Zardoz (1974) on Netflix
R19741h 45mDramaFantasyRomanceSci-Fi
In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the Brutal Exterminator Zed worships Zardoz, a flying stone head that trades weapons for grain. Zed hides aboard it and is taken into the Vortex of the immortals.
- Netflix2.9/5
- IMDb5.8/1026,083 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes50%
Trailer
Plot summary
Zed is a exterminator, a savage warrior living in a post-apocalyptic future world. Like all exterminators, Zed worships a stone head called Zardoz as a god. Zardoz promises all those who worship that when they die, they will go to the Vortex, a community inhabited by immortal men and women. Zed finds himself in Zardoz's mouth and Zardoz arrives in the Vortex. Zed's arrival in the Vortex begins to cause disruption, as Zed sets out to discover the secrets of Zardoz. Where Zed encounters a stranger named Arthur Frayn in a library and Arthur teaches Zed to read and reveals Zardoz's secrets, which could bring about the fall of all life in The Vortex and lead Zed to giving the immortals, the gift of death.
Cast
- Jessica Swiftas Apathetic
- Reginald Jarmanas Death (voice)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Zardoz (1974)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Burt Reynolds was originally given the role of Zed but declined it due to illness. His place was taken by Sean Connery, who wanted to reinvent himself after portraying James Bond.
- Boorman's agent David Begelman gave the script to the head of 20th Century Fox and insisted on a decision within two hours. When the executive came out his hand was shaking, "clearly with no idea of what to make of it", and Begelman went straight up and congratulated him before he could object.
- Moviegoers reported that "when dissatisfied patrons from the previous showing exited the lobby, they would encourage those waiting to leave. Many times they did". The film barely made back its budget, earning $1.8 million in rentals in the United States and Canada.
- Boorman said political and cultural conditions in Ireland affected the shoot: a ban on importing rifles, imposed because of the IRA, nearly prevented the movie from being made, and it was "very difficult to get women to bare their breasts" for the nude sequences.
- The costumes were designed by Boorman's first wife, Christel Kruse, on "pure intuition": she made the Eternals' clothes colorless to match their purely metaphysical lives, while the Brutals, as more primitive beings, wore only what was functional and comfortable.
- It was reported that Stanley Kubrick served as an uncredited technical advisor on the film.
