Starring: Richard A. Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Richard Hamilton, Allen Keller, Richard Kiel Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Warner Home Video Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: November 19, 1997 Running Time: 116 minutes Theatrical Release Date: June 28, 1985
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
Amazon.com: 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. Digital video disc offers standard and widescreen formats and a remastered soundtrack. --Jeff Shannon
Better than Shane One of the best Clint Eastwood westerns of all time. A retelling of the Shane story, but done so much better. I don't even own Shane since this beats it in every way.
Coolest Clint Eastwood Ever. Not very original (Clint got some ideas from previous westerns) but probably the coolest Clint Eastwood western of all time. Although "Unforgiven" was more realistic and "The Outlaw Josie Wales" had a better story, this one is cooler. The "Preacher" was also a better character than "The Stranger" from "High Plains Drifter." They should definitely put this one on HD DVD or Blu-ray.
Good vs. Evil, with a twist! Let's face it, nearly all Westerns are morality plays about good vs. evil, you know, the "good guys" verses the "bad guys." The challenge for film makers is how to package this morality play in a new, refreshing, and interesting way. Pale Rider succeeds in doing this in several ways. First, the scenery and cinematography are stunning--the American West has spectacular vistas, and this movie takes full advantage (check the credits for site locations, you may want to visit them someday). Secondly, the characters are well developed--you cheer for the good guys and loathe the bad ones. The mining camp occupants being the good guys are here depicted as clean, decent, moral, family types (though in reality, mining camps were probably full of greedy crooks, gamblers, whoremongers, and drunkards). The bad guys are the greedy, corporate miners led by LaHood and his employees, plus the hired guns he employs to drive out the poor, subsistence mining camp families. Enhanced by elements of answered prayer, love triangles (or in this case, a love quadrangle), coming of age innocence in a young girl, rescue missions, and supernatural overtones, Pale Rider brilliantly weaves together all these elements leading to a spectacular reconing as the Preacher turned gunslinger strikes out to obtain justice for all. "Preacher...we all love you Preacher....I love you....Thank you....Goodbye." The ending just about brings tears to your eyes. If only we all had such an advocate in real life.
A somewhat mystic Western with a refreshingly positive story Hull Barret (Michael Morairty) is the defacto leader of a group of pan miners dreaming of finding their big nuggets of gold on their tiny stakes. But the powerful Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart) wants to run them off their claims so he can seize them and use his powerful hydraulic mining techniques to get at the gold he is sure is there. His son, Josh (Christopher Penn), runs the day to day operations and uses some of his workers to harass and injure the pan miners so they will give up and move away.
When Hull takes a risky trip into town to get supplies, some of the LaHood thugs beat him and start to set fire to his wagon, but in comes a stranger that we come to know only as the Preacher (Clint Eastwood) he shows the thugs how to really use a good piece of hickory (an ax handle). The Preacher seems to be interested in helping the pan miners to pull together, find the strength they don't even know they have and stand up for themselves. Yet, he also negotiates a good deal for the pan miners to sell their claims. They reject the offer, in part because they believe the Preacher will fight with (for) them. However, the Preacher disappears. Their courage fails them.
How all this works out isn't hard to guess, but I will let you watch the film for yourself. There is also a rather uncomfortable love complication with the widow, Sarah Wheeler (Carrie Snodgrass) who is supposedly Hull's woman (they are just living together). She is obviously taken with the strong Preacher over the merely normal Hull. Sarah's daughter Megan (Sydney Penny) has also fallen head over heels for the Preacher and throws herself at him in an acutely painful scene. Again, you can see for yourself how this works out.
There are some memorably funny scenes. For example, The 7' 2" Richard Kiel plays a LaHood henchman named Club who is sent to intimidate the miners. He approaches the Preacher and Hull who are hammering hard on a boulder that Hull believes is hiding a big nugget of gold. Each blow removes a handful or rock and it will be slow going, but Club takes one of the sledgehammers and splits the boulder with one blow. After the Preacher dispatches with him (to Club's profound respect) attention returns to the boulder. The Preacher adds to his mystic nature (one thread of the story says he is dead) by also splitting the boulder with one blow.
This is a good movie and very much worth seeing. The performances are all good and the story, for all its Western conventions, has some fresh takes and an interesting story. I particularly liked its positive themes rather than the usual post-Western-Western bleakness. Yes, some of the special effects and props are a bit weak, but who cares. The movie is about the story rather than the visuals.
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
Pale Rider This is an excellent movie, one of Clint's best westerns. The packaging was good, and a quality dvd.
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