History YMMV / Zardoz

* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs: No, really. [[SincerityMode John Boorman WAS on drugs when he made this]], and admits he has no idea what much of its even about.

* JerkassWoobie: Zed. He's spent his whole life in a world of shit, ends up in the captivity of Eternals who view him as little more than an animal, ultimately learns that everything he's ever done was what Arthur Frayn manipulated him to do, and in the end decides to just finish Arthur's plan to end immortality for humanity. He's still not particularly likeable.

** And of course, there's the film's [[MemeticMutation most infamous line of dialogue]], about the goodness of the gun and the evilness of the penis. What ''really'' racks up the unintentional humour of the scene is that Zardoz's worshippers suddenly go from chanting his name and repeating his proclamations to being completely silent, thus making it seem less like they're in awe at the word of Zardoz and more like they were [[StunnedSilence stunned into silence]] by what just came out of his mouth.

** If May sounds familiar, there's a good reason: the actress went on to play [[VideoGame/KnightsOftheOldRepublicIITheSithLords Kreia]].
** To the detriment of childhoods everywhere, Friend's actor later narrated ''WesternAnimation/FiremanSam''.

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: It's a film with much to say, but it says them in the most puzzling ways possible, with the most infamous moments being pure examples of MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Some reviewers have said that some ideas of the story, like an infinitely powerful upper-class manipulating and living at the expense of everyone else in the lower class, with the lower class striking back, could have made an interesting movie, but instead it's muddled terribly by its incomprehensible plotting.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: Creator/SeanConnery. The poor guy is trying his best, though he's clearly embarrassed by the costume. It's been said he did the movie to avoid being {{Typecast|ing}} as Film/JamesBond. So it's possible he wasn't even considering the role itself so much as what it ''wasn't''. It's also been said that at the time Connery was actually having trouble getting work because the historic paycheck he cashed for ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'' made him too expensive for most filmmakers to want to hire him, so director Creator/JohnBoorman was actually able to get Connery on the cheap for what was a very low-budget film. In fact, the budget was so low that Connery sacrificed most of the comforts an actor of his standing was supposed to get, such as having his own driver, in favor of just rooming with Boorman and hitching a ride to work with Boorman on the condition that they split the cost of gas.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Many of the special effects, even if they're being used to depict imagery that's bizarre bordering on being ludicrous, are actually pretty impressive considering the film's budget and when it was produced.

** On the whole it's a well-acted film, with a cast full of estimable British stage actors, who gamely try to sell the monumentally muddled script.

** Just read that monologue from Zardoz about the penis being evil and guns being good because they kill humans.

* JerkassWoobie: Zed. He's spent his whole in a world of shit, ends up in the captivity of Eternals who view him as little more than an animal, ultimately learns that everything he's ever done was what Arthur Frayn manipulated him to do, and in the end decides to just finish Arthur's plan to end immortality for humanity. He's still not particularly likeable.

* JerkassWoobie: Zed.

** When Friend declares he won't meditate on second level, the other Eternals punish him by... chanting "renegade!" while twiddling their fingers at him until he passes out.

* SoBadItsGood: It represents the collision of high ideals and low abilities perfectly, and contains the line: "The gun is good -- the penis is evil!" Also, Creator/SeanConnery in [[FanDisservice a red diaper]].

* StrangledByTheRedString: Even though [[spoiler:May is the one who clearly has affection for him, Zed ultimately hooks up with Consuella in the end, and even has a son with her, even though she spent the entire film demanding that Zed be killed.]]

** Zardoz itself stands head and shoulders above the rest, the shots of it floating eerily through the smoke and addressing the assembled Exterminators are utterly seamless.