Let me start off by saying The Quick and the Dead is a goofy-ass movie but it is so fun to watch. I was looking through director Sam Raimi’s backlog one day shortly after Multiverse of Madness was released and found this little western hiding in his credits on Letterboxd. It has all the Raimi-isms that one would expect if they’re familiar with his style.
This isn’t your average Western. There is no calm, cool, collected cowboy staring death in the face from the wrong end of a six-shooter. Instead, you have Sharon Stone throwing convention out the window and out-muscling the likes of Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Keith David, AND Leonardo DiCaprio. Francine Maisler was the casting director for this picture and she has quite the resume including things like The Big Short, 12 Years a Slave, The Revenant, etc.
The Quick and the Dead is just over 100 minutes long and gets going right from the first scene. Sharon Stone is to die for in this movie and eats up the screen, but her male counterparts fail to live up to her level. Gene Hackman is a big bully to the town he rules over and to his son, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio. Russell Crowe hangs out in the background as a gunslinger turned preacher alongside Keith David, a gun for hire.
This isn’t your average Western.
Everybody works their clunky dialogue with their natural talent and creates an energetic presence for their characters, but Raimi’s directorial style doesn’t mesh that well with a Western. His focus and attention on the eyes is well known, but his sequence of gunshots and awkward angle zooms stick out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the genre.
The other thing that really stuck out to me is this strange Princess Bride-esque soundtrack. I don’t know what made me think of it, but the music just didn’t match the vibe of the rest of the movie. There are a few awkward plot decisions that don’t really jive with the rest of the formula either. I can’t think of a Raimi movie that’s perfect, but this one is far from it.
The Quick and the Dead is fun to watch and has a few laughable moments because it’s just so strange compared to the rest of the genre. It’s a great way to spend a rainy afternoon watching a strange amalgamation of 1990’s goodness. The Quick and the Dead is available to rent on Prime Video ($).
Score: 77/100
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Released: 1995
Studio: TriStar Pictures
Starring: Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Keith David, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe
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