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Pale Rider (Exclusive Series) (HBO Max)

  • Writer: Matt Palmer
    Matt Palmer
  • Sep 27, 2021
  • 3 min read


Initial release date: June 28, 1985


Studios: Warner Bros/Malpaso


Tagline: Hell comes home

… and hell followed with him.


Plot: When property owner Coy LaHood starts using a band of hooligans to terrorize a group of small-town miners into giving up their territory, an enigmatic man named “Preacher” arrives in town. Preacher fends off the attacks, and then goes directly to LaHood to negotiate. When the miners, led by Hul Barret, refuse the terms, LaHood sends in Marshall Stockburn to take down Preacher and the others.





Cast

Clint Eastwood (Cry Macho) - Preacher

Michael Moriarty (Along Came a Spider) - Hul Barret

Carrie Snodgrass (8 Seconds) - Sarah Wheeler

Chris Penn (Starsky and Hutch) - Josh LaHood

Richard Dysart (Hard Rain) - Coy LaHood

Sydney Penny - Megan Wheeler

Richard Kiel (Tangled) - Club

Doug McGrath (Ghosts of Mars) - Spider Conway

John Russell - Stockburn

Charlie Hallahan (Dante’s Peak) - McGill

Marvin J. McIntyre (Wagons East) - Jagou

Fran Ryan - Ma Blankenship

Richard Hamilton (Message in a Bottle) - Jed B.


Writer(s): Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack


Director: Clint Eastwood


Rated R (115 min)


Clint Eastwood’s ‘Pale Rider’ starts off with a real excelling opening sequence. As a small mining community enjoys a peaceful day, a group of men ride through the community guns blazing. Definitely a great powerful start for this Western.

In this 1985 Western, Eastwood creates his own version of “the man with no name” whom he portrayed in many Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns in the 60s. Just like his other films and westerns, Eastwood does a great job as the mysterious stranger.

‘Pale Rider’ can also be very captivating and the shoot-out action keeps you entertained. The scenery that is shown during some parts of the film is really breath-taking.

And, just like most westerns, this one ends with an incredible shoot-out. So, if you want to enjoy another classic Western from acclaimed filmmaker Clint Eastwood, definitely check out ‘Pale Rider.’

You can catch the western on the HBO Max streaming service and various rental services.


FYI - This Clint Eastwood western is 36 years old!!!


Here are some interesting tidbits about ‘Pale Rider’:

  • During shooting, Eastwood sustained what he describes as the worst injury he has ever had on-set when a horse he was riding fell through thin ice and launched him forward.

  • This movie was Eastwood’s first Western since 1976s ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales, a gap of nine years, and his last prior to ‘Unforgiven,’ a gap of seven years.

  • The highest grossing western at the box office made and released during the 1980s.

  • Unlike his earlier movies, Eastwood first selected the movie’s theme and then commissioned a screenplay to be written.

  • This movie marked the return to the big screen of Eastwood’s “Man with No Name” nameless drifter-style character.

  • Eastwood’s 14th movie for Warner Brothers.

  • This movie is frequently compared to 1943s ‘Shane,’ as well as 1952s ‘High Noon.’

  • ‘Pale Rider’ was primarily filmed in the Boulder Mountains and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in central Idaho, just north of Sun Valley in late 1984.

  • The movie’s title is taken from the Book of Revelation, chapter 6, verse 8: “And I looked, and behold a white horse: and his name that sat on him was Death and Hell followed with him.”

  • It was the first mainstream Hollywood Western to be produced after the massive financial failure of 1980s ‘Heaven’s Gate.’

  • Was a success at the domestic box office, grossing $41.4 million against a $6.9 million budget.



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