So much average

As Good As It Gets

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

D as in Dreadful. Not good. Really bad. My review is still too short. I guess it has meaning and important commentary on man's struggle and all that stuff, but no. It's really bad.

In a distant future, after the end of society as we know it, humanity is divided. A small number, the Eternals who are now immortal, live within the Vortex while outside the Brutals live. Those in the Vortex still need food and the Brutals provide it; giving food to the floating stone head, which they believe is Zardoz, their god, which takes it to the Vortex. Zed is one such brutal but he learns the truth about Zardoz and sets about getting into the Vortex. Once there he learns that life for the Eternals is far from idyllic; they are bored and many yearn for death. Others see Zed as a threat to their existence and want him killed.This is very much a film of the early seventies with its trippy visuals and general feel. The story itself is solid enough with its suggestion that eternal life would be more of a curse than a blessing. This depiction of immortality is well thought out with those who transgress being aged further but never dying and others being so apathetic that they barely move. Outside we see that the Brutals are far more 'alive' despite the violent way they are forced to live. I liked the way the invention of Zardoz is explained and how Zed learns the truth. On the downside the costumes are a bit of a distraction with Sean Connery's Zed wearing little more than a pair of red swimming trunks for most of the film and a distinctly hippyish look for the Eternals. The acting was okay although leads Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling have both done better. Overall I wouldn't say this is a must see unless you are a Connery completist or are a fan of somewhat camp sci-fi.

A truly weird sci-fi film. Some of the effects (specifically the stone head shots) are pretty cheesy, but it isn't fair to judge them by modern standards. Parts of the plot are highly interesting, and a few other parts are a bit ridiculous, but Sean Connery plays it straight throughout. (Although at the beginning of the film, he fires a pistol directly at the camera, seemingly a nod to his James Bond character) Charlotte Rampling is oddly good in this film as well. Sarah Kestelman and Niall Buggy played parts too odd to really describe. I liked it OK, partly FOR its weirdness.

This seemingly bizarre futuristic science fiction saga is almost a parable of what it is like to be brainwashed and complacent with whatever new bird-brained idea takes over society. While the story is set in some futuristic so-called paradise, it's almost frightfully current in it's ideal of hiding what truth is simply to live in a completely ideal world. This is a warning in it's message of mind controlling manipulation, showing how those who go against the ideals in this freaky world either end up periodically aging or in complete apathy or facing eternal senility. Sean Connery is suddenly transformed from an earthly, violent world into this seemingly peaceful vortex, all the while worshiping some godlike creature called Zardoz, a stone image that resembles a shark. In this vortex, he's questioned about everything he's been through, analyzed by strange hippy like young people, and pretty much manipulated by them to comply with their ways...or else. Connery witnessed others tried by the vortex leaders (among them Charlotte Rampling) and then finds himself threatened one of their other worldly punishments. I will be honest in saying that it took me a while to figure what the heck was going on, but it quickly became obvious of what was going on. It's a disturbing view of a world free from individuality where only those of a certain like mind (or weak mind) will find the rewards.I'm sure that everybody who watches this movie will get something completely different from it, but for me, it's a companion feature to "1984" to warn us about dimensions of society that are quite disturbing. The world outside this vortex is futuristic, but as we know it, still violent, lustful and abusive of power. Connery is shown raping women savagely, and inside the vortex, there are examinations of mortal sexuality and even a testing of what makes different people become aroused. In that sense, it's a bit gratuitous, but there is a point. The film builds to a strange climax where the world outside attacks the world inside, and Connery and Rampling end up in a cave that shows the passage of time with the most hysterical ending. Hollywood has shown in films such as "Fahrenheit 511", "Soylent Green", "Logan's Run" and "Westworld" that we are heading to grim times, so if seeing these films makes you keep an eye on your newspaper more aggressively, then it has accomplished at least something, no matter how absurd the plot line is.