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Product Description
One man stands up to the corporate mining boss who is out to kill all of the independent miners in gold rush California.
Genre: Westerns
Rating: R
Release Date: 2-SEP-2003
Media Type: DVD
After a nine-year break from the genre that made him an international star (the Western just before this one was The Outlaw Josey Wales, from 1976), Clint Eastwood returned in this gritty Western, crafted in the tradition of Shane and High Noon. Eastwood directed and stars as the nameless stranger known only as "Preacher," because he rides into a beleaguered mining town wearing a clerical collar. He's either an agent of death or an angel of mercy, and the echoes of Shane ring loud and clear when he comes to the aid of independent miners who are being terrorized by a local tycoon (Richard Dysart) and his ruthless band of hired guns. Befriended by a miner (Michael Moriarty) and idolized by the miner's wife and daughter (played by Carrie Snodgress and Sydney Penny, respectively), the "Pale Rider" sparks the defiant spirit of the underdog miners and takes after the bad guys with single-minded purpose. --Jeff Shannon
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Customer Reviews: - High Non redux
Clint Eastwood appears - looms - in this gritty Western in the cowboy tradition of High Noon and Shane. Eastwood also directed Pale Rider, a movie in which he's known only as Preacher, because when he appears in town, he's wearing a clerical collar. Hard for the beleaguered miners (who are being terrorized by a smarmy land-grabbing tycoon and his band of local baddies) to figure out at first is whether Eastwood is a good guy or a bad guy. There's the requisite pretty woman and adoring child who belong to one of the miners, and it gives Eastwood to prove his intensions are high-minded.
Classic Eastwood, classic cowboy, classic classic....more info - Pale Rider - Melodramatic but very powerful!
After almost a full decade away from the western genre, Clint Eastwood was presented with the script for this melodramatic but very powerful western. Taking up his usual roles as producer, director and of course star, Eastwood handles each role admirably and ultimately put a classic western on the silver screen and the home theater screen. Of particular note is the score for the film, which but for the beginning and the end of the film is almost nonexistent but very ominous and powerful when present.The premise: Welcome to Carbon Creek California where a group of tin pan miners are demoralized and ready to quit due to the efforts of mining boss Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart) and his men. In what can only be described as prophetic, after the opening sequence, young Megan (Sydney Penny) is burying her dog, praying for a miracle and we see the Preacher (Clint Eastwood) riding into town. We then see Hull Barret (Michael Moriarty) riding into town despite warnings about what happened to him the last time he went there. In classic Eastwood style, Barret is being beaten brutally in the middle of town and Eastwood as the stranger saves the day. What follows may not be Eastwood's best western of his career but it certainly has a very intriguing and poignant plot that is quite memorable. I would highly recommend this film to die hard Eastwood fans or the casual western fan as I believe you will find yourself pleasantly surprised by this film. {ssintrepid} Special Features: Production notes: A text script written by Eastwood about directing and the standard actors list with their credits. Theatrical trailers: Pale Rider and Unforgiven...more info - "The Lord Certainly Does Works In Mysterious Ways"
A mysterious, unarmed stranger known only as "Preacher" (Clint Eastwood) rides into town on a pale horse and immediately rekindles the hopes and dreams of a group of poor, struggling panhandlers that have been fighting a losing battle against a wealthy strip mining family and their hired guns. While the odds suggest the stranger should give up and get out while he still can he decides otherwise. Once he removes his collar and straps on his sixshooter there's no turning back. A classic western, good guys versus bad guys all the way!
Let me begin by saying I'm not a Clint Eastwood fan. However with that said, I also have to say that this particular movie is the rare exception to the rule. Here Eastwood is at his best; tall, silent, deadly and remote. He plays the part of the anti-hero to perfection.
Also fine performances by Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Richard Dysart, Chris Penn and my personal favorite, the lovely Sydney Penny (Thorn Birds). ...more info - Solid Eastwood revenge-Western tale, bordering on supernatural, but believable enough!
Deserves three stars out of four on
normal rating scale. Clint hasn't
made a Western worth a darn since.
Eastwood comes down from mountain
around time or young girl (Sydney
Penny)'s prayer in time to save
towns people, who are trained to stand
up for themselves, from ruthless land
barron (see John Wayne's Chissum for
better treatment), Koy LaHood (great
villian name). Too many people getting
popped with 'third eye' in middle of
head gets this movie R rating. Still
very well made and Michael Moriarty
is fine in here as well as Carrie Snod-
gress....more info - Clint Eastwood Creates a Resurrected and Sexualized Version of "Shane"
In "Pale Rider", Clint Eastwood has taken the classic 1953 Alan Ladd movie "Shane" and turned it into a "modern" sexualized version. There is no mistaking the sexual tension in this film. Clint plays the mysterious "Preacher" (a character the antithesis of sex,), who comes to a mining settlement to rescue persecuted settlers who are a target for a larger mining interest. Eastwood's "Preacher" creates sexual tension with both female leads, the widow Carrie Snodgrass and her duaghter Megan, played by the beautiful Sydney Penny (the memorable "Meggie" in "The Thorn Birds"). Due to previous trauma, the widow has a dead love life and her interest in a new love is reborn with the arrival of Eastwood. Megan, a precocious child of 14 is ready to give her young love to the answer to her prayers, the Preacher.
"Pale Rider" is Eastwood's first western since "The Outlaw Josie Wales", 9 years earlier. In the mid-1980's, the western genre was considered "dead" in Hollywood with little public interest, but the success of this movie resurrected the western, and led to several more movies and made-for TV movies with old west themes (Silverado). Eastwood would make one more western, "Unforgiven" (1993), which Hollywood critics would heap praise on and award with several Academy Awards.
Eastwood resurrects another character in this movie, that of the mysterious stranger in "High Plains Drifter", who comes out of the past to exact revenge on a town that abandoned him when he was sherrif. His "Preacher" in "High Plains Drifter", has a clouded past as well, and throughout the film, there are hints given that the Preacher is perhaps a man back from the dead to repay past atrocities.
The showdown in town between Eastwood and the evil gang of killers is renimicient of the final scene in "Shane", where Alan Ladd goes to town to face down the evil Mr. Wilson and his gang of gunmen. Eastwood's Preacher faces down his former tormenters one by one until he finally faces the man who he once met in his dark past, the man who once put 6 shots in tight pattern in his back. As th film ends, Megan also appears much like "Little Joe" did in "Shane", but not to beg him to come back, but to tell him thank you and say her last loving goodbye. The Preacher, his past atoned, rides off into the cold snowy mountains, his job finished.
It is a very entertaining movie, but one that is not fit for the entire family. Younger children should not be allowed to view the close up shooting scenes where good and bad alike are shot through the forehead and other places. The gruesome violence is not toned down, typical Eastwood film technique. I'd recommend that children under 12 not be allowed to see the film due to the violence. Adults and western film fans will find the movie entertaining.
"Pale Rider" does not match "Shane" in terms of its classic movie status. "Shane" is a much better movie, but "Pale Rider" is still one of Eastwood's better received films, receiving warm praise from critics and fans alike.
For the Eastwood film fan, you will want to have this one for your collection.
...more info - 'Shane' Revisited
This was a solid western, one of many through the years from Clint Eastwood, who knows how to make an entertaining film.
"Pale Rider" is almost like a modern-day "Shane," in which the quiet stranger enters to help the picked-on landowners and then winds up with a showdown with the evil men in town. In this film, Eastwood plays a "preacher," (that's all he's called in this movie, but he's really a gunfighter) who saves the day for the town miners, led by Michael Moriarty.
**** possible spoilers ****Eastwood's "Preacher" handles the immature love-struck teen (Sidney Penny) well, but blows his moral reputation by having sex with Moriarity's fianc¨¦ (Carrie Snodgrass) near the end, although no one knows that except the viewer. So - as usual - there are a lot of mixed moral messages in this film.
A couple of things that are for sure: 1 - the interesting characters; 2 - the convincing bad guys; 3 - the beautiful scenery and photography; 4 - the involving story that makes you care what happens. All of these make this an entertaining film you would watch a number of times. ...more info - "Pale Rider" features one of the most potent lines in the history of cinema
Clint Eastwood's 1985 Western "Pale Rider" is an obvious combination of two earlier Westerns: "Shane" from 1953 and Eastwood's own "High Plains Drifter" from 1973. "Pale Rider" is, no doubt, an homage to these films rather than a rip-off.
THE STORY: A mysterious drifter with a clerical collar rides into town as an angel of mercy to the local miner settlers and an angel of punishment to their rich oppressor and his men.
The difference between "Pale Rider" and "Shane" is that "Pale Rider" is a much more modern take on the same basic story; plus, unlike "Shane," "Rider" possesses a supernatural element. Although "Shane" is definitely the better film in a historical sense, "Rider" is a more entertaining experience to modern viewers. Hence, "Pale Rider" IS the better film.
As for comparisons to "High Plains Drifter," "Pale Rider" is a much better picture. "Drifter" has a slow, tedious vibe and all the characters are unlikable (but two). Eastwood plays a mean anti-hero who enacts revenge on an entire town and three villains; he only displays kindness to two people. In "Drifter" he's SOLELY an agent of vengeance. This is not the case with "Pale Rider." Eastwood's character in "Rider," known only as 'The Preacher,' is equal parts mysterious, intriguing, heroic and supernatural. In other words, the viewer both likes and roots for 'The Preacher.'
As noted above, "Pale Rider" features one of the most memorable lines in cinematic history. Megan, an almost-15-year-old girl, informs The Preacher that she thinks she loves him. The Preacher coolly responds: "Nothing wrong with that. If there was more love in the world there'd be a lot less dying." It's a powerful scene/line and good advice for us to live by. ...more info - Shane its not
Clint Eastwood needs to be credited for making 2 very important Westerns, especially the first, in The Outlaw Josey Wales and The Unforgiven. Though famous for the spaghetti westerns, filmed in Spain, made by the likes of Dino Delorentis, when Clint turned his own eye to the genre he chose to not only be serious, but to remind us that life in that era was far from glamerous. With that in mind, he took a crack at remaking Shane. Sure, there are some significant differents. Still, the stranger rescuing innocents is right out Shane. I still found this story to be a little TOO cookie cutter. When I first saw Shane, I really wasn't sure our hero was going to win the big duel. In this case, there was no doubt. I recommend this film with the proviso that you don't expect too much....more info - Decent Eastwood Western is hurt in comparison to Shane
Pale Rider is worth watching, but unfortunately, it draws too heavily on George Stevens's classic western Shane, which just might be the greatest western ever made. It is well-acted and nicely shot, but it really can't hold a candle to Shane.Three stars....more info - Pale Rider
PALE RIDER is Clint Eastwood's heartfelt and somewhat disappointing homage to George Steven's classic SHANE. It looks fine, has a strong cast and satisfying enough action, but there's something amiss. Somehow it worked better when it was ranchers threatening sodbusters than big miners threatening little miners. Maybe Alan Ladd helping Van Heflin bust out a stump was a little more heroic than Eastwood helping Michael Moriarty break a rock.
In Shane Ladd created a rough western prototype of the quiet, mysterious stranger blown in on a strange wind to clean out the bad guys. Eastwood refined the model and rode it to stardom. Eastwood's scowl-squint-and-shoot Man With No Name is one of the most highly polished movie icon ever. It's small wonder Eastwood would look back to SHANE with fond gratitude.
In PALE RIDER, Eastwood's character, Preacher, may have ridden into the grub mining town on a heavenly wind. The movie hints at supernatural origins, anyway. It may have been divine intervention that led the two lead actresses, mother Carrie Snodgress and daughter Sydney Penny, to so abruptly fall and declare their love for him. The declaration scenes are forced and awkward. PALE RIDER doesn't really show us how or why the women feel this way, and the plot doesn't need it. In the end, all it really does is delay the action. Another mystery - what the heck is Richard Kiel (James Bond's Jaws) character all about? He seems to be a Dense Thug with Pure Heart type, but the movie pulls him out of the oven half-baked.
The big problem, though, is that the movie takes so long before letting Clint be Clint. Well over half the movie is over before he trades in the clerical collar for the gun. Even then the final showdown, although well choreographed, is uninspired and a tad flat.
For his fans Eastwood never made a bad film, and PALE RIDER has enough going for it to make it enjoyable. I like to think it was a test run for Eastwood's next western, the classic UNFORGIVEN.
...more info - Pale Rider - Blu-ray Info
Version: ALL / Warner / Region Free
VC-1 BD-25 / Advanced Profile 3 / AACS
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Running time: 1:55:46
Movie size: 24,33 GB
Disc size: 24,85 GB
Total bit rate: 28.03 Mbps
Average video bit rate: 21.38 Mbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby TrueHD Audio English 1559 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1559 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio French 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio German 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Italian 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround
Dolby Digital Audio Japanese 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles: English SDH, Swedish, French, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese
Number of chapters: 28
#Theatrical Trailer...more info - Better than "Unforgiven"!!!
This Clint Eastwood western got little attention in 1985, but it still holds up well today, with Eastwood playing the man with no name mantra, it starts out with many outlaw cowboys terrorizing mountain settlers who they are trying to run off because of possible gold that could be there, we discover that the town's owner wants the mining expedition all to his self & will do anything to acquire it, this is where Eastwood comes in, in which he helps the settlers keep what is theirs, with Michael Moriarty(Law & Order) as the settler's leader & Sydney Penny(T.V.'s All my Children) as his stepdaughter who developes a fixation on Eastwood, we learn he is a priest or so we think who has sort of a mysterious past & not much is known about him, when the town's owner realizes they have outside help, he attempts to bribe him to join his cause, when that fails he then hires a ruthless sherriff & his 6 deputies who uphold whatever law there is to the highest bidder, a sherriff which Eastwood has a past with, but not much is revealed about their past, in which they have a showdown towards the end, this movie has many subplots in it that really work & the look on the shrriff's face when he realizes who he is up against is creepy, I am not sure if Eastwood was trying to make a sequel to "Outlaw of Josey Whales" or what, but it sure plays on that theme as if the sherriff was one he missed in that one, or vice versa, & is better than "Unforgiven" which in some ways could be a sequel to this one, but this one stands out & could be a stand alone movie, it should be noted that Eastwood directed all 3 films, & might have had that intension all along, I used to like "Josey Whales" the best, but this one is the better one I think!!!...more info - An 'Above-Average' Movie
This movie just came out a bit over average in my opinion. Frankly speaking, I was sort of disappointed with this movie and I will explain why below.
The plot was not creative at all. Clint Eastwood rides in a settlement of Independent Miners whom a criminal Tycoon is trying to run out. They are sitting on a gold mine and the greedy Tycoon wants it for him even though he already owns all the surrounding area. Clint Eastwood who dresses up as a Preacher rescues the miners from this Tycoon and his minions.
So, for the Hardcore Fans of Western-genre, the story is pretty much average and a rehash of many older stories and movies. Thus, this movie looses 1 -2 stars there.
This movie also does not have good 'shooting' scenes. Only in the final climax scene does Eastwood actually shoot up the criminal marshall and his deputies and that too is not as good. Lack of enough gunslinging made me want to give it another star less.
You will notice a SHARP contrast to 'Outlaw Josey Wales'. ...more info - A Good Historical Western Movie With One Sgnificant Flaw!!!
Just for once I would like to see a movie with Clint Eastwood in it where all of the women don't fall at his feet in love with him. In this movie he plays a preacher who befriends a gold miner. Then the gold miner's daughter wants to marry him and then Clint has sex with his new best friend's wife!!! With friends like this who needs enemies? I give this movie 5 stars because the scenery alone is breathtaking and it is a pretty good historical drama apart from Cint's bedroom antics....more info - an homage to clint westerns
yes the story is similar to shane (although the preacher was
(likely) dead before the film starts, compared to shane who
was (likely) dead as the film ends)but if anything this was more like a retrospective of clint's
western characters, with a hint of Dirty Harry thrown in
for good measure the parallel with High Plains Drifter is obvious; the ending
where LaHood gets shot is straight out of Joe Kidd. the character
of the preacher is a pastiche of the man-with-no-name; the way the last deputy is dispatched looks like a scene from Hang 'Em
High (and after all, by then he had fired 6 shots -- or was it
only 5?)...more info - The Start of the Comeback Trail for Westerns
After many years of box office failures, the Western was deemed dead by Hollywood. No one would touch a western feeling that the genre had run its course and the public had mossied along. They were all wrong. Leave it to Clint Eastwood to revive a dead horse. This is different from most westerns. It's smart, warm, and very grown up. No killins for glory, no damsels in distress. Real life situations, and common folk. Sort of like a country song from Kenny Rogers, enjoyable and simple. Clint also directed this movie and it shows his flair for cinema. If it weren't for this, there wouldn't have been a "Tombstone" or an "Unforgiven." This is a gem well worth owning. It's one of Clint's best works, on and off screen....more info - A colder, more violent version of SHANE
I agree with one of the previous reviewers (Robert Morris) in his comparative analysis of Pale Rider and Shane. I would only add that the colors and atmosphere of Shane are much warmer, and the feeling in the film is one of new life and fresh starts, with the homesteading family and the young boy, a child, far from grown, all striving against the cattle ranchers in Wyoming. By contrast in Pale Rider, it seems clear Eastwood wanted to show a family struggling at the end of their rope, at their last gasp, far from any new beginning. The child in Pale Rider is a teen girl, about to become a woman and take on the hard life of women in a mining town. Her mother looks worn out but is probably supposed to be not yet thirty. The colors in Pale Ride are pale and bleak, the atmosphere snowy and cold and gray, the earth ravaged by the mining operation. The feeling of Pale Rider is bleak and scary, even though Eastwood saves the day in the end. Shane is much more upbeat, even though there is the sadness of the hero riding off alone in the end....more info - Pale Rider
Excellent Clint Eastwood western, precedes Unforgiven, I use excerpts from it in my classroom when we study the wild west and mining...more info - Pale Rider
Although Pale Rider is one of my favourite Clint Eastwood movies, I have to admit that it could have been much better. As in The Outlaw Josey Wales and High Plains Drifter, for example, we have a protagonist who is haunted by a past injustice, an injustice which he strives to rectify through the barrell of a gun. Unfortunately, in Pale Rider, the score between Stockburn and Preacher is much too vague, and so instead of adding to mystery, the viewer is left somewhat baffled. Over all, though, the movie is still very good, and definitely entertaining. ...more info - clint returns to the west,not his best but it will do
i got to see this one in the theater with a big crowd and it was the best.sure it's "shane" with miners but it is still good to have clint back in the saddle.
the plot(what there is of it)has the independent miners of lahood tring to get alone as a big mine company tries to squeese them out. the daughter of one of them prays for help,and in rides clint(think high plains drifter)as preacher,his only name. well after he gets there the days of the evil mine company are numbered.
like i said not clint at his best,the action feels forced,and clint looks uncomfortable at times. still i give it 4 stars because clint in the saddle is a sight to behold!!!!...more info - Eastwood's Best Film
"And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth" (Revelation 6:8). We hear the first sentence of this verse with the appearance of the Pale Rider in the camp of miners; the second sentence is not read but is present throughout the film, and its silence is why many misunderstand and fail to comprehend the significance of the appearance of the angel of death and its meaning for the film. "Around the hero everything becomes a tragedy; around the demigod, a satyr-play; and around God everything becomes--what? perhaps a 'world'?--" (Nietzsche, BGE, 150). Pale Rider is a concealed satyr-play posing as a tragedy that takes place in the world of God. It is not surprising that this ironic or dissimulating aspect of the film very often escapes attention, for that is the nature of irony.
Pale Rider is an obvious simulacrum of Shane. As others have pointed out, miners do not generate as much sympathy as homesteading farmers. What is missed by those who believe this, however, is that the film is pointing deliberately, although indirectly, to the violence necessarily consequent when a political community imposes by law and, if necessary, force, the American faith in anthropological equality. Obviously these people are not equal, just as they were not in Shane. The dramatic religious setting and background images the order of rank, the hierarchy, of souls of human beings in various states and degrees of need or lack. The film also points to the connection between the modern exaltation of courage--combined with the equal right to pursue mastery of other humans--and an over-indulgence in violence and vulgarity. It is striking that there is a complete lack of moderation in the souls represented herein; there is no moderation of the satisfaction of personal desire. The miners tell themselves that they are more righteous than LaHood because they are trying to better their families. Of course this is merely cover for the personal greed of the miners, made evident by their crude and braggadocios behavior after finding some gold. It still breaks down to love of one's own without moderation--a refusal to recognize natural limits. Even the women who implore their men to avoid violence do so only to avoid personal pain. This is the meaning of the unspoken second sentence of Revelation 6:8 which is ever present in the film: all seem to believe it is given to them, as sovereign individuals, to rule as they wish with sword, beasts, machines, etc., and this appears to be a necessary result of the modern desire to turn the juridical notion of equality before the law into a metaphysical doctrine of justice (the Rawlsian spirit writ large). Liberty and equality have turned into freedom from self-restrainst and a rejection of order and rank, which has resulted in moral bankruptcy. Our way of life in America is supposed to be based on the Enlightenment principle of reason; instead a crass individualism has devolved out of the theory of the social contract and its emphasis on self-interest with the practical effect of leveling all hierarchies and unleashing the destructive forces of unmitigated passion, always in the name of equal rights. Thus the film evinces a Nietzschean interpretation of this phenomenon as the spirit of revenge and the dawn of the era of the Last Man. In sum we are made to see that a political community ruled by the passions of the demos is by nature vulgar. All grand purposes and virtues have been muted in favor of the self-expression of even the lowest capacities. The modern project to master nature which began with Bacon's and Descartes' exhortations to conquer nature for "the relief of man's estate" (and has its political corollary in "rights" politics, derived principally from the right to self-preservation) has resulted in nihilism.
How are we to react to the fact that the Pale Rider guns down seven (and here we are being asked to associate the number seven with the seven seals in Revelation) men so that miners can make money and fulfill their hearts' desires? How are we to view the people who admire the man who actualized the spirit of revenge that they themselves wanted to enact but lacked the courage to carry out? Given the dramatic context of the film, I suggest we are to view these as examples of the nature of man as a Fallen creature. Whence Eastwood's emphasis on the Biblical themes of the evil of man and the avenging angel of death, not only in this film, but really in most of his films, and especially his Westerns. I say this not to join the contemporary view that the West was somehow bad or evil, for contemporary America manifests the same principle of revenge when those who say the West was bad do so from the perspective that it fell short of the utopian dream of equality. It is the attempt to inculcate and enforce the metaphysical doctrine of justice as equality that has disastorously damaging effects on the human soul, not the belief in, and desire to maintain, principles of hierarchy of the good. This is what Pale Rider the film can teach us, and what those who view it too narrowly--as a simple Western tale of the Stranger saving the little guys from the big guys--miss. "Has it escaped your notice, that--by Homer's account--you are bringing not a stranger but some god? He says that besides the other deities the god of strangers especially becomes a companion to those men who participate in just reverence, and that 'he looks down upon both outrages and lawful conduct' [cf. _Odyssey_ 9.269-271 and _Odyssey_ 17.485-487]. So perhaps here too the stranger that accompanies you might be among the Mightier, come to look over us and refute us, since we are feeble at giving accounts--a sort of refuting god" (Plato, Sophist 216a-b)....more info - Pale Rider blu ray review
I am a HUGE Clint Eastwood fan and I love all of his movies in any way but Clint on blu ray is a dream come true for all fans. They all havent come out yet but I have the ones that are. It makes an older movie look bran new and the old picture looks completly amazing. I would recommend all of his movies on blu ray cause its like watching a new movie all over again. Best choice...more info - A SHANE COPY
THIS MOVIE IS JUST A COPY OF SHANE. EVEN THE ENDING IS THE SAME....more info - an atmospheric story
Climbing back into the saddle after a nine year break from Westerns Clint Eastwood shows us he is the best in the business when it comes to this genre.In this outing he takes not only to the saddle but to the Directors chair,and the result is a visually spectacular and wholly atmospheric story.
The setting is Northern California,1860,(though the film was actually shot on location in Idaho's Sawtooth National Park)and centres around a group of gold-miners in a place called Carbon Canyon,the last area of land where mining mogul Coy LaHood(Richard Dysart) hasn't been able to set up his land-scarring hydraulic monitors.Even after numerous raids by his workers the stubborn 'tin panners' refuse to leave.But their resolve is waning.
A young girl(Sydney Penny),strong in her faith,prays for a miracle after a particulary brutal raid one morning.Enter Clint Eastwood.
I have watched this movie many times and still I am unsure of Clints character.And that's why this movie works.His aloof and mysterious 'Preacher',all the way through,begs the question is he real or is he a ghost?A suggestive script opens doors to this mans past but he himself coyly skirts around any direct answers with a dry mono-syllabic dialogue as to his true identity.He becomes an enigma to us,while outwardly to the miners of Carbon Canyon he becomes a savior in a clerical collar who seems to know how to use a six-shooter to full effect.
The two main female characters,Sarah Wheeler(Carrie Snodgress) and her daughter Megan(Sydney) are drawn to this lone stranger which causes a somewhat awkward sub-plot to the story but I feel it is entirely plausible and makes you really understand what motivates these two richly drawn characters.Alot of the female roles in Westerns are one-dimensional,Sarah and Megan are anything but.
After negotiations fail between LaHood and the tin-pans Coy enlists the services of a corrupt Marshal(the late John Russell) and his six Deputies to rid the canyon of this troublesome Preacher.The showdown is set,and amidst the spectacular backdrop of the snow swept mountains and an eerie wind that you can almost feel the Preacher drops the Deputies one by one as they hunt for him in the small town of LaHood.Then he finally reveals himself to the Marshal,who up til now has had his suspicions as to his identity."But the man I'm thinking of is dead" he tells Coy earlier in the scene.
As the Preacher lifts his head,the shadow of his hat-brim taking flight and revealing a stubbled face with cold penetrating eyes Marshal Stockburn is clearly shocked."You!" he stammers.And here we realise that indeed these two men have met before and a few pieces of the puzzle fall into place as to the Preachers history,but somehow he remains as enigmatic as ever.
This story is just that well written.
If you haven't seen this movie I won't spoil it by explaining the ending,but it is reminiscient of Shane in some respects.I highly recommend this classic Western,by far,in my opinion,the best one ever made....more info - "...and its rider's name was death"
The situation is familiar enough, previously dramatized in another film, Shane (1953): A stranger appears and becomes involved with good people who are being tormented by a powerful adversary as they struggle to eke out a living as miners camped along a river. Eastwood has duly acknowledged several similarities with Shane while explaining that he wanted to create his own version and commissioned a script based on that basic situation. As for the film's title, as she was reading the Bible with her mother (a widow, played by Carrie Snodgrass), Megan Wheeler (played by Sydney Penny), comes upon this passage: "And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider's name was death, and hell followed him." Soon after, a lone horseman (Clint Eastwood) dressed as a preacher, rides into camp. His name is never revealed, nor is his background, but the miners soon realize that the Preacher is probably much handier with a gun than he is with holy scripture. Of course, the confrontation with LaHood and his hired gunmen (led by a man named Stockburn) is inevitable. There is a vague but inescapable implication that the Preacher may have once ridden with Stockburn. There is no doubt that they once knew each other.
To his credit, Eastwood underplays any Biblical implications. In fact, most of the action occurs slowly. Opportunities to develop a sub plot are rejected, probably because Eastwood wants to sustain the focus on the conflict between decency and mendacity. Although the widow is obviously "taken" with the Preacher and he feels at least some attraction to her (as was also the case with Shane and Marion Starret), the Preacher rides off as the film ends, as does Shane. Hull Barret is Joe Starret's counterpart. Both are willing but neither is equal to the challenge of saving their friends from oppression. Shane and the Preacher become involved because they care about the good folks, of course, but also because (it is implied) their destiny is to confront and eliminate evil, then depart. Stockburn is a contract laborer, as is Jack Wilson in Shane. Literally, a hired gun. Nothing personal, although Stockburn (as portrayed by John Russell) seems to me somewhat world-weary whereas Wilson still seems to enjoy killing whomever he must to complete an assignment.
One final point: I have admired as well as enjoyed the development of Eastwood's skills as a director over several decades, beginning with Play Misty for Me (1971). I think there is much greater diversity in his selection and presentation of material as a director than there is as an actor. Some have characterized this as a "noir film" and in certain respects it is. The somber tone he establishes and then sustains in Pale Rider (1985) may well have contributed to the effectiveness of a comparable tone in later films, notably Unforgiven (1992). I am eager to see what new challenges he takes on in films yet to be directed but I am equally eager to see relationships of those films with earlier works such as this....more info - Best Clint Eastwood Western
Absolutely the best western done by Clint Eastwood. The next best one if not a tie is Outlaw Josey Wales....more info - A Disappointment
As a big Clint Eastwood fan and a HUGE fan of High Plains Drifter and The Outlaw Josey Wales, I remember going to the theater in 1985 with high hopes for Pale Rider. And I was HORRIBLY disappointed.
More than anything else it seemed like a flimsy rip-off of High Plains Drifter. It was almost as if High Plains Drifter was such a good movie that they decided to make it again with different characters. You never really found out who the "preacher" was, or why he was there (aside from putting a bunch of bullet holes in the bad guys). The violence seemed random. I didn't even like the ridiculous hat he wore throughout the whole movie....more info
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