While Westerns were a cornerstone of Hollywood cinema for many decades, by the 1980s the genre was at its lowest point in popularity. Perhaps as a result of the genre oversaturating film and television for so long, this does not mean there were not some bright spots for Westerns in The Decade of Excess, like Clint Eastwood’s Pale Rider.
Released in theaters on June 26, 1985, Pale Rider was an outlier Western hit in the 1980s, when Horror, Sci-Fi, and Action flicks were the biggest moneymakers. Becoming the best-selling Western of the decade, other engaging titles included Silverado (also released in 1985), but Pale Riders’ success was proof that the genre still had a pulse, paving the way for the more modern Western hit film, 1988’s Young Guns.
With that in mind, Clint Eastwood once more spread his talent all around for Pale Rider, acting as the director, producer, and taking the lead role of the mysterious man on a pale horse named The Preacher. Factors that undoubtedly contributed to the film’s high quality: Eastwood’s work took a modest major motion picture budget and turned it into a box-office smash.
With hefty competition at the box office, with films like Back to the Future, Cocoon, and Rambo: First Blood Part II all out around the same time, Pale Rider stood out, because, honestly, it was more than a standard Western. Explaining this further, Pale Rider introduced an element of the supernatural into the story, not making it a Horror movie like others from the ’80s, but rather a Gothic Western ghost story. In this story, you have Clint Eastwood playing the man known as The Preacher, who rides in on a pale horse to protect a group of gold miners being terrorized by a ruthless mining baron named Coy LaHood (played by the Emmy-award-winning Richard Dysart). The Preacher has a mystical quality, often appearing and disappearing without notice, leading you to believe he is a vengeful spirit out to protect the innocence.
A rather cool, different kind of Western, The Pale Rider, also has a very biblical undertone. This is evident in the title, a direct reference to The Book of Revelation, while Eastwood’s The Preacher character symbolizes Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Very fascinating elements to it all, the film has a slow-burn pace, adding to the very ghostly, eerie atmosphere. Now turning 40 years old in 2025, Pale Riders’ special anniversary is celebrated with the release of the first-ever 4K Ultra HD edition.
Released on April 29, 2025, it is one of three Clint Eastwood classics brought to 4K Ultra HD through Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment this year, the others being 1971’s Dirty Harry and 1976’s The Outlaw Josey Wales. Each of them was released on the same day, Pale Rider comes in either a standard edition with slipcase, or a limited edition steelbook. Pressed to a single 4K disc, the restoration is nothing short of outstanding, with vivid clarity, color, and depth never before seen.
Joining this, you also get over three hours of bonus material, including the new featurette The Diary of Sydney Penny: Lessons from the Set and Painting the Preacher: The Cinematography of Pale Rider. Joining these are older features from prior format releases, such as Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy – Reinventing Westerns, and two long-form documentaries, The Eastwood Factor and Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story.
Altogether, this is probably the best home media release of Pale Rider ever put out. Featuring plenty of extras and a fantastic restoration, it is a 40th anniversary release for Western and supernatural fans alike. That is why Cryptic Rock gives the 4k Ultra HD release of Pale Rider 5 out of 5 stars.
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