Il cavaliere pallido

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

"Pale Rider" is Producer/Director/Star Clint Eastwood's unofficial remake of George Stevens' "Shane" (1953). I've never heard that he's acknowledged it as such but the two stories are more than a little similar. The film also presents Eastwood in another variation of his "man with no name" character, similar to the one he portrayed in "High Plains Drifter" (1973).

The story begins with a raid on a small mining community by rival miners trying to drive the residents off of their claims and take them over. Among the miners are Hull Barret (Michael Moriarity), his intended Sarah Wheller (Carrie Snodgrass) and her budding teenage daughter Megan (Sydney Penny). When Megan's dog is killed during the raid, she prays for someone to help her against the oppressors.

Out of the mist comes a mysterious stranger (Eastwood), whom the scriptural passage Megan is reading describes him as "death riding a pale horse". The stranger saves Barret from a beating at the hands of the town bullies and comes home with him wherein he reveals himself to be a preacher. We learn that mining magnate Coy La Hood (Richard Dysart) and his son Josh (Christopher Penn) are behind all of the troubles.

When LaHood's men including McGill (Charles Hallahan and the gigantic Club (Richard Kiel) are unable to handle this preacher, he sends for gunslinging Marshal Stockburn (John Russell) and his six deputies. Meanwhile, one of the miners, Spider Conway (Doug McGrath) goes into town alone after striking it rich and is goaded into a gunfight with Stockburn & Co. Conway is brutally gunned down in front of his two young sons after which Stockburn tells the boys to tell the preacher to meet him on the street the following morning.

The preacher then goes to retrieve a strong box containing his hardware and into which he tosses his preacher's collar. He and Barret then start for town where............

Eastwood's character as in "High Plains Drifter" appears to embody elements of the supernatural. We see the scars of several bullet holes in his back and at one point is recognized by Stockburn as someone he had killed years before. The teen-aged Megan throws herself at the preacher (she's only 14 in the story) but he wisely (for the sake of the censors) let's her down easy while having an eye for her mother.

The comparison between this film and "Shane" is inevitable. In "Shane we have the squatters versus the cattlemen; here its between the powerful miner and the "tin panners". There's the solitary gunfighter who helps out the underdogs, the vicious hired gun, the loner who gets gunned down in the street, the bad guy who turns good and the hero who rides off into the sunset all common to both films.

Though not Eastwood's best western it is nevertheless good enough to wish that he had made more of them.

I'll give you one good reason why shouldn't miss this movie: Clint Eastwood. If you are a fan of Westerns or even when you only like to watch one occasionally, than you should know more than enough. In my opinion Clint Eastwood is the one and only true Hollywood cowboy.

When a mysterious preacher - no-one knows where he comes from, what his past is, they don't even know his real name - comes to a gold mining camp near a small town in the mountains, the local miners are in great danger. A ruthless landowner has decided to take their land, he doesn't mind using violence and he has the support of the sheriff. No one seems to be able to stop them. But than the preacher proves to be more than a man of God. He's a good shooter, the sheriff is afraid of him and he's the only one brave enough to rise against the landowner...

If you are looking for an original movie, than you'll have to look somewhere else. This movie uses all the possible clichés that can be found in this kind of Westerns. But on the other hand I must also say that all is done in a very proper way. Eastwood is a fine director and he did what he was best in at the time: he made a Western. The story, the direction, the acting, the scenes,... it all looks professional and more than OK and especially thanks to Eastwood's acting performance in it, this movie is still a 'must-see'. I'm not a big fan of Westerns, but every time that I'm able to see one with Eastwood in it, I'll not let it pass. My advice: if you can see past the fact that it isn't very original, you will almost certainly enjoy it. I certainly did and that's why I give this movie a 7.5/10.

Shot on location in Sun Valley, Idaho, and to some esteem to "Shane," "Pale Rider" succeeded with sweeping landscapes and magnificent cinematography, to be an interesting Western that helps to bring back something from Eastwood's mystique…

In 1850 California, a small group squatters and their families find themselves terrorized by Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart), who are standing win the way of his progress… Desperate, LaHood begins using violence in an unsuccessful attempt to run the peaceful yet determined homesteaders from their land… Leading the homesteaders is a decent man Hull Barret (Michael Moriarty), who dreams of a better life for himself, his girlfriend Sarah Wheeler (Carrie Snodgress) and her lovely daughter from a previous marriage, 14-year-old Meagan (Sydney Penny).

Into the lives of these strong-willed people rides a mysterious man—tall and lean with something strange in his eyes —known only as "The Preacher" (Clint Eastwood). He says little, divulges nothing of his past, but for a man wearing a clerical collar he seems an expert at handling weapons… He pulls the miners together and gives them the confidence to defy LaHood even in the face of mounting violence...

Although both Sarah and her daughter become enamored of the pale preacher, he gently rejects their advances and makes them see that Hull is a less capable but far better man… There is a good scene when Spider Conway—went into town alone and running out of steam—invited LaHood to come out and have a drink with him… But instead Stockburn and his deputies came out asking him to dance…

Richard Dysart creates an all-too-believable villain, and Western veteran John Russell is well-cast as a middle-aged mercenary and his hired guns to face a legendary hero… It's an old score and it's time settle it

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***