Quincy Jones' opening score and the theme song Old Turkey Buzzard are so emotionally powerful (especially combined with the magnificent photography) that sometimes I will just play the beginning of the film for my enjoyment. This grand, sprawling western is an entertaining picture with mega cast names that results in an enjoyable adventure. Don't  look on it as a typical western. It just happens to be set in a western setting. This movie is centered around GREED. Its directed by J. Lee Thompson (The guns of navarone, cape fear). The direction is generally good, there is some striking photography of the desert landscapes, and sequences such as the fight scene between Mackenna and Colorado and the final earthquake are well handled. We also have quality thespians like Omar Sharif (Hidalgo, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago). Eli Wallach ( The good, the bad n the ugly). Edward G. Robinson ( The Cincinnati Kid, The Ten Commandments). Raymond Massey ( How the West Was Won). Telly Savalas (dirty dozen, cape fear, on her majestys secret service). Burgess Meredith (Rocky, clash of the titans). Lee J. Cobb ( The Exorcist, Our Man Flint, 12 angry men, On the waterfront). Keenan Wynn (The Mechanic, Point Blank, The Night of the Grizzly), Anthony Quayle (Lawrence of Arabia, The guns of navarone) n Ted Cassidy ( The Addams Family, Poor Pretty Eddie). Screenplay by Carl Foreman ( The Bridge over the River Kwai, High Noon, Guns of navarone). Cinematography by Joseph MacDonald ( The Sand Pebbles, Taras Bulba). Edited by Bill Lenny.

There has to be a worst western ever made. In my view, this is it. Let me tell you why...First - the story. It's another banal hunt for a lost gold mine, a line that's been done to death already, and long before this movie was ever thought of. The producers should have thought of that.Second - the plot. Even though there are claims the movie was ruined by lousy cuts, there are too many inept jump cuts, too many holes in the narrative, too many bizarre changes of landscape (it's all supposed to occur in a desert), and way too many unnecessary characters.Third - the photography. Granted the desert scenery is imposing and impressive, but I've already seen better in Koyannistqatsi (1982). Unhappily, the director ruined it all when he insisted on placing the camera, too many times, on horse so that we "look through" a character's eyes. And, most egregious, the not-so-special effects guaranteed the ending was no where near as good as that I've seen in any Japanese Godzilla movie from the 1950s.Fourth - the acting. Even at best of times and in his best movies, Peck was usually quite wooden, but adequate; in this, he's just dead wood. Sharif was totally miscast as Mexican; where was Anthony Quinn, or Eli Wallach? Oh, sorry, Eli turned up in this turkey as just another gold digger along with Lee J. Cobb, Burgess Meredith, Anthony Quayle, Keenan Wynn, Raymond Massey, and Edward G. Robinson - all great actors and who all get killed off within twenty minutes or so. Telly Savalas at least managed to stay alive until near the utterly absurd end. Good job he missed it, in my opinion. And, to cap it all, the sub-plot of the rivalry between the two women, Inga (Sparv) and Hesh-ke (Newmar) simply weighs the story down with unnecessary non-sex. On the other hand, it's inadvertently comedic.Finally, the music and voice over (the latter by Victor Jory, an actor I admired) should have been removed entirely - the first because it's worse than a Roy Rogers outing, the second because it's totally unnecessary in a movie that's beyond resuscitation.Considering all the good or great westerns of that time - A fistful of dollars (1964), A few dollars more (1965), The good, the bad and the ugly (1966), Once upon a time in the west (1968) and The wild bunch (1969), there was absolutely no need for producers to spend the estimated seven million to finance this waste of time and resources.This movie is so bad, I'm sure it will never get back the money invested. And it shouldn't.Not recommended at all - except for those who actually want to see the worst western of all time.Give it one out of ten - and that's for old Prairie Dog (Eduardo Ciannelli) for suffering so much for being in it.February 23, 2014.

i have heard read about this film many time before reading about it here-and downloading watching...this is really fantastic film with best cast-story-direction-settings...gold-the bloody yellow metal which made human fools-greedy and forget relationships and kill even those who's close..:((start to finish film is so superb and after watching it u sure say what an film....!!i watched it many times and still wanna watch again n again.. i think this film is classic n needs remake every ten yrs....this film truly appreciable... climax is quite surprise....!!go watch it...don't miss it...only some days back i watched client Eastwood's best-the good the bad and the ugly which too has a story of finding treasure in a grave...i give it 10/10 n it deserves even more....

I saw this movie on release in 1969 with my parents and was absolutely captivated by it. I had already seen quite a few classic Westerns but this had an extra ingredient - the kind of plot we are now so used to in the Indiana Jones movies. In fact I am certain that Raiders Of The Lost Ark owes at least one debt to Mackenna's Gold.Visually the film is stunning. Henry Ford's classics spring to mind but again there is more much more. All the principal characters are well drawn and it moves along at just the right pace. The conclusion is a tour de force that sends shivers down my spine. The use of special effects may have offended traditionalists but I think they work brilliantly. A much overlooked adventure that bears repeated viewing.