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Summary: A stranger rides out of the hot desert into a small town in the wild west. The towns people are scared of him, and 3 gunmen try, unsuccessfully, to kill him. He takes a room and decides to stay. Meanwhile, a group of outlaws are about to return to the town and take their revenge - will the towns leaders convince the mysterious man to help? (imdb)
actually a very interesting character, but i couldnt help but notice that--while original--the story is extremely weak, if it were a little more bustling and busy then this could have been better. and that plot twist could be seen coming a mile away (although not assuredly).
It's a decent movie. It have the same formula that most of westerns have. Mystery of the past, revenge and so on. The whole movie just builds the high ending that never comes. At the end they try too much explain things that are already clear. It's a shame 'cause there's so much of potential. In fact the story is great in my opinion, but the result ain't as good. The movie includes good shooting, some brutal action and of course Estwood does creat acting but that's all.
This develops a bit slowly, and oddly enough, it telegraphs - heck, it plainly shows - the twist ending. But it's still pretty inspired. Eastwood plays one of the most underhanded and mysterious antiheroes I've ever seen. Conceptually, it's fantastic - the way in which Eastwood's character slowly but surely brings the town to its knees, and the manner in which he finally ties all the loose ends together and carries out his plan is brilliant.
Supposedly this film is the reason John Wayne refused to ever do a film with Eastwood, which is, in itself, the biggest of honors any western can hope to achieve. Picking up a trick or two from his time with Leone Eastwood presents the bleakest of revisionist westerns and adds a dash of spirituality and a hint of rape.
Eastwood's dark & eerie twist on the Western genre. The drifter "looks like a man from far away" but up close, he's... I have no idea. He's a mysterious, nameless, demonic avenger, raping women, having dreams he should have no knowledge of, & painting the town red. As Herzog might say, "These bad-asses love flowery gesture."
Eastwood plays a character so dark and uncompromising, his past roles in westerns seem like positively good guys. He tears the town apart with the complete consent of the townsfolk then finally dispatches the villains in an incredibly stylish climax.
Personally I find this to be a better movie than the Man With No Name trilogy. It's terribly brutal, dark and uncompromising yet, at the same time, it has an absolutely bizarre sense of justice and redemption. Clint Eastwood is absolutely superb in his absolute mockery of the town he claims he will help. This is an must see for any western movie fan, if you can stomach it.
Certain things are hard to overlook, specifically the irritating characters (I'm looking at you, midget) and the fact that you know from the beginning exactly how everything is going to play out. The film's amorality is challenging; the unremitting misogyny makes this a particularly unpleasant watch, but I chalked most of that up to this being a rather unglamorous look at the old west. Otherwise, its enigmatic tone and religious symbolism, while often heavy-handed, make for a unique Western.
The movie has a fair amount of flaws for the most part but the surreal, nightmarish, final half-hour was amazing. It's too bad what leads up to it isn't as special or memorable but it certainly gets the job done regardless.
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