MovieChat Forums > High Plains Drifter (1973) Discussion > An antithesis of Pale Rider?

An antithesis of Pale Rider?

posted 2 years ago by Winged (9)
16 replies | jump to latest

Parallels

Clint plays an unnamed character
The movie begins and ends with Clint riding into town and out of town (disappearing)

A group of people look to Clint to save them from danger

Clint may be a ghost or supernatural figure

Clint avenges perhaps his own death

Greedy mining operations cause conflict

Opposites

Preacher is essentially good, protecting good people

Stranger is vengeful, dealing retribution on those that are bad,

Stranger rapes a woman

Preacher denies advances of a girl who wants him

Stranger sleeps with married woman

Preacher refuses married woman (if I remember right)

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[–] SteveG (1370) 2 years ago

There are a lot of parallels in these two films and I love 'em both. Both top Clint westerns and throw in the Outlaw Josey Wales for a divine triple feature with similar tropes.

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[–] Wuchak (8732) 8 months ago

Preacher refuses married woman (if I remember right)

If I remember correctly, he did have sex with Hull's woman, but refused sex with his daughter, Megan, who was only about 15. I say "Hull's woman" because I can't recall if she was his wife or a cohabiting girlfriend, aka common law wife.

The only reason I remember him having sex with the woman is it provoked a moral conundrum about the character: I thought he was supposed to be a righteous angel or whatever and bedding another man's mate definitely isn't righteous.

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[–] UMAD (655) 8 months ago

well pale rider is actually good while this is garbage.

so yeah. there's that as well.

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[–] whynotwriteme (7720) 8 months ago

The opposite is correct. High Plains Drifter is the closest that American cinema ever came to the Italian Spaghetti Western, even surpassing it in many ways. Sadly, Pale Rider is a snoozefest by comparison. I saw it only once when it came out and never even bothered to buy it on VHS or DVD. I have never been tempted to watch it again. I have seen High Plains Drifter many times, bought it on multiple media, and never get tired of it.

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[–] UMAD (655) 8 months ago

being closed to italian spaghetty westren does not make this garbage movie good. its compleatly the opposite. this movie is snoozefest while pale rider is the real gem

the fact that you saw it only once on tv and you even admit it proves that you never gave the movie a chance to begin with.

and i've watched clint no man trilogy alot of times and i prefer american style westrens. they are better. some of the lip syncing and acting in spagetthy westrens are bad.

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[–] whynotwriteme (7720) 8 months ago

I saw Pale Rider at the movies when it came out, not on TV. It bored the hell out of me AND my friends, and I was utterly disappointed after enjoying all of Eastwood's earlier westerns on television. I never wanted to see it again. I don't have to step in dog poo multiple times to know I don't like having stinky shoes.

High Plains Drifter is an eerie, atmospheric film with the feel of a Western written by Poe or Ambrose Bierce. You can't beat the mournful music, the creepy, isolated town on the lake and its nasty inhabitants, and the grim, embittered resolve of Eastwood. Pale Rider just is a flat, dull imitation with no soul.

I really don't care for The Unforgiven, either. The Outlaw Josey Wales was Eastwood's last good western.

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[–] UMAD (655) 8 months ago

so now you proved once again who you are

so apperantly. you watched pale rider when you were young with your friends and because you dident liked it in 1985 you never gave it another chance. which is absurd. if your gonna claim a movie is bad then least try and watch it again before you trash it. unlike you i did watched HPD more then once. and i dont like it. at all.

also. the fact that you also trash unforgiven which is probably the wierdest take of all time because litterly nobody i know hates unforgiven. it has great writing and its not even subjective.

it seems to me you hate modern and semi modern westrens because you are a fan of old spaghetty westrens and thats why you bash modern westrens with different style

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[–] whynotwriteme (7720) 8 months ago

I didn't like Pale Rider because it was dull and lifeless and didn't do anything for me. I don't like The Unforgiven because it's all about Eastwood destroying the image he had built over the years in his better films. I also found it dull.

I like quite a few anti-heroic revisionist westerns such as McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and Old Henry to name a more recent example, but I don't want to see Clint Eastwood in them.

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[–] UMAD (655) 8 months ago

pale rider is set in a town in the middle of nowhere so being "lifeless" is the entire point. HPD is basically the same.

also. clint suppose to be a ghost/mythical character in pale rider. thats the entire point that makes pale rider so good

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[–] whynotwriteme (7720) 8 months ago

The Pale Rider town was lifeless in a bad, boring way. The High Plains Drifter town had a simmering undercurrent of corruption and evil.

Clint was a ghost first in High Plains Drifter.

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[–] mechajutaro (2788) 8 months ago

"Sadly, Pale Rider is a snoozefest by comparison"

Yeah... That one didn't feature anything more than 1 ATTEMPTED rape, whereas High Plains Drifter gave us our money's worth, 15 minutes into the movie

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[–] whynotwriteme (7720) 8 months ago

She was playing a game. That's what Callie wanted to happen when she deliberately bumped into Eastwood. She was a total headcase. Probably driven insane by years of living in Lago.

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[–] mechajutaro (2788) 8 months ago

Fairly certain Eastwood just wanted an excuse to go for a role in the hay with the actress in question

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[–] whynotwriteme (7720) 8 months ago

He must have seen her stripping for the Mexican garrison in El Condor.

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[–] mechajutaro (2788) 8 months ago

Never seen El Condor, something I'll have to remedy now

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[–] whynotwriteme (7720) 8 months ago

If you like roguish, amoral antiheroes and LOTS of female nudity I am betting you will love it!

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