Pale Rider (1985)
This was quite interesting to watch right after Shane with all the similarities, while also being a good example of the changes in the western genre over that 30+ year timespan - and some things that haven’t changed much.
The basic premise is similar, but here it is independent miner families against a big mining corporation competing for the same land with gold resources. Eastwood is the mysterious outsider that quickly sides with the little people. Compared to Shane this is a lot more violent, more characters and plot threads, and somewhat more entertaining. The downside is that I somehow felt less sympathy for this fight, because the miners aren’t exactly saints either and Eastwood’s character is more prone to killing and retaliation than Shane. The dialogue tends to be a little clunky at times, though usually also funny. I could have lived without Megan having a silly teenage crush on Eastwood, but it serves the same purpose as Joey’s hero worship of Shane.
While Shane was very up front with its moral values and American idealism about sticking together as a community and fighting for the ability to make a living for themselves and their families. In Pale Rider these ideals felt a bit patched on afterwards and not overly convincing.
This movie is held up by Eastwood being his usual western self and the fact that it is simply very entertaining from start to finish and definitely one of the few westerns from the 80’s worth watching.
Rating: 4