MacKenna's Gold
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Movie Reviews of MacKenna's Gold
Movie Review: Trite plot but a beautifully filmed western
Summary: 3 Stars
Stripped to its bare essentials, this western is a treasure hunt for a hidden canyon of gold that legend says is guarded by Apache spirits and tabu for whites and prospectors. The dire warnings of death and destruction don't discourage an assorted party of white men, among them a law man, outlaws, and a cavalry sergeant who set out across desert and mountain with Apaches on their trail. Gregory Peck is the star and is the good guy who's forced into an uneasy partnership with wanted man Omar Sharif. Several well-known names are among the cast, including Edward G. Robinson, Eli Wallach, Lee J. Cobb, Burgess Meredith and Telly Savalas in what looks like a Hollywood all-star casting call. The scenery steals the picture and if the premise isn't taken seriously, the film is enjoyable two-hour plus pastime.Movie Review: A western that could only be made in the 60's
Summary: 3 Stars
Psychedelic camerawork, panoramic vistas, a Quincy Jones avant garde western score, Atticus Finch himself, Gregory Peck, Dr. Zhivago-Omar Sharif passing himself off as a Mexican bandito, Lurch-Ted Cassidy as an Indian, a pre-Kojak Telly Savalas, and "My Living Doll/Catwoman" Julie Newmar make for one of the strangely cast westerns of all time. Add to that the inspired casting of some of the best character actors to ever grace the silver screen (Eli Wallach, Burgess Meredith, Edward G. Robinson, Anthony Gayle, Raymond Massey, Keenan Wynn, Lee J. Cobb, to cite a few, and you have one GROOVY western...long on credits, short on plot, but still worth a look!Movie Review: The Longest Day of Westerns
Summary: 2 Stars
Dirty Gold
Summary
Gregory Peck plays a sheriff that stumbles upon a map to a lost city of gold. Omar Sharif is the bandit who forces Peck to lead him there, after Peck burns the map after committing it to memory. The hunt is on as more and more people are drawn into the quest. With Indians and danger at every turn, will Peck and Sharif find the treasure? Will they survive? Do we even care?
Mackenna's Gold (1969) was pushed out by Lee J. Thompson as a chance to do for the western what he did for war films with The Guns of Navarone (1961), make the ultimate super-western. He hired a huge cast of stars including Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif, Edward G. Robinson, and Eli Wallach. Columbia Pictures pored 14 million dollars into the production and the film was made.
Violence
Men are shot with arrows, killed with hatchets and shot with rifles and blood is visible many times. The film has a high body count even before the action packed finale. Peck and Sharif have a brutal fight on top of a cliff. A woman falls to her death (shot with a dummy, so the scene is very fake). Torture is implied at several points. We see a man who was blinded by Indian's eyes (fairly scary for little ones) and watch an arrow go through a horses neck (fairly realistic with plenty of blood). Keep in mind, however, that this is sixties blood and will probably not bother teens or adults.
Sexual Content
THERE IS NUDITY IN THIS MOVIE! After the group finds a water hole, an Indian girl and Omar Sharif go swimming naked. The woman is seen completely from behind and from the waist up from the front. Sharif is also highly visible during this scene.
Language
Scattered h-words and d-words that can be counted on one hand.
Viewed in a modern context, the film is fairly lack-luster. The plot is decent, but rather implausible and poorly developed. The special effects are occasionally good (as in the fight on the cliff between Peck and Sharif), but mostly poorly done, even for the time. The acting is good, but the characters are not well defined. Clint Eastwood wisely turned this film down, and maybe you should as well.
Movie Review: Round up at central casting or How to end your career with Lurch.
Summary: 2 Stars
This was harder to take than spam on hardtack, scarier than Omen, a sand duster beyond belief. No wonder Eastwood rode off with spaghetti westerns by himself. This crew was trapped in a blind canyon trying to avoid every John Wayne cliche and remain serious. Forget it. Even Frank, Sammy and Dean couldn't save this one. The apaches snuck up at the 4th campfire meeting,and made off with the real script.When the likes of Raymond Massey, Lee J. Cobb and Edward G. Robinson ask to be killed off before they reach Montana and the director agrees, there's no reason to continue. The best thing about this yarn of no similarity to the legend of "Adams Diggings," is the gorgeous rocky landscape. But still J. Lee Thompson insists on adding "Garden of Evil" matte shots here and there that add seconds of excitement to its crawling pace.Then Eli Wallach shows up and you hope he ropes you out of the audience or executes you along with the senior citizens of central casting.Not to happen. There's no escaping the depressing Sodom and Gamorrah finale that hopes to bury any memory of watching this. From the outset of this mess, every time the diminutive Omar Sharif looks up to the towering Gregory Peck and threatens him with desert eyes and Cisco Kid ridiculousness,it portends disaster ahead. You best skip this and just google the real "Adams Diggings." If you believe apache gold is found like cheese slices on a canyon wall, then you might like this before seeing your army recruiter.Movie Review: Well, I was in 8th grade...
Summary: 2 Stars
...so what did I know?! I saw this movie when it came out in the theater in '69. I remembered it as being really good....ha! Yes, it is entertaining, but certainly not anything to take the least bit serious. Was it meant to be a comedy?! The cast pops from one locale to another faster than I can get anywhere in a car...one minute Monument Valley, next a wooded Black Hills-lookalike. Next, back in the desert. Those were some fast horses back then. Beautiful Indian gal-with nicely-done makeup and a Wonderbra. Beautiful white girl with nicely done makeup...and beautifully highlighted hair. In summation, what I'm trying to say is this movie is just plain dumb. The soundtracks from almost any movie made in the late 60's and most of the 70's are always hideous, but the "theme"-although sung very well by Jose Feliciano-was worse than most! Just too funny from start to finish.