It is considered a cult film, with its mix of mythology, a bizarre, sprawling plot filled with twists and incongruities, wide-ranging satirical and allegorical stabs, dated 1970s aesthetic, and being filmed in an almost perpetual soft focus[?] haze. Boorman's studio, 20th Century Fox, was dismayed at the uncommercial mess he presented to them and forced the addition of a misleading prologue and trailers that were at odds with the film.
Arriving in the Vortex Zed meets two Eternals, Consuella (Charlotte Rampling) and May (Sara Kestleman), and is experimented upon by one of them before being made to work for another Eternal, a troublemaker called Friend (John Alderton). The Eternals are overseen by an AI called Tabernacle (a large crystal mass in appearance) and have problems themselves, either falling into catatonia through an odd illness or being aged into senility for violating the rules. Zed discovers an old book, the "The wiZARD of OZ", and he realizes the origin of the name Zardoz. It is then revealed that Zed was created by Frayn in order to destroy the Vortex and restore death to the bored Eternals. Zed besieges the Eternals and finishes them bloodily, the film ends with another twist to create a happy ending.
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump