Pale Rider 1985

     The setting of this film is in a gold mining camp in the California foothills.  This area is besieged by a neighboring landowner intent on stealing their gold claims.  Preacher rides into the camp and he uses all of his powers of persuasion to convince the landowner to give up his attacks on the miners.
     The scenery in this area is very beautiful.  Preacher is a man of few words!!  He uses his eyes, the corner of his mouth, his face in shadow or a movement of his hand.  Also, the other people project their emotions upon him.  There is a possibility that he may be an avenging spirit come back to confront the man who murdered him?  It is also possible that he is a ghost or something other than a real person?  Eastwood has directed himself in nine previous films.  There is a LOT of action going on in this film.  5* (I really liked this movie)      
  
115 min, Drama directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack with Clint Eastwood, Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Chris Penn, Richard Dysart, Sydney Penny, richard Kiel, Dough McGrath,John Russell, Charles Hallahan, Marvin J. McIntyre, Fran Ryan, Richard Hamilton, Graham Paul, Chuck Lafont.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10 with 49,779 views, Rotten Tomatoes 92% with 26 critics 83% with 39,650 ratings, Metacritic 61% with 13 critics (8 positive 1 mixed, 4 negative) 8.1 out of 10 with 9 ratings (8 positive, 1 mixed), Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 1,256 reviews, Letterboxd 3.5* out of 5*,Roger Ebert 4*, Letterboxd 4*.

Special Note:  Eastwood had an injury on the set when the horse he was riding fell through thin ice.  Eastwood was launched forward off the horse and he suffered a very painful dislocated shoulder.  Preacher helps Club (Richard Kiel) back on his horse and viewers cannot see this but Club had back problems.  He used a step to get onto his saddle.  The first horse assigned to Richard Kiel collapsed the first time he climbed aboard and he was assigned a stronger horse.  This is Eastwood’s first western since The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976.  There was a gap of nine years.  His last prior western to Unforgiven 1992 was a gap of seven years.  Preacher’s revolver is a Remington Model 1858 modified from a cap and ball revolver cylinder to a cylinder firing cartridge ammunition.  He has a belt that holds the spare cartridges on his left side.  This is the highest grossing western at the box office made and released during the 1980’s.  The title refers to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation, Chapter six.  Filmed in the Boulder Mountains and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in central Idaho just north of Sun Valley.  The opening credits feature the images of the Sawtooth Mountains south of Stanley.