this is one of my fav. clint eastwood westerns! i received this movie like brand new!

This is the least of Clint Eastwood's Western films. That is not to say that it's bad. It has a lot of good in it. It has great scenery (it was shot on location in Idaho by the great Bruce Surtees), and it has a genuine rustic feel to it. It feels very real. It has excellent performances, with kudos going to Michael Moriarty, who gives the best performance here as a "leader" of the miners, and Richard Dysart as a mining boss who wants to wipe out the settlers who are trying to find their own gold. It's beautifully shot (the interior scenes and night scenes are expertly done), but thematically, there's something missing here. Clint's character is just called Preacher, and it feels like a tamer version of Clint's Western masterpiece, High Plains Drifter. It feels like there are supernatural elements here, but you're not sure whether it's intentional, ambiguous, or just plain sloppiness. Even the final confrontation seems contrived. The film feels unfinished, like it's really not sure of itself, and the effect is disconcerting. It's one of the few Clint Eastwood films that has a very noticeable uneveness to it.

This is not a disaster, but it's not one of Clint's better pictures. It's worth viewing once or twice, mainly for the beautiful location photography and some good performances.

One of the best Clint Eastwood westerns of all time. A retelling of the Shane story, but done so much better. I don't even own Shane since this beats it in every way.