Clint Eastwood's 1985 western is one of three classic movies featuring the star that are being released by Warner Bros. on the 4K UHD format in both regular and steelbook editions.
It's the Gold Rush and Michael Moriarty is part of a small prospecting community. Unfortunately Big Bad Boss Richard Dysart, who is busy plundering the surrounding hills with his industrial mining operation, wants their land as well, so he sets about driving them out with those old western standbys, intimidation and violence.
During a gang raid the dog of 14 year old Megan (Sydney Penny) is shot, and as she prays over its grave for someone to come to their rescue who should ride out of the wilderness but a nameless preacher (Eastwood) on a pale horse. The preacher soon establishes himself as part of the community and of course it's not long before he has to take on the bad guys, including sheriff for hire Stockburn (John Russell) and his gang of deputies.
When it was released in 1985 contemporary reviews could not help but compare PALE RIDER with Eastwood's first western as director, 1973's HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, and that's not surprising. Both films begin and end very similarly, there's the suggestion that Eastwood's character is dead in both, but in PALE RIDER his character is perhaps more of a guardian angel than a vengeful spirit.
Considered by some to be inferior to the 1973 film, there's still much to appreciate here, not least the photography by Bruce Surtees of the impressive landscape. There's also a fine cast, many of whom (Moriarty, Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Richard Kiel) will be familiar to fans of fantasy cinema.
Extras new to Warners' 4K release include The Diary of Sydney Penny which is seven minutes of reminiscence from the actress. The Cinematography of PALE RIDER is an eight minute piece in which a number of academics discuss the contribution of Director of Photography Bruce Surtees to the picture.
Finally, there's Clint Eastwood: Reinventing the Western which includes interview footage with Mel Gibson, James Mangold, Kevin Costner, Frank Darabont, Morgan Freeman, Martin Scorsese and Sir Christopher Frayling in a compact 18 minute journey through Eastwood's contributions to the Western genre. It's the same extra that's also available on Warners' 4K of THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES. If you want a longer piece on Eastwood the film-maker, then Richard Schickel's 2010 feature length documentary The Eastwood Factor is also on here.
Clint Eastwood's PALE RIDER is out on 4K UHD from Warner Bros. on Monday 28th April in both regular and steelbook editions.
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