that the last thing Connery did was a "director's cut" of From Russia With Love, but that was 14 years ago.
The thing that's horribly depressing is that Connery came out of retirement to voice that thing because he thought it was going to be this big gesture of Scottish pride to have a Scottish animated movie for a Scottish audience. And all over the board, everyone preferred Brave as a signature Scotts film.
Alright I'll bite what cartoon is this I thought the last thing he did was League of Extroardinary Gentleman.
It's one of those bad European kid's movies that has multiple names for some reason. It's either known as "Sir Billi" or "Guardians of the Highlands."
so this is where rick and morty got it
I like what you got!
@@PajamaManor More of the episode with the sex robot
@@TheVrevolution oh that one too! Gazorpazorp!
Yes, you uncultured heathen
Holy shit he's doing Zardoz
4:48
He was also the cinematographer for the 1949 film adaptation of Henry De Vere Stacpoole's *"The Blue Lagoon"*
(before the more recognizable 1980 version) and the 1958 docudrama of
Walter Lord's *"A Night To Remember",* which is still considered by many as
the best film about the Titanic disaster. Plus, it also starred several actors
who would go on to star in the Bond films, including Honor Blackman and Desmond Llewelyn.
Sadly, Sean Connery never really
appeared in the 1958 film, but he
- alongside Gene Hackman -
nearly starred in James Cameron's
*"TITANIC"* (1997) as Brock Lovett, before the role went to Bill Paxton.
I got the chance to see this at a Sean Connery retrospective a few years ago and yes, it was awesome to see on the big screen.
This is the kind of acid trippy, weirdly insane yet visual brilliant flicks of the 70s I love.
John Boorman, despite the rep he got for Exorcist II, is a visionary and imaginary director and this film is a strong reflection of all of that.
Parts of Excalibur remind me of it. Both two great films
He had a thankless task with “Exorcist II” given the studio saw $$$ signs and wanted to do it. Boorman never even saw the first film (that was his claim) and didn’t want to make a sequel & it does show though he kinda tries. “Excalibur” is a major step up from that
@@LucyLioness100Boorman did see the first film and has openly said that he hated it so he conceived the sequel as "a metaphysical drama" instead of a horror film.
About time we covered one of Sean Connery’s weirdest films 😂 and the man said he didn’t understand “The Matrix” or LOTR, but understood this? I’ll never get it but this film is required viewing for lovers of bizarre cinema
What makes you think he understood this either?
@@Takeshi357 That's a valid question.
It's possible that his participation in this movie made him more cautious about doing movies he didn't understand afterwards
That scene at the end where they age is exactly like the scene in Robin and Marion, except they use two apples instead of Connery and Hepburn.
For some reason, I couldn’t stop laughing at the line:
Lunch is cheaper when the food is mouldy
You're right about one thing: Zardoz will stay with you for the rest of your life. I can also say this is probably the movie that I absolutely loathe that I still want to own on Bluray.
Hey, Disney's "Fantasia" wasn't loved the first time it was shown.
"The Freaks" were absolutely hated in the 1930s! Bladerunner reached cult status years after release. Lot of films need time to be truly understood and loved.
Streets of Fire had the bad luck to compete in the Summer of 1984. 🔥
The Big Lebowski, anyone?
Mystery Men bombed when it was released but has attained cult status.
Been waiting for Brad to review this for years. The fact that it's just barely over 30 minutes long is a blessing.
I had heard of this movie and of course seen the infamous shot of Connery in his bondage gear. But sweet baby Jebus. What absolute lunacy. I have a certain degree of fear and respect for someone who could get as high as you would have to to come up with this insanity and not die. And be functional enough afterwards to bring the film to reality. Respect to you Boorman, you mad bastard.
I really need a snob episode on Outland
No Bradly, you really DO know how to end a Zardoz review, with the jack-in-the-box scene. It's the only way.
Thank you for this Zardoz video. I really enjoyed your covering of this old favorite. You produce so much consistently good content.
This was the only way to review Zardoz; by making me want to watch it again after 20 years, just to see why it stuck with me. Cheers, Cinema Snob, you've earned my subscription
I'd like to think that the only difference there would've been in the film had Burt Reynolds not bowed out was hearing his trademark lauh.
First time i saw this movie was in the late 80's as kid on cable while I was home sick from school drifting in, and out of sleep with a fever, and good lord that Zardoz head gave me some creepy nightmares for a few days afterwards.
Lol!
First saw this at the movies in 1980 as the support feature to Alien.
And yep, it has stayed with me my whole life.
My favourite sci fi film 😁
I'm so happy. I've waited a looooooooog time for this!
Zardoz is a visionary half-baked masterpiece from the poor man's Stanley Kubrick. Say what you will about Zardoz, but Boorman never commits the cardinal sin of cinema--it's never boring.
This is the movie that broke Tobias Forge's brain.
Wow finally a review of 1 of the Cinema Snob's favorites! Wish I had that poster.
The floating head looks like the thwomps from mario bros.
Yay!!! I love it when we get Snob episodes of movies Brad likes!
Finally the long waited glorious review of Sean Connery's red mankini!
I prefer to think Zardoz and Exorcist 2: The Heretic drained Boorman of enough crazy to allow him create the exquisite Excalibur. Therefore the previous two films were essential to my happiness.
Ah Zardoz, you can just see the amount of drugs the writers used when writing this. It is hilariously crazy and insane!
3:47 Eros versus Thanatos.
4:11 Webley-Fosbery, the first semi-automatic revolver. Yes, it's semi-automatic, not double-action. It could also be described as "inertia-operated single-action." But notice how Zed has to cock in manually per shot. That's because blank cartridges don't provide enough inertia to reciprocate the upper frame to rotate the cylinder.
Zardoz doesn't create nearly as many memes as it should have
I watch Zardoz and I know what I’m gonna wear for casual Friday.
Saw this when it came out and liked it ... but I was 15. Around the same time, I think as Zacharia. Groovy times.
I too love Zardoz. I’m a little surprised you didn’t include any of Friend’s “God isn’t interested in technology rant...
“If I were creating a world, I would start with lasers! Eight o’clock, day one!”
Check out Orbital’s “The Gun is Good.”
I saw the poster in the back of some other of brad's review and went "Cool poster, wonder what that one is about." I went. I saw. I. Regret. Nothing.
This'll be interesting, 'cause I've never seen this movie. I mainly remember it being mentioned in a documentary about the original Star War Trilogy where it was cited as an example of how Sci-Fi and fantasy films in the late 60s and early 70s were dominated by bleak, nihilistic stories, and there was doubt that a more light-hearted story like Star Wars would be successful.
Until Star Wars had lines literally going around the block full of people wanting to see it, then Hollywood went all in on the light-hearted stories and threw all of that bleak nihilism in the trash.
'The penis is evil!"
The movie that inspired Twitter's feminist streak
a but "the gun is good". more of a reference to american Christian/gun culture
And now we wait for bolero...
Oh god! Now THAT movie should have won worst picture of the decade and not Mommy Dearest.
This movie makes me want to meditate on the 3rd level. [Wiggles arms in a silly manner]
How come has this movie not reviewed 10years ago???
They never DO explain why the character suddenly knows we're there watching, and points his gun at US the audience! 4:12
Whatever you personally make of Zardoz it is _amazing_ that they managed to make this gorgeous, weird epic for just one Million $
So Zardoz was the inspiration for the Thwomp from Super Mario Bros?
Dark Star, Phantom of the Paradise, Chinatown, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, The Cars That Ate Paris, The Conversation, F for Fake, Gone in 60 Seconds, Fritz the Cat, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Woman Under the Influence, and Zardoz… 1974 was a hell of a year for movies, perhaps the last great outpouring of gonzo cinematic creativity before Jaws ushered in the blockbuster era the following year.
@Alex André Thanks! You're right. I mixed it up with The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nine_Lives_of_Fritz_the_Cat
I've literally been waiting for this for about 10 years since I discovered this channel. That said, I love this weird ass acid trip of a film.
"Sean Connery and his gang of Danny Trejos..."
Now that's a proper army.
I just finished watching this film. It had me for the first hour and 15 minutes. Then it got reeeeeeaaaaaaally trippy. So I’ll be needing to watch it again.
I enjoyed the review so much I got Zardoz to see the whole thing. Thank you 😁👍🏻
Thank you! I was afraid we weren't going to get Lloyd's Lonestar 911 clip of the week. That was reasonably weird.
"THE END OF Zardoz BUT ZED WILL BE BACK IN Live and Let Zed"
starring Roger Moore
Then again in "bill and Zeds excellent adventure,"
Zed and Loving it.
When I first saw this film I thought, "What the FUCK did I just watch!!!!". Now when I watch it, (The very few times I watch this insane shit.), my reaction is "What the FUCK did I just watch!!!!!".
When you said “ you said you always wanted to be in the wedding scene from OHMSS!” I had such a good laugh. This was a funny and entertaining review. 👍🏻
Yes Yes Yes!!!
Now and again, with reviews like this and “Phantom Of the Paradise”, Brad gets back to his cult roots. Awesome to see.
You know, you watch the movie and you realize - Zed should’ve ended up with May. The Charlotte Rampling character has no reason to exist in the last third of the film.
Zardoz really is an ambitious, amazing film. People getting hung up on the outfit is just a shallow observation
The Charlotte Rampling character embodies how rotten at the core the seemingly civilized Eternals have become, as they quickly descend into barbarism and savagery. She starts out as a cold, haughty, immortal goddess, pure intellect, who is embarrassed when Zed gets an erection by being near her, but by the end she's leading a lynch mob, hunting him and engaging in wanton destruction. She's become just like the Exterminators she was so contemptuous of. It's only when she realizes this and decides to leave the Vortex with Zed that she truly becomes human again.
Ok, I can accept that. But I have always thought that Zed and May have better chemistry, like in the rainbow string room scene
Please, people. Vote for better sh!t in the polls.
well, no, Zed is a rapist. So the only thing he should've "ended up with" is a dismembered penis.
I have been waiting 13 years for this.
I hope the three of you have a wonderful beginning of the week Brad. 😇
One of my all time fave. films for many years! a seriouly WTF?! good time weirdo film for sure! Great review man! I was cracking up so much! CHEERS! :)
Brad, seeing you in that get-up in the thumbnail made my day 😆. Sean Connery approves.
In speaking of posters you had hanging on your wall from the first set, last summer, I bought myself an 11x17 poster to the original Evil Dead to hang on my own wall, because I wanted my mancave to look like a cross between a movie theatre and a video store. BTW, at least you still have your Caligula poster throughout all these years.
1:25- Is it Beyond Thunderdome? =P
2:35- Is this better or worse than Harrison Ford's narration in the theatrical cut of Blade Runner?
7:41- You should. I've been waiting for you to do so after your VHS copy of Bolero fell on your head in the Carrie/Jennifer episode.
I'm not the type of person who eats Soylent Green brand bread.
15:28- Yeah, I had to re-watch your Exorcist II review on archive.org in preparation for watching this episode.
27:09- Finally, a reference to the 1980 movie, The Exterminator. And yes, I DO want the sheets.
Sorry, Brad, but Zardoz is just to trippy for my taste. If I want to see a 1970s sci-fi epic, I will stick with Star Wars: A New Hope, thank you very much.
BRAVO SNOB!!!!!!!!!!!! MAN, have been hoping you'd do ZardOz someday!!! It's... it's ummm... it's... well... YES! Isn't it just? LOL It's an experience, an amazing experience. Plus... like our dear Snobek, I'm in the Cult Of Sean Connery, so how could you NOT love this? The Testosterone blasting from the screen probably caused a baby boom, since every female in the cinema (and probably 10% of the males) spontaneously got pregnant. I've never totally understood it, but the cinematography, music, and cast make it possibly the only incoherent yet perfect movie ever made. I remember seeing with my parents, and my mother said (in her thick Yiddish accent) "If ANY other actor but Sean Connery did this, it would the stupidest movie ever be... but Connery... he makes it working". I disagree... Brad... imagine Tom Atkins in this...
Your review of this movie caused me to think back to another science-fiction from the 70s which is also mighty trippy,although not nearly as high-minded,nor,I think,is it a cult movie like this is:The final Programme,also known as The Last Days of Man on Earth.I don’t think there are many,if any,reviews of this movie on UA-cam,and I’m curious to know what you think of it,if you can make he’d or tails of it.Would you please review it,if you haven’t already?You could even do it as part of a theme and call it”psychedelic Freak out week” or or “month”or whatever.Thanks.I appreciate it.Most snobs I can’t stand but you are one I’m glad to keep coming back to.
birthday suit = more power just ask every character who wore the birthday suit in the 80's
Oh my god. I've seen this movie several times since the 90s, and I only just now realized.
The movie begins with Zed literally taking a head trip.
This movie is the only way to experience a giant disembodied head floating in the sky telling you the penis is evil without risking an overdose.
Love your show - glad I’ve subscribed. What’s the name of the music you play at the end of this - and other - episodes?
I remember stumbling onto this on Fox Movie channel as a kid and I was glued to the screen constantly asking myself is that REALLY Sean Connery!??
"Is god in show business, too?" THAT'S where that line comes from?! I heard that audio snippet in a My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult song ages ago and never knew where it came from.
I once attended a convention where a group of local comedians did a live Riffing of this god-awful movie. They were pretty funny. Thanks for finally doing this one, Snob!
I remember finding this movie as a kid.
Zardoz speaks to you.
Everytime I see Sean Connery's chest hair I remember the japanese characters in You Only Live Twice laughing at it. 🤷🏼♀️
2:13 & With That Lovable Enthusiasm Snob, I know we are All going to love this Film too, made Greater by you reviewing it! 😊👍
Long Live Sean Connery!😎
Yes! I've been waiting for this review since your Excorcist 2 review!
Speaking of which, what happened to that review? Did it get striked?
Now that I've heard a synopsis of the _whole_ movie (I started watching around the second half), I think it's safe to say this isn't a movie to be watched just once. I've been unable to do so, so it's been lost on me until now.