"Zachariah" seems to be some sort of experiment, crossing the classic Western with the rock musical. Today it just seems absurd. (Electric guitars in the Old West? Who knew?) Today's audiences will recognize Don Johnson co-starring as Matthew, and Dick Van Patten's cameo as the Dude. Another noticeable performance is by Country Joe McDonald and the Fish, as an outlaw rock band, the Crackers. In its day "Zachariah" may have been popular with hippies and rock fans, and perhaps a few Western fans. Today, it seems like the thing for people who just want a good laugh. There is some good music, though, from White Lightnin' and the James Gang (not Jesse and Frank!). It's worth a look and a listen, even if you find you'd have to see "Zachariah" to believe such a movie was made!

I've read the comments of the other viewers posted here, and I agree that the film is fun (if a bit silly) and the music is great. The Siddartha angle is interesting, and I think the script by Firesign Theater is very entertaining. But I ask you: Am I the only viewer to notice the sexual tension between Rubenstein and Johnson, and to pick up on the gay sub-text? Yes, Zachariah tries to renounce violence, but could it be he's really just denying his attachment to Matthew?

I first saw this film on its first run back in '71 or '72. Saw it on a date with a nurse from the hospital where I worked in Plantation, Florida. Had known very little about it beforehand. Was blown away. Spent the rest of the date (at restaurant) explaining Hesse's Siddhartha and all the points of congruency. Also recognized names of Firesign Theater. Was convinced they'd retold Siddhartha, which is Hesse's retelling of the Buddha story of spiritual enlightenment, mixing American West gunfighter myth and rock and roll--two key archetypes/myths of our generation: ingenious premise, well-executed. My conviction was confirmed absolutely when I saw it again later and recognized Zach's response to Belle as verbatim Siddhartha's response to the courtesan in Hesse--trying to avoid spoiler here.Of course the movie is somewhat dated now, 30 years later. But it was clever and even profound in its day and still worth seeing. I'd recommend reading the book first in order to fully appreciate what they were doing.One other comment: I see a parallel between Zachariah's pairing of Old West gunfighters and rock and roll and the Eagles' Desperado song story--especially apparent in the song "Certain Kind of Fool:""I saw it in a window, the mark of a new kind of man; I kinda liked the feeling, so shiny and smooth in my hand; I took it to the country and practiced for days without rest; And then one day I felt it: I knew I could stand with the best."Is "it" a six-gun or a six-string? Yes. Whenever I heard this song I pictured Zachariah out in the desert practicing his shooting.See the film if you can. Enjoy the music. Follow the story. It's worth it.

Siddhartha done as a Rock and Roll Comedy Western by two of the members of the Firesign Theatre - What's there not to love. Even if you don't recognize the themes of self discovery based on Herman Hesse's classic story of the Buddha's early journey, this is still a fun movie featuring the classic American western outlaw story done as a send-up. It's like a light hearted version of El Topo only it made me laugh where the other made me squirm - in a good way. This is not to say that the story is the same as either. It merely shares the same themes. Particularly amusing are the scenes with Country Joe and the Fish as the bungling highwaymen. Louisiana Man Doug Kershaw as the lone fiddler in black and the James Gang's opening scene are breathtaking and funny at the same time. It reminds me of Hesse's line in Steppenwolf when Mozart laughs at the hero in his dream because he can't hear the music through the static on the radio. This music celebrates the joy of life that epitomized the counterculture rebellion against the darkness of the times. Max Frisch, the Swiss author, defended an attack on the silence of the Swiss writers during the horrors of Nazi Germany by saying he wanted to set up against that all the other things that still can be called life. This movie was part of that movement -- forget superficial commercial ventures like Hair or JC Superstar or the Tommy movie -- this was the musical of the rock and roll generation as much as Rocky Horror was the musical of the Glam Rock generation. Only back then young people were just grateful to be alive and have any dreams at all. It's no wonder that the votes on this one has old farts like me rating it much higher than anyone else. I guess you had to be there back when these musicians couldn't even get radio airplay. I haven't seen this in nearly twenty years when it last played at one of the revival houses but it's one of the few movies whose scenes I can replay in my mind an laugh out loud. This is how we celebrated all those other things that we still called life.Although I would no longer condone such practices, this film appears to have been made to also be enjoyable under the influence of the popular psychoactive alkaloids of the era.