the_doofy About 35 min in they kill a horse, I kind of saw it coming. Also up to that point all they do is ride horses and lead pack horses, talk about filler.I would not have minded the tediousness if they had at least done some actual western stuff, but it is clear the people who made this movie did not know much about how things were actually done in western times/how people coped on long riding trips, so they had the actors ride horses and lead pack horses.I actually would have finished the movie if it were not for the horse they killed. Its pretty obvious that this is one of those movies that had 'ballot stuffers' and some phony reviews.

vchimpanzee In Canada in 1896, a train led by a steam locomotive arrives in a small town not too far from Vancouver. The exact date is not that important, though "1896" appears on screen, but later a tombstone says 1898 even though it is not possible for two years to have passed.The woman who gets off the train is Emily, an attractive and nicely dressed woman from Chicago. She pays Laser (pronounced lass-er, not lai-zer), whose ad was responsible for attracting the members of the group who Laser intends to lead to Dawson to search for gold. The journey will be a difficult one because there is not a clear route, though Laser has marked the approximate route on a map, showing that rivers will be used at some point.Carl takes care of the horses which most of the members of the group ride and there is potential for romance between him and Emily Marie appears to be the cook, and her husband Otto takes care of the food. They have a covered wagon. Muller is a journalist whose primary interest is documenting the journey.It's not long before Laser shows evidence that he doesn't know what he's doing, but that he only wanted the other people's money. And more than once, the group is advised not to continue by people in the towns because it will be very difficult to get to Dawson. Indians are helpful, though they want money, and not everyone believes they should be trusted, even though Indians would know more than the others who have not been there. Most of the members are very determined to continue despite many obstacles. Two men show up in one town and ask "Grandpa" if he saw a group of Germans. They appear to desire harm to the group.In the wilderness, justice and medicine are very different from how they are in town. And not everyone is going to make it to Dawson. I won't say whether anyone actually does.Is this any good? Maybe. It illustrates the difficulty of being among the first in an area, and having to cope when there is no one else around for miles to help. Sometimes there is merely tension, sometimes danger, and sometimes the mood is just plain dismal.Much of the acting is the same quality as what might be expected when a group sits around the table reading the script for the first time. Some acting is better than that. Even if the acting isn't all that good, the story is good, if you like this sort of thing. I wasn't all that entertained but this just isn't my type of movie.Though this is supposedly set in 1896, a lot of the "music" sounds more like 1996. It might actually be appropriate but so much of it seems like just noise. Several scenes do benefit from an eerie new age sound that could actually have been performed during the time period, enhancing a very dismal atmosphere. Rossmann does play the banjo, but not nearly enough. He's pretty good, meaning real.The scenery is beautiful. Some areas don't have trees and don't look quite as good, but that doesn't mean it's not still impressive. Personally I like the trees better than what looks like desert.I forgot to look for the statement that no animals were harmed. Assuming there was one, a couple of horses do some good stunt work. Or at least someone does a good job of making it look like a horse had an impressive fall.The movie doesn't quite live up to its title, but it's not too bad, I guess.

dukeakasmudge Spoiler Ahead, Maybe? I'm a BIG Western fan but nowadays it seems that most indy Westerns are cheaply done & BORING so I really wasn't expecting that much out of this movie.Gold really surprised me.It was very well done & had my attention from the start.One scene right after the other, something was always going on, the scenery was just beautiful & it was NEVER boring.If you watch a lot of Westerns or ever played the game, The Oregon Trail then you can figure out what happens (I DON'T mean that in a bad way) I was hoping that everything would end up happily ever after but I knew better.If you're a fan of Westerns or not, Gold is a movie I'd recommend anybody watch.If I ever come across this movie at the store or wherever, I'm definitely buying myself a copy.It's WAY underrated & should be more well known than it is

Nathan L I remember very well the feeling I had when I walked out of the theater after watching "Gold" : the movie was so realistic that I couldn't get out of my mind life's knocks during the particular era of the movie - and how lucky I was to live in Europe these days, have a secure job, a house and loving family."Gold" deals with a common story of the 19th century in North America : a trek of settlers decide to go up north in search for gold. The variety of characters makes it easy to identify with a least one : there is the lonely guy, the intriguing girl, the elderly couple, the crook ... the harshness of nature and human behavior point out their vulnerability but can also reveal their pugnacity and strong character. Everything seems to match in "Gold" : the beautiful landscapes without any track of man, the very discreet music, the simplicity of these settlers' habits, the whole making this movie quite fascinating. I absolutely recommend it to anyone willing to see what a contemporary western could be.