Zardoz coming from Twilight Time (Tentative February 2015) (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

5000 copies, a limit of three copies per customer, worries about a fast sell-out for...Zardoz! The world's gone mad.

Calling Jack Briggs! He'd understand the madness.

 

[davidmatychuk]

It's my old friend Jeff Ulmer's world, and we're all just living in it.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Hello, everyone:


To refresh some memories here, I will synopsize how John Boorman's Zardoz came to DVD in the first place.


In the early days of Home Theater Forum on the World Wide Web, our then leaders, Ron Epstein and Parker Clack, had made contact with the then vice president of 20th Century Fox in charge of home media. His name was (and still is) Mr. Peter Staddon.


At that time, Home Theater Forum was hosting regular chats with many of the media big shots who had gravitated within our sphere (understand, Home Theater Forum was, in those days, just about the only "game in town"; the Internet as we know it was still relatively new).


Also at that time, Zardoz was, to be blunt, an obsession with Mr. Jeff Ulmer and yours truly.


We -- Mr. Ulmer and I -- did the obvious thing: bring our love/obsession of this film to Mr. Staddon's attention. And in short order, Mr. Staddon went ahead and scheduled a transfer of the film to DVD.


Within a few months, Zardoz made it to DVD. The print 20th Century Fox used, from the company's archives, was in (very) poor shape and was thus "fixed" digitally. The result, in my opinion, though, was acceptable.


Amazingly, the disc has remained in print all these years, though now it is strictly a bargain-basement affair. This new Blu-ray version should be a marked improvement (how can it not help but be?).


And, of course, I am happy to hear about its coming to the high-def medium.


Oh, and also, Zardoz is not a film that can be categorized as
"so bad it's good." It is quite a good film, though the late Roger Ebert was correct in calling it "quirky." John Boorman was indeed trying to say things (about life and death and our oh-so-many concepts of "god") and doing so via the realm of science fiction. And I would also take exception to some of the attitudes regarding the costuming in the film; it is, after all, an imagining of a dystopian society set in the year 2293. (In 1974, that is how audiences accepted it; Sean Connery, therefore, looked to us then as a menacing barbarian warrior, a "brutal.")


Like it or not, the film deserves kudos for its well-imagined future. It holds up, though it does look like a product of the seventies (which was a liberal time, and I happened to enjoy that decade).


And a final note/request: Will someone kindly e-mail me vis-à-vis Mr. Ulmer? What happened to him? Is he not still us -- or is he now in his own "vortex"? I would appreciate information greatly.




Jack Briggs

"... to this end Zardoz your god gave you the gift of the gun."

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Hello, Jack. I remember those days quite well. I even reviewed Zardoz for the long-gone DVD Advanvce print magazine.

 

[JohnMor]

This blu-ray is a blind buy for me. I can't wait to finally see this film for myself.

 

[Mike Frezon]

And a final note/request: Will someone kindly e-mail me vis-à-vis Mr. Ulmer? What happened to him? Is he not still us -- or is he now in his own "vortex"? I would appreciate information greatly.

I will e-mail Jack a link to this page about Jeff. I'll let him know about Steve Tannehill, too

 

[TonyD]

Yeh, ugh.

Jeff was also a huge fan of The Swimmer.

 

[Tino]

Welcome back ( I HOPE) Jack!!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

To refresh some memories here, I will synopsize how John Boorman's Zardoz came to DVD in the first place.

Jack, absolutely wonderful to hear from you, and thank you for sharing this story!


Confession time: I've never actually seen "Zardoz". But I've been curious about it for years, and I've got a soft spot for misunderstood and under-appreciated movies. Plus I like sci-fi, the lead actor I hear is pretty good, etc., etc. I decided to go ahead and pre-order a copy, and I'm really excited to see it!

 

[Mike Frezon]

It's a real HTF success story--getting the film released originally on DVD.


And for that, Zed has become a sort of HTF mascot!

I mean, they even made a LEGO Zed!

 

[lukejosephchung]

It's a real HTF success story--getting the film released originally on DVD.


And for that, Zed has become a sort of HTF mascot!

I mean, they even made a LEGO Zed!

I don't think I'll EVER get used to seeing that shot of Sean Connery wearing that ponytail hair & red diaper...

 

[Charles Smith]

I'm sorry to say I never went to see the film, but it was an immediate blind buy from Twilight Time. Can't wait to experience it.

How great to catch up on the history of HTF and the DVD -- and to read it in a post by Jack Briggs, who I haven't known personally, but I join in the welcomes!

 

[Cees Alons]

Absolutely fantastic thread - for so many reasons.


(And I'll order that BD right away, of course.)



Cees

 

[johnmcmasters]

John Boorman on the restoration of "Zardoz" -- with details about the unique cinematography and style of the film:



I know Reggie posted a video earlier -- but it won't load on my computer. If this is a duplicate link -- my apologies.

 

[YanMan]

This is going to be one entertaining thread when all you brave blind-buyers start posting your impressions after your first viewing!



*Full disclosure - I own the original DVD release (NOT a blind buy). Still contemplating picking up this TT BluRay

 

[Konstantinos]

I'm really going back and forth on this and don't know what to do.. (if I should buy it or not).

I've never seen it.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

This is going to be one entertaining thread when all you brave blind-buyers start posting your impressions after your first viewing!

Haha! I saw "The Visitor" with John Huston, there's no way this is worse. It just can't be possible!

 

[Worth]

This is one film I really wouldn't recommend buying sight unseen. And I say that as a fan - both of Zardoz and The Visitor.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

This is one film I really wouldn't recommend buying sight unseen. And I say that as a fan - both of Zardoz and The Visitor.

I thought about that and I've considered myself warned. I figure if I absolutely can't stand it that I should be able to sell it for close to what it cost. But I also just have this feeling that I'm gonna be really happy to have it. (I probably will buy a copy of "The Visitor" too at some point, seeing that one for the first time at a midnight screening was a surprisingly entertaining experience.)

 

[Steve Christou]

The first time I saw Zardoz, on video rental back in the 80's, I was gobsmacked. I thought it was one of the worst films I had ever seen, almost as bad as Exorcist II The Heretic (another John Boorman film). But it has grown on me on subsequent viewings. I bought it on DVD a few years ago.