'Zardoz' is the kind of fantasy which tends to be overrated by some, underrated by many. It came out when science fiction cinema consisted mainly of bleak visions of tomorrow, such as 'A Clockwork Orange', 'No Blade Of Grass', 'Soylent Green' and even the 'Planet Of The Apes' series. 'Star Wars' came along in 1977 and everything changed.

Set in a post-atomic future where Mankind has divided into two factions - the Brutals, who practice violence and worship a flying stone head called 'Zardoz', and the Eternals, who possess immortality and psychic powers. Zed, an Exterminator, ( Sean Connery ),becomes curious about Zardoz and, after hiding away in its mouth, is taken back to its point of origin. The Eternals live in the Vortex, a sort of techno-hippie commune guarded by a force field. Zed is regarded as a freak, and used for scientific study by May ( Sara Kestleman ). But his presence in the Vortex has been planned - weary of living forever, the Eternals wish Zed to relieve them of their monotonous existences. He does so, but keeps Consuela ( Charlotte Rampling ) alive, and the film ends on an optimistic note with the birth of their son.

Written and directed by John Boorman, fresh from the hugely successful 'Deliverance', 'Zardoz' was made in Ireland in 1973 on a low budget, and is a visually arresting experience. Like Godard's 'Alphaville', it overcomes its limitations. The first thirty or so minutes are powerful, as we enter a world that is terrifyingly staggering. The sight of the open-mouthed 'Zardoz' flying across the countryside is enough to induce nightmares. But it grows cluttered as Boorman unwisely tries to get as many messages across as possible. The Vortex was created by scientists, who having achieved their goal of immortality have become apathetic. The last forty minutes or so minutes are tough going, but ultimately rewarding. The scene where Zed tells May how he came to realise 'Zardoz' was fake ( he had read 'The Wizard Of Oz' in a children's library ) is wonderful.

Yes, Connery goes through the whole movie in a loin cloth ( luckily, he was in good physical shape back then ),but gives a strong performance. Charlotte Rampling is a stunning 'Consuela', and John Alderton ( of 'Please Sir!' ) sports a curly blonde wig in the role of 'Friend'.

I have watched this many times and do not claim to understand every word, but the basic theme - one man standing out from the crowd to get at the truth - is unmistakable. 'Zardoz' hails from a time when film makers were free to experiment with ideas, and not restricted by the need to dumb down their work in order to achieve popular success.

Zardoz is written and directed by John Boorman, the director of Deliverance and Point Blank. There is no point in trying to describe the plot or story of Zardoz, which is very weird and strange piece of film. It stars Sean Connery as "brute" among "greater" and "wiser" people, who have also developed a way to live forever. The film is set in future and there are many things that are impossible to describe or write down. The less you know about the story and plot of Zardoz the better.

The film's main point is that humans are primitives and brutes that are only hiding under their "civilized" surface and society. Zed (Connery) is loathed because of his "animalism" but soon it turns out that the more they hate him, the more they become like him. The film is pretty philosophical and needs to be watched with brains, since there are many issues under its science fiction film oriented surface.

The film tells also something about immortality and asks is it after all as great thing as we may think. In the film, there are those who have lived many hundreds of years and gained all the possible knowledge about everything. They have become sad and bored, it is not so great to live forever especially once we see our "real face" what Connery's character in the film reflects. Some have said that the film is artificially philosophical, but that is not true; the subject matters the film tells (with great optimism, though!) are as topical and important as they were back then, when Boorman wrote this film.

The film could have been very cynical and pessimistic, but it is not. Boorman tells the story with great optimism and most importantly, with humor. Zardoz is very funny at times, but with clever way, and many will not understand the film and its satiric elements. For me, the film was fantastic and pleasant, with all its themes and merits. The film is also shot fantastically, and MUST be seen in widescreen or in the big screen. The cinematography is gorgeous and the gorgeous landscapes were shot in Ireland and near Boorman's house. The film is occasionally little slow moving and repeats itself, but there are no other negative points I can say about this satiric classic.

Zardoz has deserved its cult status and it is great to see James Bond in little different role. Zardoz is way too difficult for many viewers, and so the film is easy to hate and laugh at, for those who don't understand it. I give Zardoz 8/10 and really smiled after the viewing. This will not leave your mind too soon, if you just manage to understand the film and see into its core.

Any time a film begins with a giant, 5-story stone head saying, "The gun is good. The penis is evil," you know you're in for a wild ride.

Oh, I also forgot the horribly silly prologue spoken by some dude with a magic marker moustache and an equally contrived pseudo-Elizabethan accent which is really what makes most people throw in the towel after 5 minutes. But if you can get past all that, it gets a lot better.

Once the Beethoven music begins (7th Symphony, 2nd movement--one of the most powerful compositions ever. Check it out on YouTube),the film takes on a decidedly more serious and legitimate personality. Some IMDb reviewers have said this is SOLELY due to the Beethoven music, and I suspect they're right. But hey, all is fair in film-making.

Anyway, whether it's due to the music or whatnot, the film progresses from the initial cheeziness shock, and we start to uncover some complex & interesting themes. The plot itself becomes more challenging as we realize it's not as straightforward as we had assumed at first. Some nice twists & turns, some clever deception, and a good old fashioned whodunnit type mystery come to the surface. There are some really surrealistic scenes like at the insane asylum which border on Kubrickian genius if you're into that sort of thing (the 3rd part of 2001 A Space Odyssey).

Acting is very good. You even come to accept the goofy guy with the magic marker moustache after a little while, because you realize he's just a jokester... sort of like the Shakespearian "fool".

And stay tuned because the payoff is the meaning of the word "Zardoz" which makes a powerful metaphor if you're paying attention. Overall, this is a nifty flick which--if you're into cool 70s dystopian scifis (Rollerball, Logan's Run)--you'll really enjoy. I'm tempted to rate it higher than a 7/10, but I just can't get over that gun/penis line LOL.