Pale Rider - Der namenlose Reiter

A drifter (Clint Eastwood) comes to a mining village in the Old West just in time to reckoning gunslingers and owners . He is a mysterious preacher who comes to the aid of gold prospectors and protects a humble embattled prospector (Michael Moriarty) and his woman (Carrie Snodgres) from a greedy mining company (ruled by LaHood , Richard Dysart, and his son Josh LaHood , Chris Penn) trying to encroach on their land . Meanwhile , the Good Stranger is idolized by their daughter named Megan (Sydney Penny). As the wealthy owner contracts a group of outlaws as hired gunfighters (led by John Russell who also acted as villain in Rio Bravo) to kill miners . The title ¨The Pale Rider¨ refers to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation, chapter six , Megan is reading the exact verse when she and her mom first see Preacher ride up to their house.

Well crafted Western with interesting screenplay written by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack . Although atmospheric , it's also sometimes slow-moving and winds up into a spectacular showdown . This stirring picture contains a powerful examination of morality and hypocrisy on people as well as an enjoyable message about faith and hope . Clint Eastwood is unforgettable in the title role coming to help a group of struggling miners and homesteaders . Clint Eastwood revealed in interviews that his character is in fact a ghost. Other clues to the Preacher's true nature are the ghastly bullet wound scars seen when he is dressing, and his sudden appearances and disappearances throughout the movie . During shooting, Clint Eastwood sustained what he describes as the worst injury he has ever had on set when a horse he was riding fell through thin ice and launched him forward as Clint suffered a dislocated shoulder . Good casting with several secondaries as Carrie Snodgress , Chris Penn , Doug McGrath , Richard Kiel , Charles Hallahan , Billy Drago and special mention to John Russell as a downright nasty. Exquisitely shot in Panavision by Bruce Surtees , son of classic cameraman Robert Surtees , with a magnificent cinematography on the wooded exteriors and snowy mountains backgrounds. Acceptable production design by veteran Edward Carfagno , though the train station built for production was used again late in 1988 for Back to the Future Part III . Thrilling as well as sensitive musical score by Lennie Niehaus . The film is made in somewhat similar style to ¨Shane¨ by George Stevens , and which so much cloning of ¨High plains drifter¨ also directed by Eastwood only this time the drifter appears to have been sent from hell rather than heaven to right from ordinary injustices . Star, producer , filmmaker Eastwood realizes an excellent film and perfectly directed . This classic Western as good as the notorious ¨Josey Wales¨ is splendid in every way . Later on , Eastwood produced and directed another successful Western ¨Unforgiven(1992)¨ also with some common theme.

I don't know if this is the best Western of the 1980's, it wouldn't be too hard I suppose as there wasn't really that many made in that decade, or now unfortunately. Its the best Western of that decade that I have seen, the only other good one I can recall is Silverado and Young Guns was pretty good though the sequel was even better. The 1990's was a much better decade for Western fans, Dances with Wolves, Unforgiven, Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, Young Guns 2, The Quick and the Dead and of course Bad Girls (Only joking!). Anyway Pale Rider seen Clint Eastwood return to the Western after quite a few years doing other types of movies and luckily Pale Rider is a great film. As has been mentioned in numerous other user comments it does borrow very heavily from the Classic Western Shane and Clint's own High Plains Drifter but it never tries to hide this fact and its a great film in its own right. Very moody and beautifully shot with great performances all round. Clint was on top of his game on this one and produced a top notch Western that ranks amongst one of his best below The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Unforgiven and The Outlaw Josey Whales. I would love to see Eastwood make another Western but find it highly unlikely as he couldn't possibly top his last one Unforgiven but at least Kevin Costner has got one coming out later this year. Look out for Richard Kiel in this one he played Jaws in a couple of Bond films and Sean Penns brother Chris, who was a lot thinner in those days! Highly recommended ***8/10***

During the early 80s, the Western genre was beginning to lose its position in Hollywood, and losing its impact on the audience. And the financial disaster of the Western "Heaven's Gate" did not really make very many producers any more enthusiastic about putting their money in to make Western films. But one of the producers, more famous as an actor and director, who was willing to make another Western, was Clint Eastwood. Maybe because Westerns like "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" had started his career in the 60s, he felt he owed it to at least himself to try and revive the genre before Hollywood officially threw it in the scrap pile.

"Pale Rider" was, and still is, a phenomenal success of a film. After its release, the Western genre was saved and brought back to life for several more years. It has fallen down nonetheless, but has not disappeared from cinema screens. And we really owe it all to Clint Eastwood for this film. "Pale Rider" is one of his best Westerns. It is well-acted, well characterized, has plenty of action, and is overall a great achievement.

As one might expect, Clint Eastwood plays a mysterious stranger in this film. Very much like in the Dollars Trilogy and "High Plains Drifter", his character is never given an actual name. The character Eastwood plays in this film, however, is different than the squinting gunslingers he played in the past. This character is more anti-violent than the previous ones and doesn't even put his hand on a six-gun until the film is more than half-over. He mingles with the bad guys plenty of times, but rarely ever with a shooting iron. He's still a man of few words, but isn't as cold and self-concerned.

Along with Eastwood, we have a cast made up of fine actors such as Michael Moriarty, the late Chris Penn, Richard A. Dysart, and one of the most popular of Western villains John Russell as a corrupt marshal by the name of Stockburn. Russell's character is one of the coldest cinema villains I've seen in a long time and his limited screen time aids in his impact and appearance. Russell's cold, almost lifeless voice added with Lennie Niehaus's eerie background music score brings a spine-chilling atmosphere to the film when the character speaks some of his first dialogue in the film. Like Eastwood's character, Stockburn is a character that says little, yet still delivers an enormous impact.

Scenery in "Pale Rider" was absolutely beautiful, especially when combined with the effective lighting and cinematography. Many times in the film, we see a mountain directly smack center in the background. The cinematography is most of the time, dark and eerie. Dark scenes are even darker than usual, making this vision of the Old West even dirtier and savage than in most Westerns. And yet it isn't shown as being entirely savage, for it wasn't. True, the West was a tough place to live in the 19th century, especially during feuds over gold, but it wasn't a day of just regular killing.

Some people have accused "Pale Rider" was being a rip off of the classic 1953 film "Shane". I will not deny the fact that they are very similar in a lot of regards and share similar scenes. A stranger coming to a settlement in the Old West during a feud between a successful land tycoon and homesteaders on land he wants was used in "Shane". But "Pale Rider" is in no way, shape, or form a rip-off. Any similarities to "Shane" is a homage, a tribute of respect. After all, Eastwood was attempting to save the Western genre, and perhaps this was his way of reminding the audiences of the great films of the past. Yet, he could do it without copying it. He just re-visioned it.

In the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns of the 60s, Clint Eastwood rose to fame playing the man with no name. In 'Pale Rider', Eastwood creates his own variation of this character. Eastwood plays a mysterious gunfighter who is given the name 'preacher' because of the preacher's collar he wears. When the 'preacher' arrives at a gold mining community, he helps them stand up against a callous landowner.

Eastwood cuts deep into the film's characters in what is a rather standard script. Particularly, in the scenes involving the preacher and a gold-mining family. Eastwood also succeeds in giving his film a dark atmosphere which only adds to its intensity.

'Pale Rider' may not be as good as the director's best westerns, 'Unforgiven' and 'The Outlaw Josey Wales', but it can be regarded as a strong effort in what has been an illustrious career for Eastwood.

Rating: (8/10)

The opening to Pale Rider is just excellent, at first all is calm and serene, but then the peace is shattered by the thundering of hooves. A group of men employed by Coy LaHood, tear thru a small mining community, shooting guns and trampling over all in their way. During this callous act of bullying, one of the men shoots and kills young Megan's dog. When Megan buries her beloved pet, she calls to god to send someone to help them against the greedy LaHood, because LaHood is intent on stripping the locals of their claims, and he literally will stop at nothing to get them. Later on Megan is reading from the bible, she reads aloud to her mother about "beholding a pale horse and that the man who sat on it was death", we then see a lone horseman riding towards this under fire place...

Behold the pale horse because the man that sat on him was Clint Eastwood! And that's all you really want to know as regards what drives the film on. It had been quite some time since the movie watching world had witnessed a damn good Western, so it is obvious that Eastwood, knowing the genre inside out, felt it time to remind all and sundry about this engrossing genre and all its little peccadilloes. Riffing on his own High Plains Drifter from 1973 and homaging Shane in the process, Eastwood again uses supernatural leanings to play out this intriguing tale. Pale Rider works well because Eastwood cares for the genre so much, no frame is wasted and the acting on show delivers the necessary amount of quality to enhance the picture's impact. From the thundering opening to the gorgeous final shot, Pale Rider is an expertly crafted Western that still holds up today as a great entry on Eastwoods CV. Pale Rider. 8/10