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Best movie ever!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Mackenna's Gold has a stellar cast led by a leading man who could act and who was at home in Westerns (e.g. the far more modest and far superior The Gunfighter and The Stalking Moon) and some wonderful scenery and action photography. But that's about as good as it gets. Marshall MacKenna (Peck) kills an old Apache who had ambushed him. The Apache had been carrying a map to a hidden seam of gold (the Lost Adams). MacKenna, who'd spent 3 years looking for the gold, burns the map. He is then captured by a gang led by his old Mexican enemy Colorado (Sharif) who had been hunting for the map. The fact that MacKenna has the map in his head is the only thing keeping him alive. Colorado's gang (including MacKenna's old lover played by Newmar as an Apache) have taken a captive, Inga, (Sparv) to provide some protection against the pursuing cavalry (including Savalas who's more interested in the gold than the gang). The gang is forced to join forces with a group of gold-hungry townsmen (including Robinson as Adams who'd been blinded by the Apaches decades before so he could never find his way back to the hidden canyon. You'd think he could still remember the features we see later in the movie but who cares). They all set off in search of gold. They'd have been better served looking for a screenplay and a director. A voiceover fills in the gaps in the storyline, often a bad sign. Some shots are obviously done in a studio. They don't match well with the location shots. The special effects haven't aged well (and I'm not talking about a shadow lengthening as the sunrises!), nor have the racial stereotypes. Some actors (Sharif, Wynn) ham it up. Most go through the motions. This is a film out of time. It looks like a studio thought if it threw enough money and enough names at a project it would suffice. It was released in 1969, a year that saw a good traditional Western (True Grit), a very good comedy Western (Support Your Local Sheriff!), a great revisionist Western (The Wild Bunch) and a hugely enjoyable one-off Western (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid). Mackenna's Gold is none of these.

Hilarious! This is a movie ostensibly about the search for a hidden canyon of gold. How the lure of riches this canyon will provide and how this lure affects various characters is what drives the plot.What you get is a gorgeous 5 ft 11 inches Julie Newmar as a jilted, angry, Apache renegade warrior trying to do in Greg Peck and anyone else who shows an interest in him. Also, Ted Cassidy, all 6 ft 9 inches of him, plays yet another Apache warrior with evil on his brain. Though they do NOT say it these two must have been from the tall tribe of Apaches. Omar Sharif plays the head villain Colorado with an accent of undetermined origin. When he starts chewing the scenery in the 1st act, you know this movie will have some unintended laughs.How so many stars got involved in this movie is a bigger mystery than the one posed in the story and the main reason I gave it a 4 rating.The difference between this movie and "Bride of the Monster" or "Plan 9 from Outer Space" is the number of A-list people involved. Don't tell me this is an unintended comedy. Have you listened to the "Old Turkey Buzzard" theme song? The middle word in the title song best describes the entire movie.

I remember catching "MacKenna's Gold" on TV with my dad a couple times, but both times I only made it about an hour into the movie (with commercials) before having to go to bed; I made it to the campfire scene where old Adams describes the legendary secret canyon containing incredible natural gold treasure. I was upset that I couldn't finish the film because the film builds up a great amount of anticipation concerning the secret gold canyon.Well, in the early 90's I spied a VHS copy of "MacKenna's Gold" and immediately purchased it. I finally got to see the ending and wasn't disappointed.Brilliant author and Western expert Brian Garfield ("Death Wish") comments on "MacKenna's Gold" in his outstanding book "Western Films" thusly: "it hasn't a single redeeming quality. It has got to be the most expensive star-studded two-hour "B" movie ever made; a gargantuan dud of absolutely stunning dreadfulness." It hasn't a SINGLE redeeming quality? Okay, let me list a smattering: Outstanding cast, including Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif, Ted Cassidy, Julie Newmar, Telly Savalas, Carmilla Sparv and many more, albeit mostly cameos; one of the greatest Western scores of all time, which ranks up there with "How the West Was Won," "Rio Lobo," "Duel at Diablo," "Bandelero!" "Bonanza," "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (to name a handful); an incredible theme song, "Old Turkey Buzzard," sung by Jose Feliciano and written by Quincy Jones; and magnificent locations (Utah, Arizona, Rogue River Oregon) & cinematography.Plus, although the story has an undeniable comic booky vibe to it (which explains why Mr. Garfield refers to it as a "B" movie), it is played out in a completely serious manner and successfully holds your attention while, once again, creating much anticipation regarding the legendary canyon.Gregory Peck, who plays Marshal MacKenna, and Carmilla Sparv are definitely the "good guys" in this picture. The film was made at a time (1969) when characters in Westerns tended to be unlikable and amoral (e.g. "The Wild Bunch," "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Macho Calahan"), so it's just nice to have some quality people to root for, if you know what I mean.Omar Sharif plays the head Mexican bandit "Colorado" excellently. It's sort of an atypical role for him, but he performs so fabulously that it seems he was born to play the part. Ted Cassidy, well-known as "Lurch" on TV's "The Addam's Family," plays the intimidating, laconic Indian warrior Hachita. He superbly fits the character (regardless of whether or not he has Indian blood running through his veins). Julie Newmar, although obviously not of Native American heritage, is great as a crazy -- and I mean CRAZY -- squaw. Red-blooded males will be interested to know that she has a nude swimming scene, while fans of "Brokeback Mountain" will likely appreciate Omar Sharif during the same sequence (lol).Quincy Jones' opening score and the theme song "Old Turkey Buzzard" are so emotionally powerful (especially combined with the magnificent Southwest photography) that sometimes I'll just play the beginning of the film for my enjoyment, which runs a full 6-8 minutes or so (!). I've heard some complain that "Old Turkey Buzzard" is corny, but nothing could be further from the truth. I'll be perfectly honest with you, although open-minded, I've never been much into County/Western music, but "Old Turkey Buzzard" is just simply a POWERFUL composition, regardless of the musical genre. It potently comments on man's temporal nature and the insane & contagious condition of gold fever, i.e. greed, which is what the film is about.While "MacKenna's Gold" certainly lacks the gritty realism of, say, the contemporaneous "The Wild Bunch," it is indeed a SERIOUS film despite some undeniable cartooney aspects. One could also probably nitpick about the not-quite-successful F/X miniature sequences, but that's not important; what IS important is the film's entertainment value. At the end of the day "MacKenna's Gold" successfully entertains.GRADE: B

Though Mackenna's Gold came out in 1969, I saw it for the first time recently and wish I hadn't. When it hit the silver screen, it was notable for Julie Newmar's topless scene, and that scene may be the only one in the movie worth watching. If Mackenna's Gold appears on TV with that scene deleted, it's a total waste of time. The producers shove impossibilities in the viewer's face that are simply too insulting to ignore. Apache Indians who are 6'9" tall and have big muscles? A magic shadow that ignores the basic laws of physics? A huge vein of pure gold that runs through a sandstone cliff? Add to that bad special effects, a waste of beautiful scenery and the complete waste of the performances of some truly great character actors and you have a movie that is both frustrating and obnoxious.