Line #9 Film/PaleRider


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6	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pale_rider_2087.jpg]]
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8	->''"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him."''
9	-->-- '''[[Literature/BookOfRevelation Revelation]] 6:7–8 (KJV)'''
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11	A [[TheGunslinger gunslinging]] [[TheDrifter drifter]] befriends a [[DeterminedHomesteader determined frontier family]] and is especially idolized by their child. Their livelihood is threatened by a bigger, more powerful company that seeks to drive them off their land by either force and intimidation, or simply buying them out. TheDrifter fights for the family and defeats the CorruptCorporateExecutive and his {{mook}}s, but ultimately leaves his friends behind and continues a life of drifting.
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13	[[RecycledPremise No, this is not]] ''Film/{{Shane}}''. This is ''Pale Rider'', a 1985 {{Western}} directed by and starring Creator/ClintEastwood. Eastwood is cast as a [[NoNameGiven Preacher With No Name]] who crosses paths with a band of hapless gold miners hoping to strike it rich. The miners are often harassed by thugs hired by [[BigBad [=LaHood=]]] (Creator/RichardDysart), the CorruptCorporateExecutive of a local mining company, who hopes to drive them off the land.
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15	Most of the miners are about to give in--except for [[PluckyGirl spunky protagonist Megan]], her mother, and their friend Hull Barret (Creator/MichaelMoriarty)--when the Preacher shows up. The Preacher intervenes on Hull's behalf, saving him from [=LaHood=]'s {{mook}}s. With some convincing from Hull and Megan, the rest of the miners unite behind the Preacher against [=LaHood=]. Unfortunately, [=La=]Hood also recognizes the threat posed by the Preacher and in retaliation he hires [[TheDragon Stockburn]] (John Russell), a corrupt [[USMarshal marshal]] with a deadly posse. It seems as though Stockburn and the Preacher have a history.
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17	The film is notable for being one of the very few Eastwood films to have strong religious and supernatural overtones. Many of its elements are derived from or similar to earlier Eastwood Westerns, namely ''The Film/DollarsTrilogy'' and ''Film/HighPlainsDrifter''.
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19	----
20	!!''Pale Rider'' provides examples of:
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22	* AsTheGoodBookSays: Throughout the film (as can be expected when the hero is "The Preacher"), but especially the passage from Revelation (the page quote) that Megan and her mother read as The Preacher rides in.
23	* BackFromTheDead: Strongly implied, if the six bullet wounds on The Preacher's back are any indication.
24	** In an interview Clint Eastwood called his character "an out-and-out ghost".
25	* BadassLongcoat:
26	** Stockburn's entire posse wears matching brown coats. When they're all standing in a line looking down at a victim, it's pretty intimidating.
27	** The Preacher has a badass duster himself, though he usually wears it closed. [[spoiler: Until he takes up his guns....]]
28	* BadassPreacher: Comes with having Creator/ClintEastwood play him. [[spoiler: Even before he takes up his guns,]] he manages to keep the [=LaHoods=] at bay via mental intimidation.
29	* BetterAsFriends: Sarah comes to this conclusion with the Preacher when she gets an epiphany that the Preacher is [[TheDrifter a drifter]] that is eventually going to leave her like her first husband.
30	* TheBrute: Club (played by Creator/RichardKiel) is brought in to intimidate Preacher, but falls to a well-aimed GroinAttack.
31	* ChekhovsGun: On the day of the showdown, Hull shows the Preacher his bison rifle to let him know that he is prepared. [[spoiler:He then uses it to kill [=LaHood=] in the finale.]]
32	* CombatPragmatist: The Preacher is quite clever with his use of surroundings. And instead of fighting Club when they first meet, he manipulates him to help split a rock he and Hull were trying to break.
33	* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: [[spoiler: Near the end, Hull kicks in the back door and kills [=Coy LaHood=], who is pointing his rifle out the window at the helpless Preacher.]]
34	* CoveredInScars: Early in the film, we see Preacher's bare back, riddled with bullet wound scars. Considering how nasty they look, it's one of our biggest hints of Preacher's supernatural nature.
35	* DontFearTheReaper: The Preacher seems to represent one of The Four Horsemen, Death specifically. It's up to interpretation if he is actually even human.
36	* DefeatMeansFriendship: [[spoiler: Club ends up helping the Preacher in one of the last fights of the film, grabbing Josh [=LaHood=] as he's about to shoot Preacher InTheBack]], giving the Preacher a friendly smile. Preacher tips his hat in return.
37	* TheDragon: Stockburn, when he shows up, becomes this to [=LaHood=].
38	* DramaticGunCock: The Preacher methodically reloads his Remington Model 1858 revolver by switching out preloaded cylinders. Each time he does it, he's out in the open, in plain view of Stockburn's men, with an unconcerned expression on his face, ''[[ImplacableMan because they can't stop him]]''.
39	* TheDrifter: Preacher appears to be this. However, it's strongly hinted that he's an agent of divine retribution.
40	* DuelToTheDeath: The finale ends up being Stockburn vs. Preacher.
41	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Apparently Club doesn't like teenage girls being raped in his presence.
42	* EveryManHasHisPrice: Averted; [=LaHood=] offers to build a better church in town for the Preacher, who briefly plays along before making it clear that he can't be bought. [=LaHood=] then makes a reasonable offer to buy the miners out. The miners appear ready to accept until Hull talks them out of it.
43	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Preacher. Nobody bothers to ask for his real name throughout the whole film.
44	* GroinAttack: The Preacher beats Club by hitting his groin with a sledgehammer
45	* TheGunslinger: The Preacher seemingly ''was'' one, [[spoiler: and takes up his guns again to defeat Stockburn and [=LaHood=].]] Stockburn and his men also count.
46	* HeelFaceTurn: Initially content to be a {{Mook}} for [=LaHood=], [[spoiler: Club turns around upon witnessing Megan's near-assault by Josh [=LaHood=], and then helps The Preacher and Hull destroy the [=LaHood=] mine system.]]
47	* HiredGuns: Hull sort of hires The Preacher with room and board. [=LaHood=] hires Stockburn and his boys.
48	* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: The TitleDrop invokes this in its parallel with The Preacher's arrival.
49	%%* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: [[spoiler: Narrowly [[AvertedTrope averted]]. The Preacher saves Megan in time.]]
50	* ItsAllMyFault: When Preacher suddenly disappears, Megan is convinced that he'd left because of their fight earlier.
51	* ItsPersonal: The Preacher states to Sarah that he has a score to settle with Stockburn.
52	* KickTheDog: The thugs shoot a cow and Megan's pet puppy in the opening scene. Later on, Stockburn's gang [[spoiler: kills one of the miners just for mouthing off.]]
53	* LoveConfession: Megan and her mother both give one to The Preacher.
54	* LoveTriangle: Both Megan and her mother have romantic interest in the Preacher, oddly enough. But [[CelibateHero he doesn't seem to return the feelings for either of them]]. Of course, being that he's probably a ghost, it's possible that he can't return their feelings, physically or otherwise.
55	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The Preacher could be just a man unbelievably lucky to survive six gunshot wounds to the back, he could be a vengeful ghost, an Angel of Death, or something else entirely.
56	* MysteriousPast: We never know for sure just who The Preacher is, the exact nature of his past encounters with Stockburn, or even whether he's really a preacher. It's implied his near-death experience (if that's what it was...) was what led to him hanging up his guns and taking up the cloth...but even that's speculation.
57	* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: After the Preacher rides to town to deal with Stockburn and his deputies, Megan goes after him to give him a proper farewell only to [[MissedHimByThatMuch barely reach town after he just left]].
58	* NiceGuy: Hull's a great guy, just [[RomanticRunnerup really bland]] compared to the badass [[TheGunslinger Preacher]].
59	* NoNameGiven: Just "The Preacher". Not even Stockburn says his "real" name.
60	* OffIntoTheDistanceEnding: The film ends with The Preacher riding away into the mountains until he disappears, or at least until the scene [[FadeOut fades out]] to the snowy mountains.
61	* PluckyGirl: Megan adamantly declared that she would never leave the camp after [=LaHood=]'s mooks raided them. She even rides into [=LaHood=]'s mining operation and has a chat with Josh [=LaHood=] without thinking of the danger she has put herself in.
62	* PragmaticVillainy: When [=LaHood=] threatens to bring in Stockburn, the Preacher points out that he comes at a high price and it would be cheaper to buy the miners out. To the surprise of his men, [=LaHood=] accepts this. It's the miners themselves who turn down the offer.
63	* PrecociousCrush: Megan, who is 14, has one on Preacher, who is her elder by a significant margin (Eastwood was 55 at the time of filming).
64	* {{Prospector}}: The film is all about them, with a contrast between the more primitive methods of Hull's struggling, sympathetic tin-panner community and the more advanced (and destructive) methods of the villainous [=LaHood=]'s mining company.
65	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Stockburn, the marshal, is a villainous take on the trope.
66	* RapePillageAndBurn: Pillaging and burning appear in the beginning of the film, courtesy of the bad guy's {{mooks}}. The raping comes later, but the preacher intervenes to stop it going the course.
67	* RecycledPremise: The film can come across as a loose remake of ''Film/{{Shane}}''. Furthermore, with the heavily implied supernatural nature of The Preacher and the haunting main theme, it's also quite similar to Eastwood's directorial debut ''Film/HighPlainsDrifter'', albeit [[LighterAndSofter much less dark and nihilistic]].
68	* RescueIntroduction: The Preacher and Hull first meet when the Preacher rescues him from a bunch of thugs.
69	* RomanticRunnerup: Hull for Sarah, who is clearly more interested in Preacher after she gets to know him. [[spoiler: However, she comes to accept Hull's proposal upon realizing it would never work out between her and The Preacher.]]
70	* SayMyName: Stockton wages some psychological warfare the night before their confrontation by shouting "PREEEACHERRR!" into the valley.
71	* SceneryPorn: Actually [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]]. There isn't ''too much'' emphasis on the surrounding environment, in this Western.
72	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Six of [=LaHood=]'s men [[spoiler: try to shoot the Preacher in the back near the climax. Two survive since the preacher doesn't shoot people who are running away]].
73	* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: {{Justified\|Trope}}. Sarah's previous husband ran out on her, which is why she is cautious about falling in love again. [[spoiler:She ends up with Hull, who has supported her and her daughter for quite some time.]]
74	* SmittenTeenageGirl: Megan wants to marry the Preacher despite the fact that Megan is only fourteen and the Preacher is old enough to be Megan's father.
75	* SpiritualAntithesis: This film has a comparable setup to Eastwood's previous movie ''Film/HighPlainsDrifter'' since both movies are about a [[TheExpyWithNoName nameless gunfighter]] with [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane ambiguously supernatural abilities]] who helps defend a small town from violent thugs. However, the biggest difference is that Preacher and the gold panners are genuine heroes unlike the [[NominalHero Stranger and the town of Lago]].
76	* StealthHiBye: Done all the time by Preacher to imply his supernatural nature.
77	* StockQuotes: See TitleDrop. Notably, as Megan recites that passage, we see Preacher ride up outside the house.
78	* TitleDrop: "[[AsTheGoodBookSays I looked and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named Death.]]"
79	* TookALevelInBadass Hull. [[spoiler: In the film's climax, he accompanies Preacher to attack [=LaHood=]'s mining camp with sticks of dynamite. A little later, he's the one who takes out [=LaHood=] while Preacher takes care of Stockburn and his men.]]
80	* TheUnreveal: The Preacher never reveals his true identity. Stockburn seemingly recognizes him, but he never gets a chance to spill the beans to the audience.
81	* VillainousCheekbones: John Russell put his high cheekbones to good use as the antagonistic Stockburn.
82	* VillainousRescue: [[EvenEvilHasStandards Club]] tries to intervene on the attempted gang-rape of Megan just before the Preacher shows up.
83	* WeirdWest: The Preacher could be interpreted as an otherworldly being. When Megan prays for a miracle, he turns up the next day, and the scars on his back show that he once survived being shot six times.
84	* YouExclamation: When Stockburn finally comes face to face with the Preacher, he just emits a shocked "You!" before drawing his gun.

Context Film / PaleRider