Pale Rider

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Pale Rider

R

1985

1h 55m

Western

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

32 Reviews

83%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

When property owner Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart) starts using a band of hooligans to terrorize a group of small-town gold miners into giving up their territory, an enigmatic man named "Preacher" (Clint Eastwood) arrives in town. Preacher fends off the attacks, and then goes directly to LaHood to negotiate. When the miners, led by Hull Barret (Michael Moriarty), refuse the terms, LaHood sends in Marshall Stockburn (John Russell) to take down Preacher and the others.

Critics Consensus

Nearly a decade after The Outlaw Josey Wales, Clint Eastwood returns as a director to the genre that made his name with this elegant, spiritual Western that riffs on the classic Shane.

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

05/27/2011

Though the metaphysical overtones of the screenplay are sometimes awkwardly handled and Eastwood's direction of actors (other than himself) is occasionally uncertain, this was one of the better American films of 1985.

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Richard Corliss

TIME Magazine

10/26/2008

Pale Rider does nothing to disprove the wisdom that this genre is best left to the revival houses. A double feature of Shane and Eastwood's High Plains Drifter will do just fine, thanks.

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Variety Staff

Variety

10/26/2008

It's all been seen before, but Eastwood serves it up with authority, fine craftsmanship and a frequent sense of fun.

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Jan 3

6/10

The revenge formula is dependable, with obvious antagonists who require a special kind of cinematic justice.

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Nick Rogers

Midwest Film Journal

Jun 26

3.5/5

The very model of a polished, competent Western — one that showed Clint Eastwood could still scratch the itch so that, with "Unforgiven" seven years later, he could dig deep into the scab.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

05/06/2025

3/4

Bless Clint Eastwood for climbing back into the saddle during a period when most others preferred to climb into a spaceship.

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Robert B.

@duncan1 3d

Everything everyone hopes for from a western.

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Drew M.

@Stonehands211 Mar 17

This one was more like it. A better story to go along with the gun fights and tough talk.

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Kerry G

@Seazey Jan 1

Lacks something or someone more sinister than what we get.

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Clive M

@RT11186411 Nov 14

I must have watched this 10 times. He is a master when it comes to westerns. That typical mean bad ass Clint is what we expect

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David W

@Sternhammer Aug 9

Shane 2 but with a tougher central Clint, light spiritualism and a touch of sexual friction. And hell followed with him... God I miss Clint in his acting pomp.

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Gareth v

@geewah Aug 6

Clearly drawing it's inspiration from Shane, Pale Rider doesn’t reinvent the Western, but it deepens it - adding shades of myth and moral reckoning. It's a quiet, powerful film that lingers long after the dust settles.

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Clint Eastwood

Director

Clint Eastwood

Preacher

Michael Moriarty

Hull Barret

Carrie Snodgress

Sarah Wheeler

Chris Penn

Josh LaHood

Richard Dysart

Coy LaHood

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Synopsis

When property owner Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart) starts using a band of hooligans to terrorize a group of small-town gold miners into giving up their territory, an enigmatic man named "Preacher" (Clint Eastwood) arrives in town. Preacher fends off the attacks, and then goes directly to LaHood to negotiate. When the miners, led by Hull Barret (Michael Moriarty), refuse the terms, LaHood sends in Marshall Stockburn (John Russell) to take down Preacher and the others.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Producer: Clint Eastwood
Screenwriter: Michael Butler, Dennis Shryack
Distributor: Warner Bros., Warner Home Vídeo
Production Co: The Malpaso Company
Rating: R
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 28, 1985, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 15, 2008
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: Dolby, Surround