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Author	Topic: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Pale Rider" (1985)
Zaz Title: Manager: The Amphitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 7/3 8:41pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "The Electric Horseman" (1975)
	Haven't seen this one, since I have no affinity for either star.
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RX_Sith Title: Monopoly host Registered: Mar '06	Date Posted: 7/17 7:27am Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Heaven's Gate" (1980)
	Heaven's Gate (1980). (from wiki) Heaven's Gate is a 1980 western movie, which depicts the Johnson County War, a dispute between land barons and European immigrants in Wyoming in the 1890s. The film's production was plagued by cost and time over runs, negative press, and rumors about director Michael Cimino's apparently over bearing directorial style. It debuted to poor reviews and earned little money, eventually contributing the collapse of its studio United Artists and effectively destroyed the reputation of Cimino, previously one of the hottest directors in Hollywood due to The Deer Hunter. The director, Michael Cimino, had an expansive and ambitious vision for the film and pushed the film far over its planned budget. The movie's financial problems and United Artists' subsequent demise led to a move away from director-driven film production in the American film industry and a shift toward greater studio control of films. The film's actors included Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Isabelle Huppert, Jeff Bridges, John Hurt, Sam Waterston, Brad Dourif, Joseph Cotten, Geoffrey Lewis, Richard Masur, Terry O'Quinn, Mickey Rourke, and Willem Dafoe. Plot The film opens in 1870 as two young men, Jim Averill (Kristofferson) and William C. "Billy" Irvine (Hurt), are graduating from Harvard University. The Reverend Doctor (Joseph Cotten, in his penultimate film role) speaks to the graduates on the association of "the cultivated mind with the uncultivated," and the importance of "the education of a nation." Irvine, brilliant but obviously intoxicated, follows this with his opposing, irreverent views. A celebration is then held after which the male students serenade the females present. The film then flashes forward 20 years, where Averill is now the sheriff in the booming region of Johnson County, Wyoming, where European immigrants are stealing the cattle of the rich WASP ranch owners for food. Nathan D. Champion (Walken) – who knows Averill – is an enforcer for the landowners, and he kills a settler for suspected rustling and dissuades another from stealing a cow. At a meeting of The Stock Growers Association (a group wealthy ranch owners), a dissipated Billy Irvine is revealed to be a member. Quite intoxicated, he leaves the meeting and goes upstairs to a billiard room, where he encounters Averill and tells him of the Stock Growers's intention to violently force the settlers to leave. As Averill leaves, he exchanges bitter words (and punches) with the head of the Association, Frank Canton (Waterston), who is politically connected. Ella Watson (Huppert), a bordello madam who accepts stolen cattle as payment for use of her prostitutes, is in love with Averill and Champion, and she helps teach the illiterate Champion how to read and write. She finds herself caught between the two as it's revealed that the Association has composed a list of more than one hundred settlers ("thieves and anarchists," as Canton calls them) – Ella included – who will be killed by men from Texas who are hired by the Association. Averill gets a copy of the list from Captain Minardi (Terry O'Quinn) of the U.S. Army and later reads the names on the list to the settlers, who are shocked and begin to argue about what to do, with one becoming enraged enough to shoot the mayor (Paul Koslo) in the ear. Cully (Richard Masur), a train conductor and friend of Averill's, sees the train containing Canton's posse and rides off to warn the settlers, but is murdered by the posse after stopping to sleep during his journey. Later, a group of men come to Ella's bordello and rape her, but all of them except one are shot and killed by Averill. Champion arrives, and after realizing that his landowner bosses seek to eliminate Ella, he goes to Canton's camp and shoots the remaining rapist, after which he and Canton become enemies because of Champion's refusal to participate in the slaughter. "Trapper" (Geoffrey Lewis) – one of Champion's friends – is walking away from the cabin he and Champion share when he encounters Canton and possibly Canton's entire posse. He is given one minute to go back to the cabin and warn Champion and their friend Nick Ray (Mickey Rourke) and then come back to safety. However, as soon as Trapper emerges from the door he is shot, and the gun battle begins. Ella arrives in a wagon and shoots one of the hired guns but doesn't stay, escaping on her horse. Champion and Nick Ray and are then killed. Ella returns to town and warns the settlers that Canton's men are nearby, and the settlers decide to fight back. Averill then leads the settlers to attack Canton's gang (after he and Ella discover the bodies of Nate and Nick Ray), and both sides suffer casualties (including a drunken Billy Irvine) before the U.S. Army arrives and stops the fighting, just as Averill's side is about to overrun the landowners' men, helped by Averill's knowledge of Classical war wagons and tactics. Later, John Bridges (Jeff Bridges) meets Ella and Averill at Ella's cabin, as all three are going to leave the area. They are ambushed by Canton and two others. Bridges and Averill kill Canton and one of the men, but both Bridges and Ella are killed. Averill then mourns Ella as he holds her in his arms, as the film fades out. The film then shows a title, "Newport, Rhode Island, 1903," with a yacht at sea in the background. A well-dressed, mustachioed Averill is revealed to be the yacht's owner, walking on the deck. Going down into the yacht, he enters a room and an attractive lady (who apparently is one of two women who eyed Averill during the graduation 33 years earlier) is asleep. Averill sits in a chair and looks at her, saying nothing. The woman awakens and asks Averill for a cigarette, who then sits on an ottoman closer to her and offers her one and lights it without speaking, barely moving from his ottoman. They look at each other, and Averill gets up and goes towards the door. Exchanging looks with her, Averill then peers at the rest of the room and then leaves. Production and reception In 1971, Michael Cimino submitted the original script for Heaven's Gate, then called The Johnson County War, to United Artists executives; the project was shelved when it failed to attract big name talent. In 1978, after winning two Academy Awards (Best Director and Best Picture) for The Deer Hunter, Cimino convinced United Artists to resurrect the project with Kris Kristofferson, Isabelle Huppert and Christopher Walken as the leads. The film began shooting on April 16, 1979 in Glacier National Park, north of Kalispell, Montana. The film had a projected December 14 release date, and a budget of $11.6 million. The project promptly fell behind schedule. Cimino shot more than 1.3 million feet (nearly 220 hours) of footage, costing approximately $200,000 per day. Despite going overbudget, Cimino was not financially penalized because he had a contract with United Artists to the effect that all money spent "to complete and deliver the picture in time for a Christmas 1979 release shall not be treated as overbudget expenditures." The film finished shooting in March 1980, having cost nearly $30 million. Production was also marred by controversy regarding Cimino's cruelty to horses used on set. The American Humane Association has claimed that four horses were killed and many more injured during filming of a battle scene in Heaven's Gate. One of the horses killed, plus its rider (who survived), was actually blown up by dynamite; the footage appeared in the final cut. During postproduction, after months of delays, last minute changes, and cost overruns, Cimino delivered his version which ran 5 hours and 25 minutes (325 minutes) long; United Artists executives forced Cimino to edit the film to 3 hours and 39 minutes (219 minutes). Cimino pulled that version from release after its premiere in New York City on November 19, 1980. That cut of the film did run for one week at New York's Cinema I theater, however. The premiere was by all accounts a disaster. During the intermission, the audience was so subdued that Cimino is said to have asked why no one was drinking the champagne. He was reportedly told, "Because they hate the movie, Michael." A subsequent review by New York Times critic Vincent Canby called Heaven's Gate "an unqualified disaster," comparing it to "a forced four-hour walking tour of one's own living room." Canby went even further by stating that "It fails so completely that you might suspect Mr. Cimino sold his soul to obtain the success of The Deer Hunter and the Devil has just come around to collect." Roger Ebert quipped in The Chicago Sun-Times: "The most scandalous cinematic waste I have ever seen, and remember, I've seen Paint Your Wagon." Heaven's Gate resurfaced six months later in a 2 hour and 29 minute (149 minute) version attempting to recoup some of its losses. But negative publicity had already damaged the film's reputation and this version quickly disappeared from theatres. In 2008, film critic Joe Queenan of The Guardian named Heaven's Gate as the worst movie ever made.[3] In his review, Queenan notes that "this is a movie that destroyed the director's career. This is a movie that lost so much money it literally drove a major American studio out of business. This is a movie about Harvard-educated gunslingers who face off against eastern European sodbusters in an epic struggle for the soul of America. This is a movie that stars Isabelle Huppert as a shotgun-toting cowgirl. This is a movie in which Jeff Bridges pukes while mounted on roller skates. This is a movie that has five minutes of uninterrupted fiddle-playing by a fiddler who is also mounted on roller skates. This is a movie that defies belief." Awards and nominations The film received a number of poor reviews upon its first release. * Golden Raspberry Awards Won: Worst Director (Michael Cimino) Nominated: Worst Picture Nominated: Worst Screenplay Nominated: Worst Musical Score Nominated: Worst Actor (Kris Kristofferson) * Academy Awards Nominated: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Tambi Larsen, James L. Berkey) Effects on the U.S. film industry The movie's unprecedented $40 million cost (equivalent to about $120 million as of 2006) and poor performance at the box office ($3,484,331 gross in the United States) generated more negative publicity than actual financial damage, causing Transamerica Corporation (United Artists' corporate owner at the time) to become anxious over its own public image and withdraw from film production altogether. Transamerica then sold United Artists to MGM, which effectively ended the existence of the studio. MGM would later revive the name "United Artists" as a subsidiary division. While the money loss due to Heaven's Gate was considerable, United Artists was still a thriving studio with a steady income provided by the James Bond and Rocky franchises. Many have also argued that United Artists was already struggling at the time with the box offices flops of Cruising and Foxes, both released earlier in 1980. The fracas had a wider effect on the American film industry at the time. During the 1970s, relatively young directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, and William Friedkin were given unprecedentedly large budgets with very little studio control (New Hollywood). The studio largesse eventually led to the new paradigm of the high concept feature, epitomized by Jaws and Star Wars. But it also led to less successful films as Friedkin's Sorcerer (1977), and culminating in Coppola's One from the Heart and Cimino's Heaven's Gate, among other money-losers. As the new high-concept paradigm of film making became more entrenched, studio control of budgets and productions became tighter, ending the free-wheeling excesses (or, the infiltration of the culture of the promotion of aesthetic freedom, if you prefer to view film production primarily as an artistic rather than a commercial venture) that begat Heaven's Gate. The very poor box office performance of the film also had a huge impact on the western genre of films which had a revival in the late 1960s. From this point on, very few western films were released by major studios. In addition, there was some controversy among animal rights activists: four horses were killed during the filming, including one being dynamited onscreen (Major Wolcott's (Ronnie Hawkins's) horse); horses, steer and chickens were bled to provide "fake blood" for the actors, the steer were also gutted to provide "fake intestines" for the actors. Though Heaven's Gate was not the first film to have animals killed during its production, it is believed that the film was responsible for sparking the now common use of the "No animals were harmed..." disclaimer and more rigorous supervision of animal acts by the American Humane Association who had been inspecting film production since the 1940s. Director's cut Despite these setbacks, the movie was salvaged by an unlikely source. The Z Channel, a cable pay TV channel that at its peak in the mid-1980s served 100,000 of Los Angeles's most influential film professionals, was the only network showing uncut movies on television. After the failed release of the re-edited and shortened Heaven's Gate, Jerry Harvey, the channel's programmer, decided to play Cimino's 219 minute cut. The re-assembled movie received admiring reviews and coined the term "director's cut." When MGM home video released the film on VHS in the 1980s, they released Cimino's 219 minute cut, using the tagline "Heaven's Gate… The Legendary Uncut Version." Subsequent releases on laserdisc and DVD have been the 219 minute cut. The 149 minute cut, released in 1981, has never been released on home video in the United States and is now very difficult to see or get access to. This cut of the film is not just shorter but differs in placement of scenes and selection of takes. "The whole idea of a director's cut being something you could actually market came out of Jerry Harvey's rescue of Heaven's Gate," notes F.X. Feeney, a film critic who contributed heavily to Z Channel's programming guide. "It's an important measure, because home video, home viewing via pay TV, these things have really revolutionized how we perceive movies."[citation needed] In October 2004, an uncut version of the film was again shown in selected art-house cinemas in the U.S. and Australia, along with Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession, a documentary about Z Channel. In 2005, the original uncut version of Heaven's Gate was re-released in Paris. It was also shown to a sold out audience at New York's Museum of Modern Art with a live introduction by Isabelle Huppert. In popular culture * The financial and on-set troubles of the film Waterworld, which starred Kevin Costner, somewhat mirrored those of Heaven's Gate, and led many critics and industry insiders to derisively label it "Kevin's Gate". * In Albert Brooks's 1981 film Modern Romance, after foleying a scene on the film Brooks's character is editing, the sound engineers mention that, later, they will be working on "the short version" of Heaven's Gate. * Former UA executive Steven Bach wrote Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film That Sank United Artists, chronicling his involvement in the film's production. In an episode of Animaniacs titled "Video Review", a video copy of Heaven's Gate is used as a weapon, an exploding 'bomb' (along with another 'bomb', 1941 directed by Steven Spielberg). This is a tribute to the early Warner Bros. Cartoons such as Book Revue in which the inventory of a store spring to life. Review (from IMDb.com) HEAVEN'S GATE will always be remembered for at least three things: destroying United Artists, wrecking director Michael Cimino's career, and ending the last golden age of Hollywood, when the directors could make the types of films they wanted to make. To this day we are still living through the effects from HEAVEN'S GATE. Although the film was made for only $36 million, back in 1980 that was a fortune. Many films since have lost more money, but this one wrecked a respected studio. There is no question as to where all the money went, for it is on the screen to see. Everything was carefully detailed exquisitely down the extras' clothing. An entire town was built in a remote area of Montana. The film opens with a graduation sequence that takes place at Harvard in 1870, which is nicely shot and choreographed, but is completely unnecessary. Many such scenes are scattered throughout, and the film is more than halfway over before the plot finally starts to move forward. The actors all play characters who are one-dimensional and/or irrelevant, especially the John Hurt character. Why Cimino needed so many extras to play the immigrants is unclear, because we never get to know any of them and they are so annoying when they gather together to plot strategies against the rich bad guys who want to kill them off. The editing is pretty bad, but that's to be expected because there really isn't much of a story here, just a series of vignettes. Vilmos Zsigmond's photography is good, but too often there is too much dust and smoke everywhere that obscures the characters and locations. Also, the colors in the film are all washed out; it looks like the filmstock was left out in sun. For example, in the middle of the roller-skating scene, the color simply vanishes, leaving only light brown and black! Granted, there are a few things in the film that I admire, like David Mansfield's score. Isabelle Huppert always looks sexy even without makeup. The battle scenes are pretty exciting, although I could swear that I saw one particular wagon blow up four times. The film has a rather odd denoument that takes place on board a ship, but everything else in this movie is pretty odd. Why the studio didn't bring in another writer or two to rewrite the script is a mystery because inside this mess there was a good movie trying to get out. It's a shame that Michael Cimino still hasn't recovered from this debacle. I sure hope he makes a comeback. Discuss. -----signature----- Chief of Staff - The SWC Rebel Scum
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Zaz Title: Manager: The Amphitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 7/17 9:41pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Heaven's Gate"
	It was a real disaster, for all the reasons listed above.
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JohnWesleyDowney Registered: Jan '04	Date Posted: 7/18 1:12am Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Heaven's Gate" - Date Edited: 7/18 1:14am (1 edits total) Edited By: JohnWesleyDowney
	I read all of the above about Heaven's Gate and it's pretty breathtaking. Talk about director ego! Some of it reminded me of the debacle of Marlon Brando's Mutiny on the Bounty, if you know the details of that you'll know why I compare the two. In that case it was star ego and the director was virtually neutralized on the set while Brando ran amuck. I've never seen Heaven's Gate but I've sure heard a lot about it, and now I want to see it, in the same way that people want to gawk at a terrible accident. I love this paragraph and I underlined Canby's description of how incredibly boring it was. This is a classic line from a classic review. Ebert's comment is good too. A subsequent review by New York Times critic Vincent Canby called Heaven's Gate "an unqualified disaster," comparing it to "a forced four-hour walking tour of one's own living room." Canby went even further by stating that "It fails so completely that you might suspect Mr. Cimino sold his soul to obtain the success of The Deer Hunter and the Devil has just come around to collect." Roger Ebert quipped in The Chicago Sun-Times: "The most scandalous cinematic waste I have ever seen, and remember, I've seen Paint Your Wagon." In a strange way, I think Heaven's Gate may give Plan 9 from Outer Space a run for it's money as worst film ever made...just with a much, much higher budget. -----signature----- Peace.
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Zaz Title: Manager: The Amphitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 7/19 8:52am Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Heaven's Gate"
	Cimino did try to make a comeback. Two things prevented it. One was: there were distinct rumours that he was sniffing more than the mountain air during the shoot, if you get my drift. The other was "Final Cut" the book Stephen Bach (one of the producers) wrote about the making of the movie. The book was so damning, that when Cimino tried his old tricks on his next movie "Footloose", this is what happened: "In 1984, after being unable to finalize a deal with director Herbert Ross, Paramount Pictures surprisingly offered the job of directing Footloose to Cimino. According to screenwriter Dean Pitchford,[1] Cimino was at the helm of Footloose for four months, making more and more extravagant demands in terms of set construction and overall production. Paramount realized that it potentially had another Heaven's Gate on its hands. It fired Cimino and finalized the deal with Ross to direct the picture. This episode, though seemingly trivial, had far-reaching effects for Cimino's career. After the Footloose episode, within the film industry, he was perceived as someone who had not learned his lesson with Heaven's Gate. In fact, executives came to the conclusion that, given the chance, Cimino would again make extravagant demands that might ultimately lead to another debacle. Therefore, Hollywood turned its back on Cimino after the Footloose episode. All his subsequent films would be financed independently, and not as part of a studio."
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RX_Sith Title: Monopoly host Registered: Mar '06	Date Posted: 8/3 8:36am Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "The Long Riders (1980)"
	The Long Riders (1980). (from wiki) The Long Riders is a 1980 Western directed by Walter Hill. It was produced by James Keach, Stacy Keach and Tim Zinnemann and featured an original soundtrack by Ry Cooder. Cooder won the Best Music award in 1980 from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards for this soundtrack. The haunting rendition of "I'm A Good Ole Rebel" is one of the great period pieces done in the modern era. Plot The Long Riders is a fictionalized account of the James-Younger gang. Cast The Long Riders is a notable film in part due to Hill's decision to cast four sets of actor brothers as the real-life sets of brothers: * The Keaches: Jesse James (James) and Frank James (Stacy) * The Carradines: Cole Younger (David), Jim Younger (Keith) and Bob Younger (Robert) * The Quaids: Ed Miller (Dennis) and Clell Miller (Randy) * The Guests: Charley Ford (Christopher) and Robert Ford (Nicholas) It also features an uncredited appearance by Ever Carradine, daughter of Robert Carradine and niece to David and Keith Carradine. Trivia Some of the movie, especially the Northfield scene was shot in Parrott, Georgia. Review (from DVD Times) If one man deserves an award for "Services to the Western", it is Walter Hill. He has worked hard to keep the genre alive during times when it has been neither critically fashionable or commercially successful. Although many of his films are tinged with the Western spirit, especially Southern Comfort and Extreme Prejudice, it his unofficial trilogy of Western myths that show his love and respect for the genre. The Long Riders was the first in 1980, followed by Geronimo in 1993 and Wild Bill in 1995. Although the latter two are interesting and undervalued films, The Long Riders has emerged as a genuine classic. It has several weaknesses but the sheer passion of the moviemaking is what makes it special. In fact it's almost in the Peckinpah class, a commendation I don't throw around lightly. Hill's film deals with the James-Younger gang, infamous outlaws in post-Civil War America. The leaders, Jesse James (James Keach) and Cole Younger (David Carradine), were accompanied by their brothers and friends. Hill's gimmick is to have the brothers in the gang played by real life brothers. So the Carradines - David, Keith and Robert - play the Youngers, the Keaches - James and Stacey - play the James brothers, the Quaids - Randy and Dennis - appear as the Millers, and the Guests - Christopher and Nicholas - are the Fords. This is both a strength and a weakness. On the positive side, there is a comradeship between the actors that you wouldn't otherwise achieve, but the problem is that some of the performances are a bit weak. Most seriously, James Keach is not up to the demanding central role of Jesse James and this creates a hole in the middle of the film which David Carradine's charismatic and good humoured performance as Cole Younger can only partially fill. Dennis Quaid has no character to play here, unfortunately, and the Guest brothers are reduced to looking treacherous. The plot, which is curiously but engagingly rambling, deals with the ride of the gang from bank jobs in Missouri to the disastrous Northfield raid which ended in carnage. We see the men meet and marry their sweethearts, bicker and fight amongst themselves, visit the whorehouse of the infamous Belle Starr (a wonderful turn from the lovely Pamela Reed), and reflect on the tenuous possibility of retirement to respectable life. Meanwhile, the corrupt and incompetent minions of the Pinkerton Agency are tracking the gang down, managing mostly to kill their innocent relatives and ensuring that public sympathy is firmly on the side of the outlaws. However, to some extent, the film is more about a time and a place than about the specific characters or events. The period of post-War reconstruction is beautifully evoked in Ric Waite's cinematography - some scenes are so beautiful they take the breath away, especially a couple of smokey night moments - and the production is precise and atmospheric without being too fussy, The elegaic tone of the film is set during the opening credits as the Long Riders gallop in slow motion against the expansive sky. Ry Cooder's lovely music score is an important aspect of this too. The film is also, crucially, about the Western genre itself and particularly, I would argue, about the revisionist Westerns of Peckinpah. We get several of Sam's favourite themes; betrayal by old friends; ties of blood and land; an elegaic sense of loss; the yearning for something better than violence and death; and even specific scenes such as the young admirer dying by mistake and the hold-up in a barn (both scenes from Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid, the last word on Western myth). Hill's tone is one of regret for the passing of something beautiful due to the civil war - echoing Clint Eastwood's line in Josey Wales; "I guess we all died a little in that damn war." An awareness of what has been lost is constantly present in the film, notably the scene in the whorehouse where Clell Miller forces the band to play "I'm a Good Old Rebel" rather than "Battle Cry of Freedom". There's a horrible sense of inevitability too, as if Jesse's dream of settling down to become a farmer is doomed from the start, just as Pike Bishop's Mexican retirement is fated never to be in The Wild Bunch. The other reminder of Peckinpah is, of course, the violence. Hill's slow-motion rendition of the fateful Northfield Raid is brilliantly handled; very vivid blood-letting here with the whole scene reminiscent of the opening robbery in The Wild Bunch. But I think Hill's use of violence is entirely responsible and realistic; there isn't the wallowing in brutality that we get in lesser Westerns such as Soldier Blue. Hill shows you both the carnage wrought upon the innocent citizens and the soul-destroying effect it has on the Riders. It's a fine line to tread, and some of the blood-gushing bullet mayhem treads perilously close to parody, but Hill usually gets it about right. Only one scene, the fight between Cole Younger and Sam Starr, strikes the wrong note, largely because it is badly paced and irrelevant without being amusing. Western fans are living in lean times nowadays. The last 'hit' in the genre was Eastwood's excellent Unforgiven way back in 1992. Hill's two follow-ups to his story of the James-Younger gang were both commercial flops, neither of which got proper distribution in the UK. That's a shame because, for all their faults, both are interesting and lovingly detailed films that deserve to be seen. The Long Riders, meanwhile, is a must-see for anyone who loves the genre and, indeed, for anyone who just loves intelligent filmmaking. Discuss. -----signature----- Chief of Staff - The SWC Rebel Scum
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Zaz Title: Manager: The Amphitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 8/3 6:14pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "The Long Riders" (1980)
	It is a wonderful movie, very nearly a great one. I would agree that James Keach lacks the charisma for Jesse James; David Carradine, OTOH, has charisma to burn as Cole Younger.
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RX_Sith Title: Monopoly host Registered: Mar '06	Date Posted: 8/14 7:12am Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Pale Rider" (1985)
	Pale Rider (1985). (from wiki) Pale Rider is a 1985 Western film, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. This movie has plot similarities to the classic Western Shane (1953), including a final scene that is very similar to the famous final scene of the earlier movie. There are also similarities to Eastwood's previous Man with No Name character, and his 1973 western High Plains Drifter. The title is a reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as the rider of a pale horse is Death. Pale Rider was primarily filmed in the Boulder Mountains and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in Idaho, just north of Sun Valley in late 1984. The opening scenes featuring the jagged Sawtooth Mountains were shot outside of Stanley. The film also features Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Christopher Penn, Richard Dysart, Sydney Penny, Richard Kiel, Doug McGrath and John Russell. Pale Rider is the only Eastwood film to have clear religious overtones throughout - though several of his other films such as High Plains Drifter also make heavy use of religious ideas and imagery. The film is unique within the western genre because it focuses on the California Gold Rush. And although the film is not specifically dated, it may take place before the American Civil War. Plot The plot centers on the conflict between a group of simple, poor, panning miners and the most powerful man in the nearby town, Coy LaHood, the boss of a successful hydraulic mining outfit, that wants to take over their land. The film opens with the ruffians of LaHood riding into the panner's camp, shooting things up and pulling down tents and cabins. Soon after, one of the panners heads into town for supplies, and is set upon by the same ruffians. A drifter (Clint Eastwood) rides in and defends the miner with unexpected skill wielding a hickory axe handle. Upon returning to the placers camp, the drifter compounds this surprise by revealing a minister's collar when invited to dinner, thus acquiring the name "Preacher". A classic western story line develops, leading to a final showdown in town between LaHood and Preacher. Cast * Clint Eastwood as "Preacher" * Michael Moriarty as Hull Barret * Carrie Snodgress as Sarah Wheeler * Chris Penn as Josh LaHood (as Christopher Penn) * Richard Dysart as Coy LaHood * Sydney Penny as Megan Wheeler * Richard Kiel as Club * Doug McGrath as Spider Conway * John Russell as Stockburn * Charles Hallahan as McGill * Marvin J. McIntyre as Jagou * Fran Ryan as Ma Blankenship * Richard Hamilton as Jed Blankenship * Graham Paul as Ev Gossage * Chuck Lafont as Eddie Conway (as Chuck LaFont) Religious overtones In an audio interview, Clint Eastwood revealed that his character Preacher "is an out and out ghost".[2] The idea that the Preacher is a supernatural, immortal being is suggested early in the film when he is shown with six bullet wounds on his back—wounds that no mortal could survive. Stockburn is shot in a near-identical pattern during the final stand-off. Furthermore, the Preacher character arrives riding a pale horse at the same moment that a teenage girl—who had earlier asked help from God—reads from the Bible in Revelation of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse, Death riding on a pale horse. When LaHood describes Preacher to Marshall Stockburn, the Marshall says the man sounds familiar, except that the man he's thinking of is already dead. Stockburn does indeed appear to recognize the Preacher in the film's climax immediately before his death. There are several counterpoints to the idea that the Preacher is supernatural[citation needed] including: that the Preacher stores his sixguns in a safe-deposit box; that he possibly has sex with Sarah on the night before the big gunfight; and that his life is shown "saved" twice, once by Hull and again by LaHood thug Club. Comparison to the movie Shane The movie is nearly a step-by-step Shane homage. A stranger (Shane/The Preacher) arrives in a town and is hosted by a local (Joe Starrett/Hull Barret), his wife (Marian/Sarah) and their child (Bob/Megan). The stranger and the local bond when they take on an "impossible task" together (undermining a root/cracking a boulder). But the local's land and his friends' is in peril by a greedy businessman (Fletcher/LaHood). The stranger fends off an initial advance and gains one of the businessman's henchmen (Chris/Club). The local's child falls for the stranger, but is rejected at first. The stranger is made to relive his past when the businessman calls for an assassin (Stark Wilson/Stockburn) and one of the local's friends is killed. The stranger handles the assassin on his own in a final duel where both assassin and businessman are killed. He then leaves, and the child runs after him and cries out tearfully "I love you". Review (from IMDb.com) Shot on location in Sun Valley, Idaho, and to some esteem to "Shane," "Pale Rider" succeeded with sweeping landscapes and magnificent cinematography, to be an interesting Western that helps to bring back something from Eastwood's mystique… In 1850 California, a small group squatters and their families find themselves terrorized by Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart), who are standing win the way of his progress… Desperate, LaHood begins using violence in an unsuccessful attempt to run the peaceful yet determined homesteaders from their land… Leading the homesteaders is a decent man Hull Barret (Michael Moriarty), who dreams of a better life for himself, his girlfriend Sarah Wheeler (Carrie Snodgress) and her lovely daughter from a previous marriage, 14-year-old Meagan (Sydney Penny). Into the lives of these strong-willed people rides a mysterious man—tall and lean with something strange in his eyes —known only as "The Preacher" (Clint Eastwood). He says little, divulges nothing of his past, but for a man wearing a clerical collar he seems an expert at handling weapons… He pulls the miners together and gives them the confidence to defy LaHood even in the face of mounting violence... Although both Sarah and her daughter become enamored of the pale preacher, he gently rejects their advances and makes them see that Hull is a less capable but far better man… There is a good scene when Spider Conway—went into town alone and running out of steam—invited LaHood to come out and have a drink with him… But instead Stockburn and his deputies came out asking him to dance… Richard Dysart creates an all-too-believable villain, and Western veteran John Russell is well-cast as a middle-aged mercenary and his hired guns to face a legendary hero… It's an old score and it's time settle it. Discuss. -----signature----- Chief of Staff - The SWC Rebel Scum
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Zaz Title: Manager: The Amphitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 8/14 12:19pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Pale Rider" (1985)
	I'm hamstrung by the fact that I really dislike the movie this is based on, though I think this is a better treatment of the material.
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PTMurphy84 Registered: Aug '08	Date Posted: 8/14 12:42pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Pale Rider" (1985)
	Ill say it once, I maintain that between Clint Eastwood and John Wayne as cowboys, Wayne may be the quintessential American cowboy, but Clint is still that much more intimidating The fact that it took Shane and made it better is all the more sweetening, since Shane was one of the westerns that I really got into. Quintessential scene(s): the final sequence with the villain, Clint reloading the Remington Army not once but TWICE, not saying a word, and yet speaking volumes of intimidation and bad-assery. While its not THE Western to End all Westerns, its a goodie. I wouldn't go so far as to say the PReacher is supernatural, just the early version of the Punisher: A man whos name has been erased but now exists as a force, a signpost to all bad men saying "Turn back now or pay dearly." at least that was my ipmression -----signature----- File under the following: What the Hell... Holy ****!
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Rogue1-and-a-half Title: Manager: Amphitheatre Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 8/14 3:26pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Pale Rider" (1985)
	It is better than Shane in many ways, but it's hardly one of Eastwood's masterpieces. -----signature----- All they found of the Duchesse d'Alencon was her head.
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Zaz Title: Manager: The Amphitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 8/15 8:35pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Pale Rider" (1985)
	There are others that have more energy.
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