The ACTUAL most iconic film MacGuffins of All Time

[green_garnish]

From Russia with Love had the Lektor.
Star Wars had the Death Star Plans.
National treasure had the Knights Templar treasure.

None of those things are unimportant or irrelevant, so they aren't McGuffins. McGuffins are not just something that characters chase after. It is something they chase after that do not affect the resolution of the movie and which, of themselves, have no relevance to the audience.

[Powerboy]

I don't know if someone has already pointed out the One Ring to rule them all. I've always thought it debatable because it genuinely influences characters.

Just to note, Joss Whedon has, many times, pointed out that he created a thing called Flabottonim (or however he spells it), meaningless plot device that serves to get the characters through an adventure. I can only assume that, it doing this, he counts on younger people not knowing there was already a famous plot device with a name and his making up another one and pretending the McGuffin never existed is just typical Joss Whedon.

Just to note, to truly be iconic, I think it has to be a littele debatable if it's just a McGuffin.

[green_garnish]

I don't know if someone has already pointed out the One Ring to rule them all. I've always thought it debatable because it genuinely influences characters.

The one ring is the very definition of what is not a McGuffin. Everyone understands what it does and what it represents, both in story and the audience,

[Powerboy]

The one ring is the very definition of what is not a McGuffin. Everyone understands what it does and what it represents, both in story and the audience,

You are right. In fact, it's almost a character in the story.

https://geekydomain.com/what-is-and-is-not-a-macguffin/