Sam Elliott has a beef -- and for certain it's not the kind that's for dinner.

No, the veteran actor and authoritative voice of the beef industry is being very direct with his disdain over a religious group's accusations that his new film, the fantasy adventure "The Golden Compass," is anti-Catholic.

"I think it's total nonsense," Elliott said in an @ The Movies interview this week. "It all boils down to one guy, William A. Donohue, the head of some organization called the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. He raised a big stink about 'The Da Vinci Code' as well. And this guy hasn't even seen the movie. And I think at the same time he claimed that he didn't need to."

Elliott said the unfortunate thing is that some people will heed Donohue's blind observations and will not only avoid the film, but it's original source material. But on the flip side, Elliott added, Donahue's attention will ironically result in unintended consequences.

"I think more people will see the movie or read the books than would have otherwise if he hadn't stirred this up," Elliott said.

Based on author Philip Pullman's first novel in "His Dark Materials" trilogy, "The Golden Compass" stars newcomer Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra Belacqua, an orphaned, 12-year-old girl who is guided by a golden compass to an alternate world to save her friend Roger (Ben Walker), who has been kidnapped. Once Lyra is there, she discovers that Roger's disappearance is part of a larger, sinister plan driven by an oppressive government known as the Magesterium.

Whether it's Lyra's world or the alternate plane, "The Golden Compass" as a whole takes place in a fantastical world, populated by talking polar bears that battle witches and rebels. Each person is also accompanied by a daemon -- an animal embodying the spirit of his or her respective owner.

Elliott stars as Lee Scorseby, an aeronaut with cowboy-like sensibilities who uses a floating vessel to accompany Lyra on her trek. The film, which also stars Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and Eva Green, opens in theaters Friday.

The protests against the film are rooted in the source material since Pullman, a religious skeptic, has described himself as an atheist and agnostic. Another accusation is that the Magesterium -- a Catholic term -- is a not so-subtly veiled reference to the church.

Elliott thinks that protesters are simply reading too deep into it all.

"We're in the entertainment business, and this to me is just great entertainment," Elliott said.

And if there are any impressionable messages in the film, he added, they are not what the rabble-rousers want you to believe.

"If there is a message, then it's about honoring your friendships and your responsibilities to the ones you love and so-forth," Elliott said. "There are so many positive aspects to this film that people can take away. It just riles me that people go down that other road."

For Elliott, he just wants audience members to have the power to decide things for themselves.

"If there's one thing that I want people to take away from it, it's about exercising one's free will without fear of reprisal," Elliott said. "To me that's what it's all about."

Back In The Saddle

Elliott, of course, is often associated with Western films and his rugged, cowboy-type characters, which has earned him the distinction of being one of the biggest guns in the cinematic Old West for more than 40 years.

And while the setting of "The Golden Compass" is decidedly different than, say, "Tombstone," Elliot said that he's completely happy slipping into the boots of his character that requires the sort of Western flair that he's so famously known for.

"I feel like I've been down this road many times in my career, and I used to groan about being put in that Western box and being typecast," Elliott said. "I've done a lot of it and I'm known for it, but that's not to say that I haven't done other things."

"I've discovered that the truth of it is, I wouldn't have gotten this part if I not had this Western baggage that I pack because of past work," Elliott added. "I feel really lucky making a living for the past 40 years doing something that I wanted to do when I was kid. I was 9 years old when I knew that I wanted to be an actor and make movies."

And Elliott, at age 63, said that he's raring to make more, including sequels to "The Golden Compass." After all, there are two other books that can adapted for the gold, er, silver screen, and the actor is signed on for two more film.

"Particularly since the Scoresby character figures so prominently in the second book, it's something that I'm really hoping to happen," Elliott said.