To me, this movie is perfection.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

By this point in his career Clint Eastwood was best known for his westerns, he was essentially the ultimate badass cowboy. In the dictionary under westerns, you'd see a picture of Eastwood (nah not really). But yeah Eastwood was the supreme plains drifter with no name. This was, I think, Eastwood's last foray into the realms of western badassery as a no name loner dealing lots of badass justice. He was already slowly moving into a more varied selection of film roles and this seemed to be his final goodbye to this particular genre. And with that we get a very typical Clint Eastwood cowboy flick; all the tropes and cliches you've come to expect which is both good and bad truth be told.The plot: A small bunch of prospectors in California are trying their luck at panning for gold. Thing is they are doing so on land that a greedy big-time miner wants so he can mine it up. Naturally the big-time miner known as Lahood (Richard Dysart) and his cronies are all baddies so they try to run the prospectors off the land with violence. But low and behold, who should come trotting into the picture to save the day? Yep you've guessed it, its Clint as yet another no name hero (actually this character is a clerical man but he's simply referred to as the Preacher).OK so firstly I have to mention the scenery in this movie, it is stunning. Filmed within the Boulder mountains and Sawtooth national park of Idaho, along with Tuolumne County in California, its all breathtaking. I saw this movie on bluray which made this countryside look even more impressive. The clear blue skies, open grassy ranges, jagged mountains capped with snow, dense forests, and the highly authentic looking small town of Lahood. It all looked terrific and really popped on the screen.I guess the problems start with the baddies, those dastardly miners. Basically they weren't a very intimidating bunch truth be told, hardly had me on the edge of my seat. Then you had their leader, a very young Chris Penn. Penn's character was the son of Lahood, basically he's the spoilt kid who's in a position of power but really shouldn't be. Its a good idea but nothing is really done with it. You kinda expect more of a loose cannon, an annoying hotheaded youth shooting his mouth and guns off, but no. The only real evil he gets up to is attempted rape. K that's admittedly pretty bad but he does nothing much else. Lahood himself is your stereotypical aged, short, tubby, balding man in a suit with a fat tash.The elite team of deputies led by Marshal Stockburn (John Russell) who are hired by Lahood to kill the Preacher, are again an element in the film that weren't used to their full capacity in my opinion. For starters Russell was clearly too old for the role as he doesn't move much. Whilst I like the fact that there's an air of mystery surrounding these men and the history between Stockburn and the Preacher, maybe just a hint of backstory wouldn't have gone a miss. But bottom line these guys just weren't utilised enough which was a shame because they were cool. In the end they all get killed off pretty easily one by one by the Preacher in a sequence that we've seen repeated so many times. Shout out to early Billy Drago role here.Speaking of backstory, I guess I should point out that Eastwood deliberately made the Preacher like a ghost. He rides in outta nowhere, as though he was summoned by a greater force to protect the innocent prospectors (a prospectors daughter prays for help as he rides in). At the end he also rides off again to an unknown destination, maybe to save more innocent people? The character obviously does this type of thing often because we see his past gunshot injuries and we see that he keeps his gun and holster locked up in a bank, obviously for these situations. So its totally open-ended which is fine, I guess.Anyway things get a little bit too silly in places, take über baddie 'Club' (Richard Kiel). He is comically taken down by the Preacher early on and later the character actually does the same U-turn as Kiel's other famous character 'Jaws' (he turns into a goodie and helps the Preacher). Then there is also the initial fight between the Preacher and Lahood's men which involves hickory axe staves. Oh and there's that whole underage sex angle with the 14 year old girl protagonist. One of the prospectors daughters falls in love with the Preacher (obviously a silly teen crush) and isn't shy about saying so. Of course the Preacher turns her advances down but holy moly that whole subplot was awkward (and it carries through to the end!).This is a mixed bag for an Eastwood western it really is. On the one hand the movie is serious about its story, this isn't a film for kids or anything. There are some very violent moments in the movie with people getting shot multiple times and shot in the forehead (no cuts). There are beatings, the attempted rape, pillage, and a calf and dog get shot dead (all with blood). Not forgetting the underage girl trying to get into bed with the Preacher.Then on the other hand there are the typical little moments of dark humour you'd expect from Clint, moments of goofiness. As mentioned Richard Kiel's rather stupid and pointless character. And then really really stupid western cliches such as the baddie gang of miners bursting into a store to gun the Preacher down (where he was sitting moments before). Only for the room to be (clearly) empty when they burst in, yet they carry on shooting, shooting at nothing. Then of course the Preacher casually appears and guns them all down. The ending has a heavy dose of deus ex machina about it too. The Preacher has killed all the bad guys except Lahood who is sneaking up right behind him. But then out of the blue one of the prospectors appears and shoots Lahood. But I guess it showed that the Preacher wasn't that invincible, he could have died there.I like that Clint is an aged grizzled gunfighter in this movie, I liked his look and the fact he was a preacher. Yet even though this movie does deliver everything you would want and expect from a Clint Eastwood cowboy flick, you can't escape the feeling that you've seen it all before (which you have). Apart from the odd plot tweak its essentially no different from many of his other western movies. That's not a completely negative thing as Eastwood is/was a master of the western genre, but bare it in mind.7/10

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.

Saw this in the late 80s. Revisted it recently on a DVD which i own. This film is a pale n religious version of Shane with elements from High plains drifter. There is nothing new but fans of Eastwood n Western genre will enjoy this. The best part about this film is how Eastwood deals not succumbing to the opportunity especially from the beautiful 15 year old girl who is willing to submit to him fully and the other best part is how he convinces the land grabber to shell out more money to the townsfolk to evacuate the land and at the same time respecting the towns folks' decision. The final shootout was more like a hide n seek in a silly way. The villains getting shot, especially the outhouse scene was kinda hohoho. Watch out for Richard Kiel.

Pale Rider (1985): Dir: Clint Eastwood / Cast: Clint Eastwood, Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Sydney Penny, Richard Dysart: Western filled with disgusting images of excessive violence. I am not sure what the title is implying. Perhaps the rider lacks colour. Perhaps a trip to the spa will fix that problem. Clint Eastwood directs and portrays a character he has played countless times in a film recycled from other westerns. He is a mysterious man called Preacher who arrives in a California gold rush where a mining syndicate feuds against independent prospectors. He encourages these idiots to grow a pair and fight back with his help. Eastwood eventually shoots up the entire town. Flawed with its view of violence as a problem solver. Familiar plot with bang bang throughout. Eastwood is a skilled director but this character is hardly new to him. Flat supporting stereotypes played by Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, and Sydney Penny. They all sit there with their hands together hoping Eastwood will solve their problem. There is a big difference between how Gary Cooper deals with a similar issue in High Noon, and how Eastwood tackles the problem here. Richard Dysart plays the idiot villain threat whose personality is no different than any other Western town villain. There is nothing featured here that hasn't been done before. The result is a pointless graphic mess that should be used for target practice. Score: 2 / 10