In the mining town of Lago, the city's inhabitants live under a dark mystery. In that city there was an exchange of fire that would make the city protectors tenants dead. The town leaders are asking a stranger to stay and protect them from three outlaws who will soon be released from prison and may begin to kill and corrupt again. The three criminals put the idea of returning to Lago as important to the cause of chaos as well as illegal acts.
This was supposed to be Eastwood's fond adieu to the worlds of Sergio Leone and Don Siegel; and indeed he cuts the operatic excess of the former with the punchy economy of the latter.
Eastwood registers strongly as actor and director of this revenge Western (yet another critique of High Noon), with a style that's influenced by his mentors, the economic efficiency of Don Siegel with touches of Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns
Eastwood holds fast to the rebel spirit of the spaghetti Westerns and revisionist "New Hollywood" Westerns of the previous decade, but packages it in a film that's slicker and more mainstream-friendly.
Part ghost story, part revenge Western, more than a little silly, and often quite entertaining in a way that may make you wonder if you have lost your good sense.
Blu-ray.com
November 23, 2013
Mysterious, sporadically comical, and classically Eastwood, High Plains Drifter is a wholly satisfying revenge saga that's askew enough to surprise as it exercises known elements.
