High Plains Drifter

Supernatural Western?

A lone gunman with no name and seemingly with no past, rides into the dusky town of Lago. The residents of Lago at first view the stranger with suspicion, but when news that some outlaws that are out for blood are on their way to town, they ask the stranger for his help.

This is Clint Eastwood's first Western film that he directed, and it's clear and evident that the guy not only loves the genre that made his name, he also knows what makes it work. Obviously having worked for Sergio Leone, Eastwood was making notes because High Plains Drifter oozes the mythical aura of many of Leone's finest genre offerings. To which, with thanks, the result is one of the best offerings in the 70s for the Oater enthusiast.

T...

I don't have much to say about 'High Plains Drifter'. It didn't thrill me or anything, but it did keep my attention from start-to-finish so it's evidently a good film.

Clint Eastwood is the only cast member worth talking about, he gives a commanding performance in the lead role. Geoffrey Lewis, a frequent castmate of Eastwood's, is the best of the rest, if I had to pick. The film does feature dark themes, which helps the film's pacing out a lot.

It's nothing special in my eyes, though there is entertainment there no doubt. It's a borderline 8* rating for me, but not quite.

Another Hollywood (spaghetti) formula Western where homicidal maniacs abound. Here, Clint plays a homicidal maniac who obviously comes back from the dead after being killed by three bad guys and betrayed by an entire town of people. So, the first thing he does is murder the only three men who weren't part of that. Makes sense? Not if you're looking for credible motivation. But credible motivation isn't a part of most of Eastwood's Westerns. Certainly not the spaghetti ones. So, the rest of the movie is just sound and fury, signifying nothing, and don't try to make sense out of any of it. It's just another movie about homicidal maniacs being everywhere. If the West or East or anywhere was anything like this, there wouldn't be anyone left...

Clint paints the Western town red, like Gehenna

A mysterious Stranger (Eastwood) trots into a remote town in west-central California, a dozen miles from the Nevada border. The townspeople desperately need his help to prepare for the release of three vengeful men from the territorial prison.

"High Plains Drifter" (1973) was Clints third directorial effort (although he also did some uncredited work on Dirty Harry). It parallels his Pale Rider from a dozen years later with the difference that Preacher from Pale Rider is essentially righteous and therefore protects worthy people whereas Stranger in this flick is vengeful, focusing on dishing out retribution to those who are bad. The fact that there are few good people in Lago makes ...