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Starting with Sergio Leone’s “A Fistful of Dollars,” Clint Eastwood solidified his reign over the western genre in the later part of the 20th century. His work on the Dollars Trilogy and “Unforgiven” showcased a revolutionary approach to the genre, making him an iconic figure. Interestingly, he directed only one western during the 1980s, but it broke a significant career record, solidifying his position even further in the western genre.

In 1965, Clint Eastwood collaborated with director Sergio Leone on the movie “A Fistful of Dollars.” This film combined the legends of the Wild West’s gunfighters and those of Japanese Samurai by portraying its lead character as a roaming bounty hunter who adhered to a moral code. The film’s success catapulted both the director and the actor into prominence, marking the beginning of two influential careers in the latter half of the 20th century. Although Eastwood later ventured into genres such as crime thrillers and comedies, his Hollywood career was indelibly marked by his Westerns. However, during the ’80s, he temporarily abandoned his signature genre, directing only one more gunslinger film, titled “Pale Rider.

Why Eastwood Took A Step Back From Westerns

Audiences Turned Their Backs On The Genre

The Best Movies Directed By Clint Eastwood ()IMDB Rating
#1 – Unforgiven8.2
#2 – Gran Torino8.1
#3 – Million Dollar Baby8.1

By the 1980s, Eastwood and Hollywood shifted their focus in filmmaking, choosing to produce lighter, more commercial narratives. After the 70s, the Western genre started to wane, losing its once powerful iconic status as genres like science fiction, thriller, adventure, and comedy gained prominence. As Martin Scorsese and others have pointed out, the mood of cinema in the 1980s was almost a polar opposite compared to the previous decade, which was characterized by darker, grittier stories. Clint Eastwood adapted with this change, as evidenced in his comedic roles, such as “Any Which Way You Can,” and lighter dramas like “Bronco Billy,” “City Heat,” and “Pink Cadillac.” Although Eastwood had some notable films during the decade, many view it as a period of decline in his career, except for a few exceptional projects.

Given the increasing popularity of his films and his strengthening relationship with Warner Brothers, it’s understandable why Eastwood might have sought to expand his professional horizons. Upon scrutinizing his directorial works, his versatility is even more striking than his acting roles, encompassing a wide range from tender dramas to large-scale modern war films. It was only natural that his desire to escape being stereotyped as a cowboy led him to abandon his Western-centric ’70s career in favor of a more varied one, even if this shift initially affected his box office appeal. His career resurgence didn’t truly begin until the ’90s, but it was Pale Rider that marked the start of this transformation.

The dismal box office performance made it clear to studios that the era of profitable Western films had come to an end. With blockbuster franchises dominating, even actors and filmmakers who had established their reputation in the Old West began exploring different genres. This shift was true for Eastwood as well, both on-screen and off. Movies like “Silverado” endeavored to pay homage to the genre’s golden age, but escalating production costs and dwindling ticket sales took a toll on Western films.

Pale Rider Is A Biblical Revenge Western

The Film Borrows From Supernatural Mythology

The Best Clint Eastwood Westerns ()IMDB Rating
#1 – Unforgiven8.2
#2 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly8.8
#3 – For A Few Dollars More8.2

From a cinema enthusiast’s perspective, I find myself immersed in the gripping tale of “Pale Rider.” As a fifteen-year-old girl named Megan, I appeal to the heavens for aid as my community faces relentless aggression from a tyrannical landowner, Coy LaHood. His cunning plan is to displace us so he can seize control of our mineral-rich lands. To intensify our misery, he hires ruthless henchmen to instill fear in our hearts.

In my moment of despair, a divine intervention arrives. A enigmatic gunslinger, the Preacher, appears mysteriously on a horse as pale as death itself. Upon taking refuge with my mother and soon-to-be stepfather, this stranger becomes our guardian, toiling alongside us while instilling courage in our hearts to challenge LaHood’s oppressive rule.

Word by word:

In the wake of The Preacher’s bravery becoming known throughout LaHood, he employs a band of dishonest marshals to intervene. Their chief, Stockburn, gradually becomes suspicious that the anti-hero could be someone he thought was deceased, boasting about his own hand in the man’s death. With no alternative, Eastwood’s hero sets out for town to face off against the marshals, resulting in a spectacular showdown reminiscent of a lone warrior. As Megan develops feelings for the hero, he departs for the mountains, leaving his destiny uncertain after exacting revenge on Stockburn for his murder and rescuing the miners. She declares her affection as he disappears from view.

As The Preacher’s acts of valor reach LaHood, he recruits a group of unscrupulous marshals to take action. Their leader, Stockburn, slowly suspects that the anti-hero might be someone he thought perished, taking credit for his own killing. With no other choice, Eastwood’s hero heads into town to confront the marshals, leading to an intense one-man-army style battle between the parties. Megan finds herself falling in love with the hero, who then departs for the mountains, his future unclear after seeking vengeance on Stockburn for his death and saving the miners. She reveals her feelings as he vanishes from sight.

In the same manner that Eastwood reworked and reimagined the themes of High Noon through High Plains Drifter, he also transformed it with Pale Rider by giving fans a supernatural twist on a classic Western story. The original tale, one of the cornerstones of the Western genre, featured Alan Ladd as a retired gunfighter seeking peaceful farm work, only to be forced into protecting homesteaders from the tyranny of land baron Rufus Ryker. In Eastwood’s film, the iconic gunfighter is portrayed as a mythological figure of vengeance acting on behalf of God himself. Essentially, the director rectified the shortcomings of Shane, creating a more contemporary and authentic epic that resonates more closely with its genre and setting.

Eastwood Gave The ’80s Its Most Greatest Western

The Decade Had Its Share Of Western Flops

  • Pale Rider is available to rent on AppleTV and Amazon Video.

Upon its debut, “Pale Rider” stood as Clint Eastwood’s most financially successful Western film, surpassing this achievement by other ’80s Westerns until the release of “Young Guns” in 1988. Despite having a smaller production budget, “Pale Rider” proved to be more profitable, earning six times its budget, whereas “Young Guns” grossed only five times its own budget. Even though films like “The Outlaw Josey Wales” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” brought Eastwood considerable success in the Wild West genre, “Pale Rider’s” $41 million box office revenue marked a pinnacle in his career as a Western director.

Eastwood’s films from the ’80s were the least predictable and unfortunately, less popular and obscure compared to other works in his career. While movies enthusiasts are familiar with titles like “Gran Torino” and “Dirty Harry,” films such as “Tightrope,” “Bronco Billy,” and “Honkytonk Man” are not considered classics. However, it was the film “Pale Rider” that set a new trend for action-packed Westerns, like “Tombstone” and “Young Guns,” and helped Eastwood regain his success at the box office. When considering only his classic Westerns, “Pale Rider” fits into an almost unblemished record of commercial successes.

The character Pale Rider significantly impacted the Western genre by demonstrating that while other actors could lead successful movies, a defining star was essential to maintain momentum. Consequently, as Clint Eastwood moved away from the genre post-1992, it’s become progressively challenging for productions to turn a profit, even with Kevin Costner trying to fill the void left by the Unforgiven star. The 1985 film’s remarkable success as the decade’s top gunslinger movie underscored that Eastwood and the Old West were inextricably linked.

How Eastwood Helped Save Westerns

Pale Rider Won The Box Office For Westerns

Pale RiderDirectorIMDB Rating
1985Clint Eastwood7.3

In the 1980s, the Western genre was mostly struggling to survive, overshadowed by the popularity of blockbuster franchises like Star Wars, Back to the Future, and Indiana Jones. While attempts were made to revive the grandeur of the Western with films such as Heaven’s Gate, it was Clint Eastwood who demonstrated that the genre’s future lay in more somber, character-focused dramas rather than large-scale epics. To this day, many of the best Western films (with a few exceptions) tend to follow the tone and scale of these intimate narratives.

In the early 90’s, the filmmaker who was known for the movie “Pale Rider” demonstrated that it was still feasible to achieve box office success with Westerns. Interestingly enough, this trend continued in 1988 with the release of “Young Guns.” Later on, the same director took a swan song approach to the gunfighter archetype he had become renowned for by directing “Unforgiven” in 1992. This film not only deconstructed the Western genre but also brought home an Oscar and broke box office records. As such, it revived the Western genre for the ’90s, much like how “Pale Rider” had done so for the ’80s.

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2025-06-01 04:40

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