The Quick and the Dead (1995)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Sam Raimi

Writer (WGA):

Simon Moore (written by)

Release Date:

10 February 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Western

Tagline:

In this town, you're either one or the other

Plot:

Lady avenger returns to western town owned by a ruthless gunslinger hosting an elimination tournament.

Plot Keywords:

Contest | Revenge | Quick Draw | Desert | Exploding Building

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Sharon Stone	...	Ellen "The Lady"
Gene Hackman	...	John Herod
Russell Crowe	...	Cort
Leonardo DiCaprio	...	Fee Herod "The Kid"
Tobin Bell	...	Dog Kelly
Roberts Blossom	...	Doc Wallace
Kevin Conway	...	Eugene Dred
Keith David	...	Sgt. Clay Cantrell
Lance Henriksen	...	Ace Hanlon
Pat Hingle	...	Horace
Gary Sinise	...	The Marshal
Mark Boone Junior	...	Scars
Olivia Burnette	...	Katie
Fay Masterson	...	Mattie Silk
Raynor Scheine	...	Ratsy

MPAA:

Rated R for western violence.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Netherlands:12 (TV version) | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

TriStar Pictures

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [Sam Raimi] [pov shot]As a drinking glass and bullets fly through the air, we see their targets from the missile's viewpoint.

Goofs:

Continuity: After young Ellen shoots the Marshal standing on the stool, the next shot shows the gang riding out. The stool the Marshal was standing on is nowhere to be seen.

Quotes:

Ratsy: And that concludes the lesson for today.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Veronica Mars: The Quick and the Wed (#2.15)" (2006)

"Quick and the dead" may hold your attention quite a bit...

Sharon Stone is another gun in the old West town… It seems that she is here to pay off an old score that has haunted her since she was a child… She becomes swept up in a deadly quick-draw contest where anybody can challenge anybody in the windy dusty streets… The fighters must not draw until the clock makes the first chime of the hour… Whoever is standing after the draw is the winner… The prize is $123,000…

The lawless town of Redemption is ruled by a despicable ironfisted gunman called John Herod who takes a lot to scare him… Hackman plays pretty well the kind people hate… He is, here, a fearless, sadistic, cold-blooded killer in charge of everything, who decides who lives or who dies…

Herod wants a preacher in the tournament – even if he has to beat, kick, and knock him to the ground to force him back into it… Cort— humiliated and chained out by the fountain—used to be pretty fast, faster than Herod… But now he wouldn't hurt a fly… He is a man of peace who has renounced violence… Years ago he was an outlaw… In fact, he was only a kid when he hitched up with Herod… He singled him out because he was a little smarter, a little faster than most… Now, he must revert to his former believes to survive…

As Cort, Russell Crowe is saintly when compared to the movie's real villain… Cort tries to redeem himself, but gets enticed into the killing by Herod who is trying to prove that he's a fraud...

Several other men were just running a little errand for Herod… But Herod made an example of them all: the buffoon card shark (Lance Henriksen); the hired gun moseying into town to kill (Keith David); the teenager gunslinger who thinks he is on a different level (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Raimi succeeds through his shots of each gunfighter to show the worried and scared faces of each gunfighter, the clock counting away the time, and Herod's magnified evil smile…