If you're going to remake a movie, or pay homage to it, don't try Shane. I will not deny that, based on the vicarious thrills we are expected to get from seeing villains receive their comeuppance, that there were a few great scenes in this film, primarily when the Preacher (the biblical Pale Rider) saves a character from a beating in town, without guns too, just a stick.
But the rest of the film falter after that. Some of the scenes are just so contrived one wonders why they were included in the film. The love that the mother and daughter feel for Pale Rider is just not convincing and ends up not only being contrived but sentimental. Especially disconcerting is the young girl's announcement of her passion for Pale Rider and the later kiss the mother plants on his lips. Cutting those two scenes would have salvaged the film.
Equally misfired is the potential rape scene. It's just so contrived in order to allow Pale Rider to hitch the girl upon her horse and to give a feelgood moment to the audience that it would ruin any movie.
Even worse the entire final shootout is as boring as one can get: a long coda of violence that goes nowhere in my opinion. Like who wants to sit and waste previous moments of one's life watching a supernatural creature kill all of his adversaries in scenes that aren't even well staged.
The final shootout with John Russell, the sheriff doesn't even make sense. Why doesn't the sheriff simply shoot Pale Rider instead of engaging in a shootout with him? He owns the town. He's the sheriff. We have already seen his gang kill people without retribution. Yet he stands still while Pale Rider slowly loads his gun!
Roger Ebert refers to the "subtle" hints of the supernatural in the film. Really? It's so contrived that no one can miss it. It's not subtle at all. IT'S LAZY. It relieved the scriptwriter of fully explaining the status of Pale Rider. There is one fine scene where the Giant that Pale Rider previously hit across the face with an axe incomprehensibly saves him, yet another suggestion of the supernatural. Eastwood nods his appreciation.
The final Call for Pale Rider by the little girl is an obvious echo of the ending of Shane. But without the more complex plotting of Stevens' film and of course without Victor Young's sublime score, the scene only reminds of the aesthetic distance between the two films.
As I said; there's no doubt that some scenes allow us to vicariously experience immediate retribution that we are always denied in real life. But the film would have done much better if it had at least worked on a more subtle plot. The scene where the man boasts of his gold in town and is finally shot down by the sheriff's men is another of those gratuitous scenes that just don't make sense. The killing that follows is gratuitous violence that also doesn't make sense except to allow the sheriff, after dozens of shots that would have killed Terminator, to fire a shot through the guy's head, a scene that will be "retributed" when Pale Rider shoots a bullet through his head. Oops. Now I made a spoiler.
Bad as the movie is in my view, this film will definitely not disappoint Clint Eastwood fans and fans who enjoy vicarious retribution as a catharsis of sorts.
But the rest of the film falter after that. Some of the scenes are just so contrived one wonders why they were included in the film. The love that the mother and daughter feel for Pale Rider is just not convincing and ends up not only being contrived but sentimental. Especially disconcerting is the young girl's announcement of her passion for Pale Rider and the later kiss the mother plants on his lips. Cutting those two scenes would have salvaged the film.
Equally misfired is the potential rape scene. It's just so contrived in order to allow Pale Rider to hitch the girl upon her horse and to give a feelgood moment to the audience that it would ruin any movie.
Even worse the entire final shootout is as boring as one can get: a long coda of violence that goes nowhere in my opinion. Like who wants to sit and waste previous moments of one's life watching a supernatural creature kill all of his adversaries in scenes that aren't even well staged.
The final shootout with John Russell, the sheriff doesn't even make sense. Why doesn't the sheriff simply shoot Pale Rider instead of engaging in a shootout with him? He owns the town. He's the sheriff. We have already seen his gang kill people without retribution. Yet he stands still while Pale Rider slowly loads his gun!
Roger Ebert refers to the "subtle" hints of the supernatural in the film. Really? It's so contrived that no one can miss it. It's not subtle at all. IT'S LAZY. It relieved the scriptwriter of fully explaining the status of Pale Rider. There is one fine scene where the Giant that Pale Rider previously hit across the face with an axe incomprehensibly saves him, yet another suggestion of the supernatural. Eastwood nods his appreciation.
The final Call for Pale Rider by the little girl is an obvious echo of the ending of Shane. But without the more complex plotting of Stevens' film and of course without Victor Young's sublime score, the scene only reminds of the aesthetic distance between the two films.
As I said; there's no doubt that some scenes allow us to vicariously experience immediate retribution that we are always denied in real life. But the film would have done much better if it had at least worked on a more subtle plot. The scene where the man boasts of his gold in town and is finally shot down by the sheriff's men is another of those gratuitous scenes that just don't make sense. The killing that follows is gratuitous violence that also doesn't make sense except to allow the sheriff, after dozens of shots that would have killed Terminator, to fire a shot through the guy's head, a scene that will be "retributed" when Pale Rider shoots a bullet through his head. Oops. Now I made a spoiler.
Bad as the movie is in my view, this film will definitely not disappoint Clint Eastwood fans and fans who enjoy vicarious retribution as a catharsis of sorts.