One of my all time favorites.

Dreadfully Boring

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

High Plains Drifter is Eastwood's second effort in the director's chair which effectively is a cross between the Magnificent Seven and High Noon. Whilst it starts out well, it sadly doesn't keep this up throughout its running time...Here are the many problems with this film;EASTWOOD'S CHARACTER; he's the stranger with no name in this film and he was also known as the man with no name in Sergio Leone's A Fistful Of Dollars (which I'm sure isn't a coincidence). It's clear that at this point in his career that Eastwood had a fondness of Sergio Leone (and why wouldn't he as Leone clearly made Eastwood a huge star). Whilst this film has the feel of many a Sergio Leone western it certain doesn't have the enjoyment value of many of his Westerns. The truth here is that Eastwood has made his own character far too unlikeable and cruel for me to really care about him; he rapes women and then seemingly has them falling at his feet - Eastwood seems to turn this into some chauvinistic ego-trip; why would these women like him let alone want to sleep with him??? His cruelty to the townsfolk is potentially explained in the context of the story, but a lot of what we see here is quite extreme and doesn't make for a particularly pleasant viewing experience. The issue here is that you want to cheer on Eastwood and the gang and hope that they overcome the returning villains but the problem here is that you can't; why would you want to root for a mean-spirited rapist?? THE STORY; OK; so the gunfighters that the townsfolk originally hired get killed by Eastwood's character so the townsfolk have to rely on Eastwood to protect their town. This bit I was OK with, but then things start to get ridiculous... The townsfolk offer Eastwood a free reign on the town on the assumption that he will defeat the 3 returning villains... although Eastwood's return possibly has supernatural connections to it I still found a lot of the plotting to be rather preposterous and far-fetched. What exactly was the significance of painting the town red? Maybe I missed something here...The female characters are poorly used and seem to exist as little more than play things for Eastwood and pretty much all the acting from the male cast is horrible (with the exception of Eastwood whose tough talking performance through gritted teeth is just about enough to carry the picture)Other than that this is a horrible film where Eastwood seems to use the narrative to set himself up as some kind of supernatural god (albeit of chauvinism and pig-headedness). It's an arrogant, smug and self-indulgent film that lacks much of the likability of many of Eastwood's other westerns.

Not having watched much of Clint Eastwood's work, I'm now playing catch-up and having a rather good time. This one, his second as director, is a most accomplished work. He has completely ditched the old US notion of westerns and, clearly under the influence of Serge Leone, sold his soul to the devil and taken on the mindset of the spaghetti western film makers. Mysterious stranger (?) comes into town, kills three, rapes a women and gets a beer and a bottle, in the first quarter of an hour. He also, almost, gets a shave but that maybe would be giving the game away. Does have a bath in dirty looking water, makes friends with a little fella and almost dies (for the second time. And so it goes on. There is an inevitability to the seeming unresolved issues involving the 'good' people of the town and all the while we await the arrival of the three baddies. But it is a big build up to Clint saving everybody, except we begin to wonder if he has his heart in, never mind the soul he may or may not have sold to the devil to make any of this possible. Great film, all through. We are clearly told what will happen. No funny business. But while we assess and reassess some of those not so good town's folk, Mr Eastwood catches us out with a blinder and then fades out in a mirage with a great parting shot and a reminder just how beautifully the film has been shot, as we watched people being shot.

This movie begins with a cowboy (played by Clint Eastwood) riding out of the desert heat into a small town called "Lago". He then goes into the only saloon in town where he encounters a problem with three cowboys but rather than get into it with them he decides to go to the barbershop for a shave. The three cowboys follow and upon provoking him they get shot for their efforts. Minutes later a woman named ""Callie Travers" (Marianna Hill) deliberately bumps into him on the street and then starts and berating him for no particular reason. One thing leads to another and eventually he drags her into a barn and proceeds to rape her. After that he heads to the local hotel to get a room where he immediately falls asleep on the bed and has a nightmare of being whipped to death in this same town while all of the townspeople look on. The next day "Sheriff Sam Shaw" (Walter Barnes) comes to see him and with the blessing of the town council offers him anything he wants if he will protect the town from three outlaws who are due to be released from prison and plan to ride into town in the next couple of days. But what the sheriff and the townspeople don't realize is that this particular cowboy has his own way of doing things and doesn't particularly care whether they like his methods or not. Not only that but he has a secret agenda of his own. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a very good—albeit highly unusual—type of Western with definite paranormal overtures. Again, this film is not a typical Western but I found it to be quite entertaining and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER is the first western that Clint Eastwood starred in that he also directed himself. While he gives a typically great performance as the titular character, the real surprise here comes from his matured, stylish direction that would have you thinking he'd been making these films for twenty years beforehand. This is an eerie western, laced through with violent flashbacks and an increasingly hellish atmosphere as it tells the story of corrupt townsfolk who watched a man die at the hands of three violent outlaws.It's one of those films where my attention was gripped for every moment. Eastwood doesn't play a likable character at all – he starts off by raping a woman – but the reason for that gradually becomes clear as the film progresses. The supporting cast of ne'er-do-wells is fine, although nobody gives a stand-out performance (apart from Billy Curtis as the kooky, lovable dwarf, Mordecai). Geoffrey Lewis pops up in an early role as one of the bad guys.The direction is superlative and the script avoids the typical clichés for the most part. I paid particular attention to the soundtrack, which combines eerie, dramatic effects with excellent music. The ending is one of those ones that actually exceeds audience expectations in terms of the dramatic tension, excitement, and plain good ol' fashioned filmmaking it excels in. This may not be Eastwood's best, but it sure as heck is up there with the best of them.