The Worst Film Ever

Best movie ever!

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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.

'Pale Rider' is rarely mentioned when people recall the great Westerns. But whilst it may not excite discussion in the same way as 'The Outlaw Josey Wales', 'Unforgiven' or Sergio Leone's 'Dollars' trilogy, it absolutely shouldn't be dismissed. Traditionally, the Western was a genre of morality stories - usually basic ones, too. In this respect, 'Pale Rider' is a traditional Western. However, referencing the iconic Western 'Shane' from 1953, Eastwood attempts to blur the lines of morality. We are confident in who the antagonists are, and we certainly root for the protagonist, Preacher, but this isn't a story like 'Gunsmoke' where the good are completely good and the bad are completely bad. This wasn't the first time Eastwood worked with such a narrative - 1973's 'High Plains Drifter' has a similar kind of moral ambiguity, although 'Pale Rider' is a more optimistic story. The performances in this film are generally quite good, with leading man Eastwood proving that even in the middle of a career slump (from which he recovered with 'Unforgiven') he can deliver a strong, sincere performance. The other memorable character, besides Eastwood's Preacher, is one of the antagonists, Club, who is played by Richard Kiel. Mostly recognised for playing Jaws in some of the Bond films, Kiel wasn't a great dramatic performer, but landed a number of interesting roles on account of his very imposing size and menacing visage. Club is involved in a number of entertaining scenes, and he brings a similar quality to Eli Wallach's Tuco in the first half of 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', exchanging blows with the hero but never becoming truly dislikable. I'd recommend 'Pale Rider' to any fan of the Western genre, as it heavily references the aforesaid classic 'Shane' whilst showing a return to form for Clint Eastwood, at a time when he had all but abandoned his Rowdy Yates image in favour of a more realistic, conflicted kind of character.

After the engrossing 'Unforgiven', I went to this movie. Maybe that is the reason I was not much impressed by it. I even believe that the movie is overrated.The script is stereotypical but somehow seems lame to the other Western ones ! Well, the Christian concept of 'Pale Rider' is intriguing(destroying an 'evil empire' by sword, pestilence, famine and wild beasts) but there was no need for the central character to wear a clerical collar, then people take him as a 'Preacher' and the audience is expected to connect him to the biblical 'Pale Rider'. It seems a trick unworthy of noticing but dilutes the intention. Megan reading the Psalm(or verses, I am naive at the term) would have been sufficient.Eastwood, as always, has given full justice to the character - the sangfroid when meeting the goons, LaHood and even while eliminating the deputies. The demon underneath seems to arise only twice in his eyes which Eastwood should be given a notable credit ! Except the 'Preacher', Hull Barret is the only character that leaves some impression - he is a common, vulnerable man but still does his best for the family and the folks. The Stockburn's character seems like a last-moment patch implemented in a software to save the script. Fails to impress even for a second as a villain. Better than him is LaHood who at least in some scenes appears to be a professional mining mafia/don.Frankly, I didn't even notice any background score - that itself speaks of it's lameness :P . Since the script revolves around the camp, the mine and the town, one is deprived of the typical Western panoramas, the horse riders amidst terrain and so on. The town too appears modern and synthesized, lacks the dull and the creaky yet appealing look of a troubled Western stereotypical town.To summarize, one should watch the movie only for a glimpse of the vintage 'Western Eastwood', any more expectations can result in disappointment. Yes, the movie has rekindled my old interest in 'Apocalypticism' :) .

"Pale Rider" opens up with a beautiful shot of pointy mountains looming behind a lush fir forest which again form the background to dusty plains. Aross this beautiful landscape we see a pack of riders, whipping their horses into a frenzy as they cut through the scenery. Then we cut to an idyllic looking encampment where we see gold prospectors and their families going about their business, a goat here, a dog playfully licking a man's face there... For some time we keep cutting between these two images and we just know that something bad is going to happen. Tension is building slowly until the riders are unleashed upon their victims and make quite the mess. They even shoot a cow and a dog. The dog, we learn, belongs to Megan Wheeler, played by a very young Sydney Penny (Bernadette, 1988) in a wonderful performance. It is her loss and the subsequent burial of the dog which triggers the entrance of the Preacher, through some suggested divine intervention. Clint Eastwood (Heartbreak Ridge, 1986) arrives as an ominous silhouette at first, on the heels of rumbling thunder and shots of rugged mountains, and ending up framed in the doorway of the Wheelers' as Megan finishes her bible reading with the quote: "And I looked, and behold a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was Death." As we learn later, the assault was part of a tactic by the shrewd villain, Coy LaHood, played by Richard Dysart (The Thing, 1982), to drive the prospectors off the land so he can get his hands on the gold which is hidden away in their creek, and Preacher is a man of God coming to lift their spirits and lend a hand. Literary, his introduction to Hull Barret, played by Michael Moriarty (The Stuff, 1985) is in the form of a brawl with LaHood's henchmen where he dispatches divine justice through the conduit of a bat. Eastwood lends heavily on Sergio Leone's archetype: the man with no name, which he himself played to perfection in the 60s, but adds even more mystique to his character through all the religious implications and the semblance of a revenge motif from some mysterious past. Few, if any, can play the tough loner with the icy stare as well as Eastwood, and this character is no exception. Anyone crossing his path with ill intentions are met with silent intimidation of the kind that makes them quickly holster their guns and run away. The movie is not all brawn and myth-making though, the central family trio of prospectors, also including Sarah Wheeler, played by Carrie Snodgress (Murphy's Law, 1986), is the beating heart of the movie. All the performances are top notch. Every word spoken is done so with the utmost conviction and true to character. How Moriarty can churn out such a subtle and dramatically solid performance considering the rest of his 80s catalog (Q, The Stuff, Troll, It's Alive III...) is astonishing. There is some early hints that the young daughter is taking a romantic interest in Preacher, and when words about this is exchanged between the two, it seems certain that few screenplays can match the elegance at which it is handled.For anyone fond of westerns, this is a sure bet for a good time. Some might complain that the overall framework of the plot is formulaic, and if you don't like westerns this will probably not turn you around, but the quality in execution of writing, directing and acting are all top notch. This is a visual movie where the action, the framing of the shots and the gorgeous landscapes dominate the feel and atmosphere of the movie. It is also a movie with excellent use of music and sound, which always help in creating more tension or fleshing out the scenery. The movie is not especially realistic as there are a few logical flaws here and there, but most can be shrugged off as stylistic choices. Sure, it seems strange that one character would reach his destination faster on foot than another character on a horse cart with a head start, or awfully dumb when the main villain stands out in the middle of the street without cover while his men is combing the streets after a hidden and armed Preacher, but his defiance of a sudden death by lead just makes him look even more bad ass, and a worthy opponent for our mythical hero. The 80s were not a happy place for aficionados of the western, but this little gem almost makes up for it.