EPISODE 103 — Zardoz

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

 

 

 

Well the establishing date is right up front after Arthur's head takes a slow dive. (Also I would like to point out that the credits font usage is sooo 70's, in that quasi-LotR 'return to nature' way). The '300 years' line I'm rather sure is spoken by that Original Eternal, the one in the bed in the old folks home - also the same one saying that there was nothing to be found in space and gave the history on the Tabernacle.

 

I am not sure I get what you are saying here...

 

2293-1974=319

 

My point was I didn't few 300 years was enough time to be bored with life. Had it been 5293 then it would have made more sense to me.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Another note I'm surprised they didn't touch upon: How are there any Brutals left? Every memory Connery has is murdering Brutals on an EPIC scale, yet some how there are still enough people to be force into farming and repopulate for the next killing spree?

 

I could be wrong, but I think there was supposed to be an assload of Brutals and the Exterminators were used mainly as population control. I don't think they were ever meant to kill all the Brutals. I think they were meant to instill fear in the Brutals and shear their numbers to a point that they would never get it into their dumb brains to revolt.

 

Then again, with this movie, who really knows?

[RileyRileyy 13]

Dear Paul,

 

Please make June join you for the minisode so we can hear about the specifics of her nausea.

 

Thank you.

[Jamie Power 224]

Shouldn't this film be called Zardofoz?

[dlo burns 129]

I am not sure I get what you are saying here...

 

2293-1974=319

 

My point was I didn't few 300 years was enough time to be bored with life. Had it been 5293 then it would have made more sense to me.

 

Oh right, I totally get what you are saying, I thought you were just questioning the dates.

 

Also, 2293? What an arbitrary year. Looking on wikipedia there's nothing specific happening then.

[CraigEminger 468]

Shouldn't this film be called Zardofoz?

 

In my mind, I imagined they would show:

 

WIZARD

OF OZ

 

With a thumb over the WI and OF (I haven't seen the film). I googled to see what it looked like in the film:

 

 

Seems like the "Of" is completely omitted (or super tiny). Wonder if that was a real book cover or not.

[hypnotizingchickens 1025]

no real corrections or omissions since I would have had to watch this movie at least fifteen more times to fully understand it. that being said, I feel compelled to repeat this quote that Paul mentioned in the episode... along with Zed getting "sucked" into the crystal, it was the biggest laugh I had in the movie.

 

I've seen men rape an old crippled woman in a wet ditch.

[Kickpuncher 5012]

 

In my mind, I imagined they would show:

 

WIZARD

OF OZ

 

With a thumb over the WI and OF (I haven't seen the film). I googled to see what it looked like in the film:

 

 

Seems like the "Of" is completely omitted (or super tiny). Wonder if that was a real book cover or not.

 

"The Wonderful Wizard, Oz"?

[WayneMiller 37]

Do you think it was pitched as that as the ultimate twist?

 

I think I need to watch this with the commentary, because it just seems to be John Boorman going "What was I thinking?" over and over again....

[VinsanityV22 500]

All I learned here is that I wish Zardoz had a sequel

[dlo burns 129]

Do you think it was pitched as that as the ultimate twist?

 

I think I need to watch this with the commentary, because it just seems to be John Boorman going "What was I thinking?" over and over again....

Most of it was "I was a bit over amtious at the time" and lots of "Yes, this effect was created in camera, since we didn't have computers in those days — and the dreadful things do everything now"

 

I would say it's one of the best regular commentarys since he actually knows his own movie and explains it; as opposed to my favorite commentator ArnoldSchwarzenegger, who just tells you what's going on the screen like you're blind and he hasn't seen the movie in decades.

 

Total Recall:

https://www.youtube....h?v=zP1fgSgWOHI

 

Conan:

https://www.youtube....h?v=GSqnFxVaIx4

 

Carnival:

https://www.youtube....h?v=0uSghEXdJDc

[qrter 79]

 

Seems like the "Of" is completely omitted (or super tiny). Wonder if that was a real book cover or not.

 

The "of" is very small, and half a line lower than 'wizard' and 'oz'.. You can sort of see it here, eventhough the picture is quite unclear:

 

 

I have a real soft spot for Zardoz. Sure, the film is batshit insane, but there's something mesmerising about it, and I kind of like that it tried to do something ridiculously overambitious.

[fakename311 8]

Everyone should feel free to do this again but better.

 

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

Everyone should feel free to do this again

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/...478413949861888

[JeremyPhillips 11]

Try not to jerk off.

[fakename311 8]

Try not to jerk off.

 

I make no promises.

[CraigEminger 468]

All I learned here is that I wish Zardoz had a sequel

 

Zardoz 2: The Zardozening

[MelissaBecker 79]

 

Zardoz 2: The Zardozening

 

Return to Zardoz.

[MoFuzz 17]

[Five Six Seven 50]

 

Return to Zardoz.

2ardo2.

[MarcNaimark 0]

One little correction to something Paul said. Irish Travellers is the slightly more politically correct word for Irish gypsies rather than people on vacation. Stereotypically not good workers, which is why the director would have mentioned it!

Just logged in to ditto this! Corrections and omissions!

[Jamie Power 224]

All I learned here is that I wish Zardoz had a sequel

 

Well, let's not overlook its prequel, 'The Wiz'

[RobRussell 1]

More re: irish travelers via Wikipedia -- Irish Travellers (Irish: an lucht siúil) also called pavees, tinkers or gypsies, are a traditionally itinerant ethnic group who maintain a set of traditions. Although predominantly English speaking, some also use Shelta and other similar cants. They live mostly in Ireland as well as having large numbers in the United Kingdom and in the United States. Their origin is disputed. Around 10,000 people in the United States are descendants of Travellers who left Ireland, mostly during the period between 1845 and 1860 during the Great Famine. About 2,500 of them live in Murphy Village, a community outside North Augusta, South Carolina.

[crumbcake 104]

I just tried writing a quick summary of this movie's plot and timeline, and reached 850 words before I realized that wasn't possible. Instead I'm just gonna point some shorter bullets for Correction and Omissions.

 

Correction/Omission 1: Crystals

People seem confused about the brain crystals, but Zed explains them pretty specifically towards the end. Talking to the Tabernacle, he asks "Brain emissions refract low wave length laser light passing through the crystal brain in a code sent to you for interpretation and storage. Yes or no?" Now I'm not saying this is good science, but it does at least explain the crystals. That is, they're pretty much servers, only instead of binary, they store data in refractive light patterns. Apparently their scientists developed a way to read thoughts by interpreting the interference brainwaves have on a low wave laser light embedded inside a crystal implanted near the front of their brains. All these thoughts, and knowledge are stored and shared in a central network so that in the Vortex, "man and the sum of his knowledge will never die but go forward to perfection."

 

Correction/Omission 1.5: "Looks Can Kill"

Since the crystals can store, read, interpret, and transmit data, I think they can also be used as weapons. Specifically, you can literally give a look that kills by transmitting malicious information into another person's crystal, like a virus attack. The fact that this requires both parties to have brain crystals to make (even a remote bit of) sense, I think that means Zardoz has a crystal in his brain. Considering it's revealed he comes from a line of chosen people selected for breeding by Arthur Frame/Zardoz, it doesn't seem too far-fetched an assumption.

 

Correction/Omission 2: Tabernacle

If the crystals are the network, then the Tabernacle is the main database holding the sum of their knowledge. In the same scene as the last entry, the following exchange occurs:

Zed: I think you're a crystal. In fact, this one. This diamond. In here there is infinite storage for refractive light patterns.

Tabernacle: You have me in the palm of your hand.

Zed: You could be elsewhere.

Tabernacle: But I choose to be here.

I think this means the Tabernacle is kind of the same entity as Jane in the Speaker for the Dead and the other Ender's books. A consciousness controlling and connected to a vast network of information. It also stores the Eternals' DNA and memories, explaining why they're always stuck at the same age. When the Vortex was begun and they'd stopped their aging, they stored that information in the Tabernacle. Now, when any one of them dies, the Tabernacle registers that, and begins growing a new clone to match the person's stored record. This is why the middle-aged founders of the Vortex were stuck at that age, and why

 

Correction/Omission 3: Timeline

Some people already brought up how 300 years of immortality seems like a short time to reach a state of such crushing ennui, but it's even crazier than that. I think it's Consuela who reveals how the Vortex started, saying "The world was dying. We took all that was good and made an oasis here. We few, the rich, the powerful, the clever, cut ourselves off to guard the knowledge and treasures of civilization as the world plunged into a dark age. To do this, we had to harden our hearts against the suffering outside." This almost makes their actions seem sacrificial, as though it was difficult for them to turn their backs on humanity in the service of fulfilling a higher purpose they felt they were carrying out. But they never just got bored, they had a catastrophic existential crisis. Friend tells Zed "We applied ourselves to the unknown secrets of the universe, but even with infinite time and the help of the Tabernacle, our minds were not up to it. We failed." That is, they condemned their planet to ruin and wound up with nothing to show for it. They discovered that either there are no answers to the mysteries of the universe, or that human minds simply cannot comprehend them, but either way, they've reached the point in their knowledge where the only reason they haven't admitted that life is meaningless is because you can't prove a negative. No wonder they're begging for death (though 300 years is still a relatively short time to reach that conclusion.)

 

 

Anyways, I've been watching almost every movie since Crossroads, but holy shit was this one next level. I think I may genuinely love this film and, like many other, lament June's absence. Maybe they could do a follow up episode, with another guest and June. Or even just Paul and Jason talking to her about the things brought up in this episode and getting her take on them.

 

This ended up way longer than intended.

[DiesOnAToilet 23]

I want a June "director's commentary" where she listens to the podcast and gives her opinions.

 

...

 

 

 

God damn, what a fantastic idea. Someone ask June to do it. Best of all her having sat through Zardoz would not be in vein. Maybe just a little segment on the mini-ep if nothing else. Pretty please.