High Plains Drifter (1973)

Yes, that includes the Dollars Trilogy and the best picture western Unforgiven. The story was more exciting and focused. I loved the music and film techniques from the camera angels, locations, choreography of the action scenes and editing. Ahead of its time and so is the chilling music and film techniques that feel very Hitchcockian.

This movie begins with a cowboy (played by Clint Eastwood) riding out of the desert heat into a small town called "Lago". He then goes into the only saloon in town where he encounters a problem with three cowboys but rather than get into it with them he decides to go to the barbershop for a shave. The three cowboys follow and upon provoking him they get shot for their efforts. Minutes later a woman named ""Callie Travers" (Marianna Hill) deliberately bumps into him on the street and then starts and berating him for no particular reason. One thing leads to another and eventually he drags her into a barn and proceeds to rape her. After that he heads to the local hotel to get a room where he immediately falls asleep on the bed and has a nightmare of being whipped to death in this same town while all of the townspeople look on. The next day "Sheriff Sam Shaw" (Walter Barnes) comes to see him and with the blessing of the town council offers him anything he wants if he will protect the town from three outlaws who are due to be released from prison and plan to ride into town in the next couple of days. But what the sheriff and the townspeople don't realize is that this particular cowboy has his own way of doing things and doesn't particularly care whether they like his methods or not. Not only that but he has a secret agenda of his own. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a very good—albeit highly unusual—type of Western with definite paranormal overtures. Again, this film is not a typical Western but I found it to be quite entertaining and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

High Planes Drifter (1973)Plot In A Paragraph: A stranger (Eastwood) comes to the small town of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.Following on from Magnum Force, Clint was back in the saddle again, directing himself in the western genre for the first time!! It's easily his best western since The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. Like many of Clint's movies, it is violent, mysterious, disturbing and at times funny too. the line "You're gonna look awfully silly with that knife stuck up your a$$" never fails to amuse me.The Drifter is possibly the least likable of Clint's cowboys (he even rapes a woman) but he also uses his new found power to promote the much maligned dogsbody Mordecai to Sheriff and Mayor, he buys everyone a drink in the bar, and makes the owner pay for it!! He also gives a Native American (yelled at by the shop keeper) some blankets and his children a jar of sweets!! So it's swings and round shouts I suppose!! The movie is well directed by Clint, it has a sharp script and the cast is full of Malpaso regulars. And the haunting, eerie score by Dee Barton stays with you long after the movie ends. High Planes Drifter grossed $15 million at the domestic box office to become the 20th highest grossing movie of 1973.

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER is the first western that Clint Eastwood starred in that he also directed himself. While he gives a typically great performance as the titular character, the real surprise here comes from his matured, stylish direction that would have you thinking he'd been making these films for twenty years beforehand. This is an eerie western, laced through with violent flashbacks and an increasingly hellish atmosphere as it tells the story of corrupt townsfolk who watched a man die at the hands of three violent outlaws.It's one of those films where my attention was gripped for every moment. Eastwood doesn't play a likable character at all – he starts off by raping a woman – but the reason for that gradually becomes clear as the film progresses. The supporting cast of ne'er-do-wells is fine, although nobody gives a stand-out performance (apart from Billy Curtis as the kooky, lovable dwarf, Mordecai). Geoffrey Lewis pops up in an early role as one of the bad guys.The direction is superlative and the script avoids the typical clichés for the most part. I paid particular attention to the soundtrack, which combines eerie, dramatic effects with excellent music. The ending is one of those ones that actually exceeds audience expectations in terms of the dramatic tension, excitement, and plain good ol' fashioned filmmaking it excels in. This may not be Eastwood's best, but it sure as heck is up there with the best of them.