ZACHARIAH

Movie Title: Zachariah
Studio: MGM
Director: George Englund
Starring: John Rubenstein - Don Johnson - Patricia Quinn - Joe Walsh/James Gang - Country Joe & the Fish - Doug Kershaw - New York Rock Ensemble - Elvin Jones - Peter Bergman
Original Release: 1971

I remember this movie being billed as the first electric western. If you can buy that premise, you can dig this movie.

It helps if you can understand the analogy between modern day guitar-slingers (axemen) and old west gun-slingers (gunmen), but that’s not really required to enjoy this totally wacky movie.

What should be required is digging out that bong you hid away in the closet a few years ago and taking a couple of really deep tokes off from it before you hit the play button. It’s that kind of movie.

The basic plot line is this - Two buddies, Zachariah (John Rubenstein) and Matthew (Don Johnson - yes, that Don Johnson) join up with The Crackers (Country Joe & The Fish) a rock band who also happen to be stage coach bandits. Possibly the worst band of bandits that ever existed.

Before long, Zachariah and Matthew outgrow the gang/band and head out on their own. Eventually they part company and a rivalry grows between them.

It’s a trip of a movie with a great rock and roll soundtrack. The drum solo by Elvin Jones is a killer and the performances by Joe Walsh & the James Gang and The New York Rock & Roll Ensemble are quite interesting in today‘s MTV world.

Particularly entertaining are the scenes with Country Joe and the Fish as the inept stage robbers, Doug Kershaw as the lone fiddler in black and the James Gang in the opening scene.

If you like ‘60’s counter-culture movies, this is about as surreal as it gets. Imagine Easy Rider on horses.

Written by members of The Firesign Theater (click the link if you don’t know them) and sometimes referred to as being based on Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha (again, if you don‘t know, click the link) - this movie has all the signs of a cult classic.

Who knows why it isn’t - you can be the judge of that one.