In my opinion it's definitely true that once you have seen one of those
'70's westerns, you have seen about 80% of them. They are all similar,
with both style and setup, which is probably part of the reason why
westerns never really have been my kind of thing. These type of movies
can still often distinct itself from the average genre attempt through
its main character and actor portraying them. This movie has Clint
Eastwood, so really, things couldn't had gone very wrong for this
movie.
And Eastwood doesn't just simply star in it, he also directed it, making this his first directed western as well. He of course had lots of experience as an actor in the genre already, so it wasn't a very big surprise he turned to directing one as well, pretty early on in his directing career.
I wouldn't exactly call this movie a genre great but it's definitely still a good movie. It's simple with its setup and settings, which makes this a pretty straightforward and easy and pleasant to watch genre movie. It has very little distractions in it, which also means that the movie isn't exactly being a very deep or involving one but it does help to make this a pleasant viewing experience.
It definitely still has some missed opportunities in it, in my opinion. It for instance could had done more with all of its townspeople, who now instead all remain a bit too shallow and too much in the background. It also felt somewhat uncomfortable to see what an unpleasant character Eastwood was playing. He's not exactly a bad guy himself but definitely not the sort of guy you would love to hang around with.
The movie doesn't always follow the typical genre clichés in that regard, which does of course helps to make this a somewhat more original genre attempt. It shall please those who want to see something different but at the same time it will also please those who expect a more typical and genre cliché driven Eastwood western. It has something for everybody in it really.
It's simply a good genre movie that I just wasn't very taken with all of the time.
7/10
And Eastwood doesn't just simply star in it, he also directed it, making this his first directed western as well. He of course had lots of experience as an actor in the genre already, so it wasn't a very big surprise he turned to directing one as well, pretty early on in his directing career.
I wouldn't exactly call this movie a genre great but it's definitely still a good movie. It's simple with its setup and settings, which makes this a pretty straightforward and easy and pleasant to watch genre movie. It has very little distractions in it, which also means that the movie isn't exactly being a very deep or involving one but it does help to make this a pleasant viewing experience.
It definitely still has some missed opportunities in it, in my opinion. It for instance could had done more with all of its townspeople, who now instead all remain a bit too shallow and too much in the background. It also felt somewhat uncomfortable to see what an unpleasant character Eastwood was playing. He's not exactly a bad guy himself but definitely not the sort of guy you would love to hang around with.
The movie doesn't always follow the typical genre clichés in that regard, which does of course helps to make this a somewhat more original genre attempt. It shall please those who want to see something different but at the same time it will also please those who expect a more typical and genre cliché driven Eastwood western. It has something for everybody in it really.
It's simply a good genre movie that I just wasn't very taken with all of the time.
7/10
Watch trailer
You do realize that Eastwood is not human in this movie. He is a vengeful spirit avenging the death of the Marshall. The reason he isn't nice to the Towns people is because he has returned to torment them and cast them into Hell.
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