Zardoz
In a bizarre post-apocalyptic future, a weaponized outsider enters an immortal elite's utopia and threatens to reveal the violence beneath its perfection.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Dense
- Violence
- Brutal
- surreal
- provocative
- psychedelic
- cult movie night
- retro science fiction marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly recognized the film's striking visual ambition and inventive premise while finding its didactic dialogue, confused storytelling, and climactic excess self-indulgent.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Eternals' ageless existence and rejection of sex and sleep expose paradise as social and emotional stasis.
The giant stone idol, ritual costumes, Vortex interiors, and stark Outlands create an intentionally flamboyant future aesthetic.
Arthur Frayn operates as Zardoz, using the stone head and religious doctrine to control and study the Brutals.
Zed's accidental arrival in the Vortex forces the Eternals to confront violence, desire, disease, and inequality.
Films like Zardoz, and why
Logan's Run
shares dystopian science fiction, social stratification, immortality, and provocative speculative world-building
Barbarella
shares flamboyant futuristic design, eroticized fantasy, satirical social commentary, and camp sensibility
The Time Machine
shares post-apocalyptic science fiction, authoritarian social structures, and philosophical conflict over humanity's future
Soylent Green
shares eccentric science fiction spectacle, dystopian themes, and a visually inventive but divisive 1970s style
Movie Details
- Director
- John Boorman
- Release Date
- 1974-02-06
- Runtime
- 106 min
- Rating
- 5.9 / 10 (546)
Cast
- Sean Connery
- Charlotte Rampling
- Sara Kestelman
- John Alderton
- Sally Anne Newton
- Niall Buggy
- Bosco Hogan
- Jessica Swift
- Bairbre Dowling
- Christopher Casson
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Zardoz about?
- In a bizarre post-apocalyptic future, a weaponized outsider enters an immortal elite's utopia and threatens to reveal the violence beneath its perfection.
- What is Zardoz like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Zardoz as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as dense.
- Is Zardoz violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Zardoz as brutal.
- What did critics think of Zardoz?
- Critics broadly recognized the film's striking visual ambition and inventive premise while finding its didactic dialogue, confused storytelling, and climactic excess self-indulgent.
- Which films are like Zardoz?
- Films with a similar feel include Logan's Run, Barbarella, The Time Machine, and Soylent Green.
- How long is Zardoz?
- Zardoz runs 106 minutes.
- Where can I watch Zardoz?
- In United States, Zardoz is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
