In Clint Eastwood's powerful Western "Pale Rider" a small prospecting community is terrorized by members of a nearby mining company who want to take over their land. In rides Clint Eastwood as a nameless Preacher, answering a little girl's prayers that a savior will come to protect them. As far as the genre of Western goes, "Pale Rider" is top-notch. It offers all of the iconography associated with the genre and adds its own special spices to the stew. What thrusts it into the realm of greatness is its surety of direction and Eastwood's obvious passion for the material along with his expertise in the genre itself.
The action scenes and shootouts are typical of Eastwood's other Westerns: they will elevate your pulse and stir your soul. For an mid-eighties film, the violence is unusually understated and tasteful.
By taking on the role of a preacher, Eastwood embodies a paradoxical characterization in that he is both a fierce, take-no-prisoners, gunman, unafraid of resorting to violence and a pious, gentle soul who provides solace for the spiritual longings of the communities he enters. It is a truly interesting character and effectively builds and riffs on the roles Eastwood had already played and the ones he would take on in the future.
"Pale Rider" is cinematic gold: a compelling, exciting adventure that will surprise and entertain you.
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