Zardoz (1974) (Limited Edition)

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by Bluebolt

To the person or persons at Twilight Time who spoke up at the meeting to say, “Let’s go with 5000 copies of Zardoz instead of 3000,” I realize you were probably joking at the time. Having said that, feel free to PM me any similar jokes about penny stocks.

This is the movie you suggest as a blind buy to someone you never want to hear from again. Unfathomable. Fortunate, but unfathomable.

For me, it’s this:

It depends. Sure it is "strange", I don't take it seriously...but I l enjoy the heck out of it .

[Dunemoon]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

It depends. Sure it is "strange", I don't take it seriously...but I l enjoy the heck out of it .

I'll enjoy my copy in standard definition.

[GrouchoFan]

ZARDOZ really polarized the audience at the Boston Sci-Fi Marathon when it played some years ago (15? 20? God, has it been that long?) Roughly half the audience loved it, the other half took to referring to it as Zar-DOZE, since it played pretty late and bored/confused them to sleep.

I'll have to screen my DVD copy again before deciding whether to get the the Blu. Although the re-mastering, additional commentary, and Charlotte Rampling in hi-def are good incentives, I just don't know if I can pull the trigger. I just picked up the remastered Journey to the Center of the Earth and First Men in the Moon; don't know how much $$ I have left to throw at Twilight Time.

On the other hand, I'll kick myself if it sells out. Decisions, decisions...

[Nocturnaloner]

Originally Posted by GrouchoFan

don't know how much $$ I have left to throw at Twilight Time.

On the other hand, I'll kick myself if it sells out. Decisions, decisions...

For a movie that has never 100% done it for me, though I love the visuals, I'm on the fence also.

What are the odds of an Arrow release?

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by GrouchoFan

ZARDOZ really polarized the audience at the Boston Sci-Fi Marathon when it played some years ago (15? 20? God, has it been that long?) Roughly half the audience loved it, the other half took to referring to it as Zar-DOZE, since it played pretty late and bored/confused them to sleep.

I'll have to screen my DVD copy again before deciding whether to get the the Blu. Although the re-mastering, additional commentary, and Charlotte Rampling in hi-def are good incentives, I just don't know if I can pull the trigger. I just picked up the remastered Journey to the Center of the Earth and First Men in the Moon; don't know how much $$ I have left to throw at Twilight Time.

On the other hand, I'll kick myself if it sells out. Decisions, decisions...

It's definitely a thought provoking piece and definitely in tune with other sci-fi films of the early 70s, albeit with a bit more of an arthouse flair. I was reading an interview in Cinema Retro with Lee Marvin that was originally conducted in the early 70s and he was singing its praises (having worked with Boorman on a couple of films). I would say if you're in doubt, go for it. You could always flip it if you have buyer's remorse, plus if it's sold out you could earn a profit.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by GrouchoFan

I just picked up the remastered Journey to the Center of the Earth and First Men in the Moon; don't know how much $$ I have left to throw at Twilight Time.

On the other hand, I'll kick myself if it sells out. Decisions, decisions...

It is unfortunate to get three sci-fi classic discs in a month. That's $100 in one month for three movies! That said, I don't see anything else from TT I want in the coming months so I was able to justify it.

If they already sold over 3,000 I would say it will sell out around the same time The Blob did.

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by Akijama

Sh!t! This is selling like hot cakes!



https://www.facebook.com/twilighttim...60950357256964

It doesn't surprise me. People rediscovered this great masterpiece over the decades. Thank God, time is the right judge.

[Geode]

Originally Posted by lesco

Pretty damn good. I saw it at a film festival in New Zealand.

I wonder when the print was struck? I don't think this film went throug a re-issue. I saw a print of "The Man With the Golden Gun" from teh same year of original release at a film festival about ten years ago. I was surprised that although the color was definitely on the red side, about half of the blues remained. That was better than I expected. It had a British rating certificate on the front.

[ChromeJob]

I was a sci-fi nut adolescent when this came out, and can remember the TV and movie ads. That old-fashioned woo-woo "see! the amazing naked bodies in the watchamcallit! see! the brutal exterminators! see! Sean 007 Connery in a diaper!" and almost every sentence punctuated with a deeper intonation, "Zar-DOZ!!" If one of the original trailers is on the disc, that almost justifies getting it!

But you have to remember this was post-2001, sci-fi had to be Deep(TM), and Thought-Provoking(TM), and stuff, or it was b-movie, drive-in crap. Add to that expectation, John Boorman and his Arthurian legend fetish, and you've got one complicated cocktail of dystopian bummer sci-fi with some deep new age crap (I think people in theaters tittered at the whole "stare into the crystal" riff even then).

[Show spoiler]OH, and jeez, I just remember the tasting Zed's sweat, passing from one person to the next by the ... tips of their tongues? Do I remember that correctly? Oh, that's a whole 'nother hoot.

And yes, you need some espresso to get through the third act, as it loses inertia, lots of it, and gets pretty darn talky. I remember dozing off during multiple viewings. Doesn't Excalibur, too? But like Excalibur, it was GLORIOUS on the big screen. Particularly that model Zardoz head floating through the clouds (I think I have an old Cinefantastique with pics of the model).

It has its charms. Ms. Rampling, surely. The mystery and reveal. The production design. And the score by David Munrow (who usually was doing early music recordings on original instruments; an interesting choice by Boorman), resetting Beethoven's 7th Second Movement as a serious funereal adagio. Of all the recordings I've heard of if, only the Bruno Walter recording with the CBS Symphony Orchestra that my brother bought me after we'd seen the film played it at the slow pace that Munrow orchestrated it.

I was going to pass on this, but if there's an isolated score track,.... Don't know if anyone ever released the soundtrack, but this would be neat to put on with just the score as background. That boy soprano singing the theme while the stone head floats through the clouds is just plain creepy. Like it or not, Zardoz is as important an early 70s sci-fi flick as Silent Running, Logan's Run, Sleeper, Clockwork Orange, Rollerball, Soylent Green, Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster, THX 1138, Last Days of Man On Earth, Solaris,....

I never understood why Connery did it unless it was one of those "I'll do this if you let me do that" deals. I think he REALLY want to show the public "I am NOT James Bond anymore." Between this and The Wind And The Lion, I think he succeeded. Got to admit, the man had (has) cojones.


BTW, if any of you have wives/gfs who cry, "What the heck did you buy this time," you can answer, "Sean Connery in his prime, in a ponytail, a diaper, and little else," and might get out of the doghouse.

[lesco]

Originally Posted by Geode

I wonder when the print was struck? I don't think this film went throug a re-issue.

I dunno. I don't have the programme on me (it's boxed away back home) so I can't check what it says on that, but this is what I wrote in my diary:

Zardoz – Wed 17 May 2000
Two Boorman films in a row! Saw Zardoz at Incredibly Strange Film Festival – a new print which looked great on a big screen. I never thought I’d get to see it that way, so I feel really quite happy.

[CraigThom]

Originally Posted by baheidstu

It's definitely a thought provoking piece and definitely in tune with other sci-fi films of the early 70s, albeit with a bit more of an arthouse flair. I was reading an interview in Cinema Retro with Lee Marvin that was originally conducted in the early 70s and he was singing its praises (having worked with Boorman on a couple of films). I would say if you're in doubt, go for it. You could always flip it if you have buyer's remorse, plus if it's sold out you could earn a profit.

A lot of them had that "art house flair" (as did a lot of other movies in the Decade of the Auteur"). I haven't seen Quintet yet, so I'm assuming that's one, but The Man Who Fell to Earth has to be one of the artiest.

While Star Wars may have been the beginning of the end for arty SF films, there were still some into the '80s; I would include Looker, which I still like in spite of having a gaping plot hole that still annoys me:

[Show spoiler]They can make perfect CGI people but have to use real furniture?

Even though I bought Logan's Run and have preordered Silent Running I'm still passing on Zardoz, although it's close. For $15 it would be a no brainer, but I've got to start getting this habit under control.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by CraigThom

Even though I bought Logan's Run and have preordered Silent Running I'm still passing on Zardoz, although it's close. For $15 it would be a no brainer, but I've got to start getting this habit under control.

Helps to limit yourself to a genre or style. I don't think of myself as a movie collector, I think of myself as a sci-fi and 80's action movie collector. Zardoz is kind of essential sci-fi, one way or another, so it was an easy decision for me. Missippi Burning? Great movie, but gets a pass for being outside my collection purview. Makes decisions easier.

[Nashwolverine]

All in for Zardoz! Nice to get two more Connery titles on Blu-Ray this April (Woman of Straw being the other one from Kino Lorber).

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by ChromeJob

I was a sci-fi nut adolescent when this came out, and can remember the TV and movie ads. That old-fashioned woo-woo "see! the amazing naked bodies in the watchamcallit! see! the brutal exterminators! see! Sean 007 Connery in a diaper!" and almost every sentence punctuated with a deeper intonation, "Zar-DOZ!!" If one of the original trailers is on the disc, that almost justifies getting it!

But you have to remember this was post-2001, sci-fi had to be Deep(TM), and Thought-Provoking(TM), and stuff, or it was b-movie, drive-in crap. Add to that expectation, John Boorman and his Arthurian legend fetish, and you've got one complicated cocktail of dystopian bummer sci-fi with some deep new age crap (I think people in theaters tittered at the whole "stare into the crystal" riff even then).

[Show spoiler]OH, and jeez, I just remember the tasting Zed's sweat, passing from one person to the next by the ... tips of their tongues? Do I remember that correctly? Oh, that's a whole 'nother hoot.

And yes, you need some espresso to get through the third act, as it loses inertia, lots of it, and gets pretty darn talky. I remember dozing off during multiple viewings. Doesn't Excalibur, too? But like Excalibur, it was GLORIOUS on the big screen. Particularly that model Zardoz head floating through the clouds (I think I have an old Cinefantastique with pics of the model).

It has its charms. Ms. Rampling, surely. The mystery and reveal. The production design. And the score by David Munrow (who usually was doing early music recordings on original instruments; an interesting choice by Boorman), resetting Beethoven's 7th Second Movement as a serious funereal adagio. Of all the recordings I've heard of if, only the Bruno Walter recording with the CBS Symphony Orchestra that my brother bought me after we'd seen the film played it at the slow pace that Munrow orchestrated it.

I was going to pass on this, but if there's an isolated score track,.... Don't know if anyone ever released the soundtrack, but this would be neat to put on with just the score as background. That boy soprano singing the theme while the stone head floats through the clouds is just plain creepy. Like it or not, Zardoz is as important an early 70s sci-fi flick as Silent Running, Logan's Run, Sleeper, Clockwork Orange, Rollerball, Soylent Green, Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster, THX 1138, Last Days of Man On Earth, Solaris,....

I never understood why Connery did it unless it was one of those "I'll do this if you let me do that" deals. I think he REALLY want to show the public "I am NOT James Bond anymore." Between this and The Wind And The Lion, I think he succeeded. Got to admit, the man had (has) cojones.


BTW, if any of you have wives/gfs who cry, "What the heck did you buy this time," you can answer, "Sean Connery in his prime, in a ponytail, a diaper, and little else," and might get out of the doghouse.

LOL for many reasons, this is my favourite blu-ray.com forum review, despite I don't agree about the third act.

[Takeshi666]

Well, managed to score myself a pre-order at last.

But holy shit, almost €40 for a single title. I don't even remember the last time I spent that much on a single film, and that's excluding those huge collector's box sets by Warner.

[bruceo]

Don't let this one get away!

[ChromeJob]

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

LOL for many reasons, this is my favourite blu-ray.com forum review, despite I don't agree about the third act.

Thank you, I wasn't aiming for a review. You might be right about the last act, as fiftysomething I may see the film differently than a tweensomething.

Originally Posted by bruceo

Don't let this one get away!

I have to clean my keyboard now, I spewed coffee over it. Gawd, those sideburns!

Oh, sweet Tabernacle, it DOES have the (a) theatrical trailer on it! You'll love it. And an isolated music score.

And to underline my comment about it having to be "deep," enjoy the poster's teaser line, "Beyond 1984. Beyond 2001,..."

[Mateo Sanboval]

Originally Posted by ChromeJob

Don't know if anyone ever released the soundtrack, but this would be neat to put on with just the score as background.

Not officially.

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Helps to limit yourself to a genre or style. I don't think of myself as a movie collector, I think of myself as a sci-fi and 80's action movie collector. Zardoz is kind of essential sci-fi, one way or another, so it was an easy decision for me. Missippi Burning? Great movie, but gets a pass for being outside my collection purview. Makes decisions easier.

Bingo.

[JoeDeM]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Helps to limit yourself to a genre or style. I don't think of myself as a movie collector, I think of myself as a sci-fi and 80's action movie collector. Zardoz is kind of essential sci-fi, one way or another, so it was an easy decision for me. Missippi Burning? Great movie, but gets a pass for being outside my collection purview. Makes decisions easier.

I agree, with what your saying, my problem is I like too many genres, and I'm not willing to cut one out over another, the most important ones are sci-fi and action.

[Randall Flagg]

Can't believe how many people are blind buying this. There will be a lot of disappointed people.