Clint Eastwood's first Western since The Outlaw Josey Wales is a virtual remake of Shane, about a mysterious stranger (Eastwood) who helps a band of gold prospectors against the ruthless land grabbers (and their hired gunman) who threaten to blow them off the face of the earth. Michael Moriarty is very good as one of the prospectors, and Carrie Snodgress is his fiancée whom Eastwood helps. 'Pale Rider' works well as a kind of latter-day 'Dollars'-style adventure, with a blazing action showdown at the end, and it's closer to High Plains Drifter in that Eastwood's character has no past and could be more angel of death than mysterious drifter. It's an interesting fusion of the spaghetti and American prairie Westerns, and good fun for Eastwood fans.
