this is one of my fav. clint eastwood westerns! i received this movie like brand new!

This is the least of Clint Eastwood's Western films. That is not to say that it's bad. It has a lot of good in it. It has great scenery (it was shot on location in Idaho by the great Bruce Surtees), and it has a genuine rustic feel to it. It feels very real. It has excellent performances, with kudos going to Michael Moriarty, who gives the best performance here as a "leader" of the miners, and Richard Dysart as a mining boss who wants to wipe out the settlers who are trying to find their own gold. It's beautifully shot (the interior scenes and night scenes are expertly done), but thematically, there's something missing here. Clint's character is just called Preacher, and it feels like a tamer version of Clint's Western masterpiece, High Plains Drifter. It feels like there are supernatural elements here, but you're not sure whether it's intentional, ambiguous, or just plain sloppiness. Even the final confrontation seems contrived. The film feels unfinished, like it's really not sure of itself, and the effect is disconcerting. It's one of the few Clint Eastwood films that has a very noticeable uneveness to it.

This is not a disaster, but it's not one of Clint's better pictures. It's worth viewing once or twice, mainly for the beautiful location photography and some good performances.

One of the best Clint Eastwood westerns of all time. A retelling of the Shane story, but done so much better. I don't even own Shane since this beats it in every way.

Not very original (Clint got some ideas from previous westerns) but probably the coolest Clint Eastwood western of all time. Although "Unforgiven" was more realistic and "The Outlaw Josie Wales" had a better story, this one is cooler. The "Preacher" was also a better character than "The Stranger" from "High Plains Drifter." They should definitely put this one on HD DVD or Blu-ray.

Let's face it, nearly all Westerns are morality plays about good vs. evil, you know, the "good guys" verses the "bad guys." The challenge for film makers is how to package this morality play in a new, refreshing, and interesting way. Pale Rider succeeds in doing this in several ways. First, the scenery and cinematography are stunning--the American West has spectacular vistas, and this movie takes full advantage (check the credits for site locations, you may want to visit them someday). Secondly, the characters are well developed--you cheer for the good guys and loathe the bad ones. The mining camp occupants being the good guys are here depicted as clean, decent, moral, family types (though in reality, mining camps were probably full of greedy crooks, gamblers, whoremongers, and drunkards). The bad guys are the greedy, corporate miners led by LaHood and his employees, plus the hired guns he employs to drive out the poor, subsistence mining camp families. Enhanced by elements of answered prayer, love triangles (or in this case, a love quadrangle), coming of age innocence in a young girl, rescue missions, and supernatural overtones, Pale Rider brilliantly weaves together all these elements leading to a spectacular reconing as the Preacher turned gunslinger strikes out to obtain justice for all. "Preacher...we all love you Preacher....I love you....Thank you....Goodbye." The ending just about brings tears to your eyes. If only we all had such an advocate in real life.