Pale Rider (1985)

Too much of everything

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This starts so well and always looks fantastic that it seems churlish to be too critical but it just seems a shame. The views of the mountains, forest and hillside as group on horseback come tumbling through the landscape and the contrast of their menace and determination with the sound of the horses compared with the homely encampment of the prospectors is stunning. Equally as they gradually become aware of the threat of the coming danger is beautifully done. The film continues much in this vein with the added ingredient of the pale rider (actually it is the horse that is pale) and Eastwood always has a marvellous awareness of just how to look and measure his words. Its just I felt that the film dipped a bit in the middle when we are suddenly asked to take the prospectors' private lives seriously and unfortunately the incredibly well set up finale doesn't really live up to the expectations established with the idea of the corrupt Stockburn and his five or was it six similarly dressed deputies.

'Pale Rider' is rarely mentioned when people recall the great Westerns. But whilst it may not excite discussion in the same way as 'The Outlaw Josey Wales', 'Unforgiven' or Sergio Leone's 'Dollars' trilogy, it absolutely shouldn't be dismissed. Traditionally, the Western was a genre of morality stories - usually basic ones, too. In this respect, 'Pale Rider' is a traditional Western. However, referencing the iconic Western 'Shane' from 1953, Eastwood attempts to blur the lines of morality. We are confident in who the antagonists are, and we certainly root for the protagonist, Preacher, but this isn't a story like 'Gunsmoke' where the good are completely good and the bad are completely bad. This wasn't the first time Eastwood worked with such a narrative - 1973's 'High Plains Drifter' has a similar kind of moral ambiguity, although 'Pale Rider' is a more optimistic story. The performances in this film are generally quite good, with leading man Eastwood proving that even in the middle of a career slump (from which he recovered with 'Unforgiven') he can deliver a strong, sincere performance. The other memorable character, besides Eastwood's Preacher, is one of the antagonists, Club, who is played by Richard Kiel. Mostly recognised for playing Jaws in some of the Bond films, Kiel wasn't a great dramatic performer, but landed a number of interesting roles on account of his very imposing size and menacing visage. Club is involved in a number of entertaining scenes, and he brings a similar quality to Eli Wallach's Tuco in the first half of 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', exchanging blows with the hero but never becoming truly dislikable. I'd recommend 'Pale Rider' to any fan of the Western genre, as it heavily references the aforesaid classic 'Shane' whilst showing a return to form for Clint Eastwood, at a time when he had all but abandoned his Rowdy Yates image in favour of a more realistic, conflicted kind of character.

Pale Rider is the only western Clint made in the 80's and while there are slim pickings for westerns in that decade, Pale Rider is in my opinion the best western made in that era. Pale Rider is best described as a combination of Shane and High Plains Drifter. The storyline is almost identical to that of Shane, but has the brooding, supernatural tone of High Plains Drifter, with the unique bad ass presence of "The Man With No Name" as only Eastwood can bring. Clint is a stranger that comes into town known only as Preacher. He rights some wrongs for folks who are not strong enough to stand up for themselves, while settling his own scores and bringing retribution for events of the past. The film looks sharp, moves fast and has great dark ambiance with an excellent score. The support cast is solid and Clint is in top form in front and behind the camera. Pale Rider is a classic western that only Clint can make and a very enjoyable and well made one it is.

This is a good movie for a free afternoon, with some wisdom and interesting characters, but that has suffered the pass of time in his visuals and in the way the plot develops.The plot of "Pale Rider" is easy enough that anyone will understand it: some people live in a small settlement where they search for gold, while the bad guy and his henchmen want to force them out and try to scare them constantly. After their last attack to the settlement, where they injure some of the people, break everything they can and kill a dog, the young Megan, the owner of the poor animal, asks for help while burying the little fellow, and, voila, Clint Eastwood, appears. I say Clint Eastwood because we have here the hard-looking, tight-lipped, no-time-for-silliness portrayal that made him famous in his spaghetti-westerns. It may be "Preacher" but it's not so far away from his other portrayals of mysterious gunslingers who will not stop for anything till they finish their mission.Even if it is not very original, the movie is good. The actors are good and do a great job to go through some ambiguous moments (as when they have to decide if accepting an offer to leave the settlement), even if it is a story of bad, very bad, and good, but flawed, people. Clint Eastwood is as good as ever, bigger than life, expressing a lot without doing actually much. The best part is seeing the struggle of all the people that have to live in a hard world, without knowing what will come tomorrow and if there is a point in what they are doing. If you like westerns you will enjoy it, and if you like Clint, probably too.