Sadly Over-hyped

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Blistering performances.

I've never seen this movie, but I had to jump in to the defense of the Firesign Theatre, and the popular misconception that they wrote this movie. In reading interviews with various members of the comedy team, the Firesign Theatre wrote *the first draft* of this movie which was meant to be a comedic adaptation of Sidhartha, set in the old west. Then what seems to have happened was that the studio executives assigned another writer to do a re-write (and probably tinkered a bit with the script themselves) and the final product bore only a passing similarity to the original script.I do not think that the Firesign Theatre are in any way proud of this movie and don't mention it on their web-site.

"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 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.

When I first saw this film in 1971 I was blown away by the cast, the dialogue (which is almost embarrasing, but fun to listen to now), and the music. Don Johnson and John Rubenstein did an incredible job as wannabe gunslingers and comic moments from the likes of Country Joe were classic. Musically, performances by The James Gang, Elvin Bishop, The New York Rock n Roll Ensemble, etc..., rounded off this film nicely. The plot was predictable, as most are, but the ride was a memorable one. I throw this in the VHS player every once in a while and I'm never sorry I did...