Pale Rider is Western starred and directed by Clint Eastwood. In what had been successful in a few of his older westerns he brings this trite story of some humble tin-panners in a small community who are besieged by a ruthless group of Gold Miners who run a Mining operation replete with a battery of sophisticated equipment. The main boss, LaHood (Richard Basehart) is the ruthless owner who has a group of dopey henchman who will do anything to terrorize, pillage and prevent the small community from interfering in their pursuit of wealth. This is a simplistic tale of Good vs. Evil where Eastwood, The Preacher, fights of the bad guys in a street brawl, befriends the local tin-panning community, garners the admiration from women and spends the rest of the film defending these poor people who have been wronged by the powerful Mining Magnate.
As usual, Eastwood sets up scenes where he is displayed as the hero who always wins in every situation without getting a bruise or cut. He not only takes advantage of one middle aged woman (Carrie Snodgress), but also from a beautiful 15 year old nubile girl, Magan (Sydney Penny). I found this downright distasteful since he uses her character as eye candy and as a catalyst to stroke his insatiable ego. The girl, in awe of this enigmatic and mysterious gunslinger, professes her love and offers herself to be deflowered by him. There's no need to go into any detail since there's really nothing new or interesting to this "Eastwood" habit of using young women for his vanity purposes. It's not totally unrealistic, but looks very unnecessary. Eastwood, the actor, establishes himself as a choleric, vain and Dirty old man. Since he's supposed to be a religious clergyman of sorts, I found this quite offensive since his actions and behavior are questionable in character. When being asked to say Grace at a family supper, he doesn't even mention the Lord's name or any Holy reference. It's just "For what we are about to receive, let's be truly grateful". What a shallow bore this is. And so is the rest of this story, because it all looks so telegraphed and predictable. We know within the first 30 minutes how this story will play out, but it is lackluster and uneventful. The fight scenes are bland and unexciting. As he the Preacher lobs sticks of dynamite at the bridge and Mining operation it looks lazy and boring. There isn't any tension built up enough to warrant this predictable and disappointing climax. Yes, Clint's characters always win out and burnish their images as Western superheroes who have no worthy adversaries. But if this is the case, why can't we get a clever plot-twist or surprise threat to create suspense? It just didn't happen here. And the scene where LaHood's goons walk out in Unicen with their Trench coats to shoot down the poor drunkard looks stagy and corny. Almost laughable. I'm not opposed to the elements of the film if they could have been acted and created in a believable manner reflective of the Mid 19th Century. But here it looks shallow and stagy. No depth or realism. And to have a teenage girl from a strict religious upbringing from the 1800's showing such overt affection for a much older man is pretty offensive and demeaning.
As usual, Eastwood sets up scenes where he is displayed as the hero who always wins in every situation without getting a bruise or cut. He not only takes advantage of one middle aged woman (Carrie Snodgress), but also from a beautiful 15 year old nubile girl, Magan (Sydney Penny). I found this downright distasteful since he uses her character as eye candy and as a catalyst to stroke his insatiable ego. The girl, in awe of this enigmatic and mysterious gunslinger, professes her love and offers herself to be deflowered by him. There's no need to go into any detail since there's really nothing new or interesting to this "Eastwood" habit of using young women for his vanity purposes. It's not totally unrealistic, but looks very unnecessary. Eastwood, the actor, establishes himself as a choleric, vain and Dirty old man. Since he's supposed to be a religious clergyman of sorts, I found this quite offensive since his actions and behavior are questionable in character. When being asked to say Grace at a family supper, he doesn't even mention the Lord's name or any Holy reference. It's just "For what we are about to receive, let's be truly grateful". What a shallow bore this is. And so is the rest of this story, because it all looks so telegraphed and predictable. We know within the first 30 minutes how this story will play out, but it is lackluster and uneventful. The fight scenes are bland and unexciting. As he the Preacher lobs sticks of dynamite at the bridge and Mining operation it looks lazy and boring. There isn't any tension built up enough to warrant this predictable and disappointing climax. Yes, Clint's characters always win out and burnish their images as Western superheroes who have no worthy adversaries. But if this is the case, why can't we get a clever plot-twist or surprise threat to create suspense? It just didn't happen here. And the scene where LaHood's goons walk out in Unicen with their Trench coats to shoot down the poor drunkard looks stagy and corny. Almost laughable. I'm not opposed to the elements of the film if they could have been acted and created in a believable manner reflective of the Mid 19th Century. But here it looks shallow and stagy. No depth or realism. And to have a teenage girl from a strict religious upbringing from the 1800's showing such overt affection for a much older man is pretty offensive and demeaning.