Mackennas Gold

Starring: Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif Director: J Lee Thompson Original UK Premiere: 1969 Dvd Release: 12th April, 2004 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Region 2 Encoding

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This was always & will always be one of my favourite "Westerns" of all time. The beauty of the film is that its not really a Western at all - sure there are cowboys & indians, gunfights & horseback chases but, at its heart, this is an Indiana Jones quest to find the motherlode of gold hidden within a secret mountain - hell, its even got the old crossing the rickety rope bridge cliffhanger. Anyone who enjoys off-kilter Westerns like The Valley of the Gwangi will cerainly get a kick out of this.

While the quantity of extras on hand are decidedly lacking this is more than made up for by the quality. The anamorphic widescreen image is simply superb & looks like it could have been shot last week. The soundtrack has also been remixed into 5.1 and, while no match for the likes of The Matrix, is still quite aggressive & very enjoyable especially during the effects-heavy closing scenes. Overall I highly recommend this movie and, despite the lack of extras on the DVD, you wont have seen it looking or sounding better since its original release in 69. I should stress that this is not a film for kids as it was most definitely made with the grownups in mind. There is quite a bit of violence & sexual content - especially Julie Newmars infamous bathing scene which exudes more sex appeal than a dozen Basic Instincts.

So there you have it: a great cast, ridiculous but very enjoyable plot & an absolutely cracking closing reel - if ever a film deserved to get a remake its this one.

Gregory Peck was an American film actor. Born Eldred Gregory Peck in La Jolla, California, he was the son of a Missouri mother & a chemist called Gregory Peck, whose mother Catherine Ashe was an Irish immigrant from County Kerry. Catherine Ashe was related to the Irish patriot Thomas Ashe, who took part in the Irish Easter Rising in the year of Pecks birth & died on hunger strike in 1917. Pecks parents divorced when he was five & he was reared by his grandmother. Peck was sent to a Roman Catholic military school in Los Angeles at the age of 10. When he graduated, he went to San Diego State University, but dropped out a year later. For a short time, he took a job driving a truck for an oil company. In 1936, he enrolled as a pre-med student at the University of California, Berkeley. He majored in English & rowed on the university crew. He was recruited by the schools Little Theater & appeared in five plays his senior year. After graduation, Peck dropped the name Eldred & headed to New York City in 1939 to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Posters Of Gregory Peck

Editors Choice: Old Gringo, The Scarlet And The Black, The Boys From Brazil, Macarthur, The Omen, The Omen Quadrilogy, Mackennas Gold, Marooned, View DVDology

Omar Sharif, also known as Omar El-Sharif, is an Egyptian -born actor who has starred in several Hollywood films. He graduated from Cairos Victory College with a math & physics major. At first he worked with his father in the lumber business. In 1953 he started his acting career. He married the Egyptian star Faten Hamama, which rocketed his popularity in the Arab World. The marriage ended in 1974. His first English language film was Lawrence of Arabia in 1962. He also played Dr Zhivago in the movie by the same name. Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran. Sharif is also one of the worlds best known contract bridge players. He writes a syndicated newspaper bridge column & there is even a bridge computer game & tutorial that carries his name. Sharif is also a regular in casinos in France, where he once assaulted a casino employee after losing thousands of dollars on a single roulette bet. Posters Of Doctor Zhivago

Editors Choice: Mysteries Of Egypt, The Tamarind Seed, Mackennas Gold, The Last Valley, Lawrence Of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, The Night Of The Generals, Anastasia, View DVDology

J Lee Thompson was a film director, active in both British films & Hollywood. He was born in Bristol, England & was a stage actor from age 17 & a playwright by 20. His entry into films was as an actor & then a screenwriter. His directing debut came in 1950. Lee Thompson, as he was often known, made some critically well-received films in Britain, The Good Companions, Woman in a Dressing Gown, Ice Cold in Alex, Tiger Bay, Northwest Frontier, I Aim at the Stars, before he was assigned to direct The Guns of Navarone, as a replacement of original director Alexander Mackendrick. The success of that film won him entry into Hollywood, where he directed Cape Fear, a blistering psychological thriller that was regarded as simply too controversial back home in Britain & subjected to much censorship. Lee Thompsons work in Hollywood was varied & received mixed receptions, though some of his best films from this period, Return from the Ashes & Country Dance aka Brotherly Love, were at least partly if not wholly British productions, seemingly a redeeming feature. Posters Of Cape Fear

Editors Choice: Messenger Of Death, King Solomons Mines, Murphys Law, The Evil That Men Do, 10 To Midnight, Cape Fear, Mackennas Gold, The Guns Of Navarone, View DVDology

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