The Quick and the Dead
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Movie Reviews of The Quick and the Dead
Movie Review: The Western as Modern Myth
Summary: 4 Stars
The Quick and the Dead has long been derided as a Sharon Stone star vehicle that flopped. However, there is much more to this film than meets the eye. Featuring an ensemble cast that includes, Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gary Sinise, Keith David, and Lance Henricksen, this film is a refreshing change from past takes on the western. Stone plays a quiet and beautiful gunslinger, come out of the dusty plains to the town of Redemption, seeking revenge for the murder of her sheriff father years ago by the town dictator John Herrod, a dark and malevolent old gunfighter intent on maintaining his stranglehold on the frightened populace by staging a quick draw contest, the better to publically eliminate any opposition to his rule, and to squash any hope of salvation. Drawn into this dark contest are Herrod's former partner turned preacher Cort, a man whose tortured soul still seeks it's own salvation, and who Herrod seeks to pull back to Hell. Herrord's son, The Kid, enrolls in the contest as a way to seek fame and glory, and to prove himself to a aloof and uncaring father. Thrown into the mix are a number of colorful characters come to town to seek their own fortunes and the fireworks ensue. There is strong symbolism throughout this film, shades of death and rebirth, powerful archetypal figures in the charaters of Herrod, the powerful demonic ruler of the underworld, and Cort, the misguided but eventual redeemer and saviour.
This film boasts a strong and talented cast that give some wonderfully enjoyable performances. Sam Raimi does an incredible job once again of producing a stylishly directed tale of loss, redemtion, salvation, and revenge in this telling of the western as mdoern myth.
Movie Review: Please pass the popcorn
Summary: 4 Stars
Frankly, I have certain reservations about the postmodern (name your "pasta") western and yet I enjoyed this film which has an outstanding cast, featuring Sharon Stone (Ellen), Gene Hackman (Herod), Russell Crowe (Reverend Cort), and Leonardo DiCaprio (the Kid). The supporting cast includes Gary Sinise (Marshall) and Pat Hingle (Horace the bartender). Herod is the corrupt mayor of Redemption (I'm not making this up) who has organized a quick-draw competition for gunfighters. Ego and greed motivate most of the contestants. Ellen is motivated by revenge. Once an associate of Herod's, Cort is a pacifist and refuses to participate. (Of course, he's also renowned as the quickest draw.) Through a process of deadly elimination, two "finalists" will soon face each other in the streets, probably without hope of redemption, and then....As directed by Sam Raimi, my only significant criticism of this film is that we learn almost nothing about the background of the major characters prior to their participation in the competition. (Perhaps I have been spoiled by Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, John Sturges' The Magnificent Seven, and more recently, Jeff Blitz's Spellbound.) The Kid is a case in point. Whose son is he? (Herod's?) Raimi raises even more questions about Cort. For example, is he really a clergyman or merely assuming the identity of one such as Robert Mitchum's character in The Night of the Hunter or Clint Eastwood's in Pale Rider? At this point, I ask "What difference does it make?" So I settle back with some refreshments and stop analyzing the film. (My wife would claim "over-analyzing" it.) It is what is so I enjoy it for that rather than rattle on about what it is not. Roll it!
Movie Review: Number of Prominent Actors in a Unique Western
Summary: 4 Stars
I've watched this movie a number of times. Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio were still relatively early in their careers, Gene Hackman brings a veteran presence, and for me this was actually one of Sharon Stone's best performances.
This movie takes many classic western themes while also using some interesting camera angles and almost comedic gunshots to bring a bit of satire of those earlier westerns. Some people might not appreciate the lightheartedness of some scenes which takes away some of the seriousness of the movie. For me, the characters and gunslinging action are heightened by the occasional attempts by the movie to mock its subject.
For those who want a summary, I'll offer this. Sharon Stone rides into town with an attitude, and with hints of some history between her and Hackman's character. We're offered glimpses of this background as the story progresses. Gene Hackman is the cold-hearted businessman who controls all the money in the town, backed by hired guns. He holds a fast-draw contest and offers out a prize. The contest is only to draw his enemies in the open, where he can face them on even terms in the street. Hackman abducts Crowe, a former criminal partner who has turned to the priesthood, and forces him into his game. DiCaprio plays a Kid with a flamboyant attitude who claims to be Hackman's son, and enters the contest to prove himself. The main actors are backed by a number of other recognizable faces playing stand-out characters.
From there, there is plenty of memorable gun matches leading up to the final fast-draw.
Movie Review: Not great, but great fun
Summary: 4 Stars
This is one of my favorite Westerns, if a guilty pleasure.
I love the fact that the movie itself has very little plot. Big evil guy hosts a tournament, so a bunch of people come to town to shoot each other. That's basically the overall plot.
But each of those characters has a back-story, and the intertwining of them creates a series of sub-plots like steel net holding the movie together.
If you haven't seen this in a while, check it out. You may be surprised by the people in it, and all of them give excellent performances. Of course Gene Hackman's great - he'd be brilliant sitting on a blank stage reading breakfast cereal side-panels. Sharon Stone is wonderful, tortured between her lust for revenge and her fear of not being able to follow through (quite Hamlet-esque of her, really). Lance Henrickson, Keith David, Tobin Bell...
The real star of the movie, though, is Sam Raimi's direction. Remember that bizarre camera work he used in "Evil Dead"? Apply that kind of cinematography to the old west. Wonderful! I think my favorite shot is where the guy looks down after a gunfight, and his smug smile drains away when he sees the pinhole of sunlight in the middle of his shadow.
And how can you go wrong with a movie that features the sound of a whip as part of the theme music! Only "Blazing Saddles" handled that with the same artistry!
I can never say that this is a great film, but it is a lot of fun to watch, particularly watching for the little nuances in the background.
Movie Review: More fun from Sam Raimi
Summary: 4 Stars
Leave it to Sam Raimi creator of Evil Dead and Army of Darkness to envision a western where men are so tough and grizzled they can light a match off another man's beard stubble. John Herod (Gene Hackman) presides over the wicked town of Redemption where he takes half of every dollar for himself in exchange for letting the rest of the town live. Every year he holds a fastest draw contest where the meanest, the ugliest, the flashiest, and the fastest gunmen eliminate each other in a formal contest for prize money. Sharon Stone centerpieces as female gunman Ellen who comes to town for the opportunity to take down Herod for what he done to her and her daddy. But the reason to relish the film is for its two dozen seedy gunmen who go by names like Scars, Ratsy, Charlie Moonlight, Zeb, Simp Dixon, and Bordello swell just to name a few. Each gunman has his own style. One likes to wipe poisoned horseradish on his bullets before a fight another keeps his gun in a camera. Pre-fame Russell Crowe appears as a hardcore killer turned pacifist preacher. DiCaprio plays "the Kid" who makes the women worry his pretty face might get damaged before every showdown. Like most Raimi films its all very much tongue in cheek and meant to make you laugh while trying to keep a very straight face. In some ways you wish he had become even more audacious. But Quick and the Dead is testosterone laden fun with a little leather clad estrogen farm at the helm for a bonus.