Rachel Conley - Zardoz

First of all, this movie was trip. It started out kind of slow, but then it got better as it went on, once Zed was caught and started causing trouble in the vortex. One of the themes of this movie is nature versus technology. To keep themselves from being influenced by the suffering and havoc occurring in the world, a group of the rich, intelligent, etc., close themselves up in a vortex and are able to become immortal due to a crystal placed in their forehead. They can die, but their bodies are regenerated and they live another life as the same person. They only age voluntarily as a punishment. The fact that the aging process is being controlled by this group is completely against nature. People are supposed to age as the years go by, not just because they are being punished for something.

Another example of going against nature are the hunters, a group which Zed is a part of. Their mission is to go around killing anyone and everyone they come across. They are instructed to do this by Zardoz, who is a giant head controlled by the leader of the vortex, who is playing God to these men. By having the group of hunters kill people, they are taking that job away from nature.

In the end, the people in the vortex long for death because they have lived so long they no longer wish to live. They are bored with live and feel that their life has no purpose because they will continue to live forever. This wanting to die leads to an interesting death scene at the end of the movie where they all beg the hunters for death, for liberation. This movie was a trip and you should see it if you weren't in class on Monday.