The Quick and the Dead (1995 film)
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| The Quick and the Dead | |
|---|---|
 The Quick and the Dead DVD Cover |
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| Directed by | Sam Raimi |
| Produced by | Joshua Donen Patrick Markey Allen Shapiro |
| Written by | Simon Moore |
| Starring | Sharon Stone Gene Hackman Russell Crowe Leonardo DiCaprio |
| Music by | Alan Silvestri |
| Cinematography | Dante Spinotti |
| Editing by | Pietro Scalia |
| Distributed by | Columbia TriStar |
| Release date(s) | February 10, 1995 |
| Running time | 107 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $32 million USD |
| IMDb profile | |
The Quick and the Dead is a film directed by Sam Raimi, released in 1995. It stars Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lance Henriksen, and Keith David. The script was written by Simon Moore.
Tagline: Think you're quick enough ?
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The Quick and the Dead follows the course of a gunfighting contest held by John Herod (Hackman), a former bandit and murderer, now running the small town of Redemption, Arizona with the same ruthlessness. The contest is basically set to eliminate anyone who might have the courage and skill to pose a threat to Herod. The prize money the contest offers attracts a variety of contestants— including several outlaws, an adventurer (David), a Swedish champion (Sven-Ole Thorsen), a trick shooter and braggart (Henriksen), Herod's alleged son (DiCaprio), and a mysterious woman (Stone) bent on killing Herod. Herod sends his henchmen to retrieve a man named Cort (Crowe), formerly his partner, now retired to a life as a missionary. Cort is publicly tortured and humiliated when he refuses to recant his mission of non-violence. He and "the Lady" (as Stone's character is known) find they have a common enemy in Herod and devise a plan to kill him and free the town from his oppression. It is revealed through a series of flashbacks that Stone's character is no crusader or savior; her mission is one of personal vengeance: as a young girl, Herod manipulated her into accidentally killing her father (Sinise), the town's marshal.
[edit] Featured cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Tobin Bell | Dog Kelly |
| Roberts Blossom | Doc Wallace |
| Mark Boone Junior | Scars |
| Olivia Burnette | Katie |
| Kevin Conway | Eugene Dred |
| Russell Crowe | Cort |
| Keith David | Sgt. Clay Cantrell |
| Leonardo DiCaprio | Fee Herod "The Kid" |
| Lance Henriksen | Ace Hanlon |
| Gene Hackman | John Herod |
| Pat Hingle | Horace |
| Fay Masterson | Mattie Silk |
| Gary Sinise | The Marshal |
| Sharon Stone | Ellen "The Lady" |
| Woody Strode | Charlie Moonlight |
| Jerry Swindall | Blind Boy |
| Sven-Ole Thorsen | Gutzon, Swedish Champion |
| Raynor Scheine | Ratsy |
| Jonothon Gill | Spotted Horse |
| David Cornell | Simp Dixon |
| Joseph Rainer | Virgil Sparks |
| Arturo Gastelum | Carlos Montoya |
| Lennie Loftin | Flat Nose Foy |
[edit] Characters in depth
Dog Kelly- Kelly is an outlaw bent on finding some buried loot who's location he seems to have forgotten. He tries to kill Ellen mistakenly believing she was a rival for said treasure. In retaliation she punches him out, chains him to his cart and takes his hat to replace the one he destroyed. He joins the tournament to get a chance to shoot her. A deleted scene shows Ellen teasing Kelly about his nickname telling everyone else about how he was forced to eat his own dog or face starvation. Wounded by Ellen and eliminated.
Doc Wallace- Doc was the town's local doctor for as long as anyone can remember. He even remembers Ellen from long ago.
Scars- Scars is an escaped outlaw. He was sentenced to 35 years for murder, he served a mere three days. He still wears the prisoner garb from his escape. He gets his nickname from the fact he cuts himself after every time he kills someone. He is bald, filthy, and blind in one eye. Killed by "The Kid".
Eugene Dred- Dred is a local pedophile. Fee goads him into joining the tournament and he shows a liking to Horace's young daughter Katie. Killed by Ellen in an unofficial duel. Shot four times in chest.
Cort- Cort used to run with Herod and his gang, but he had a change of heart and has tried to make up for his past sins (Herod made him kill a minister who had nursed Herod's gang) as a preacher in a mission. Herod insists that Cort participates in the town's gunfighting tournament and has Ratsy burn the mission to the ground and abduct Cort back to town to do so. Even then he still dresses as a preacher.
Sgt. Clay Cantrell- Cantrell is a former Union soldier of the American Civil War. Even now he still wears his old uniform. He has been hired by the town to participate in the tournament in the hopes he will eliminate Herod in the process. First disarmed and later shot in the head by Herod .
Fee Herod aka "The Kid"- Fee claims to be the son of John Herod. Herod denies he is the boy's father, claiming his wife (Fee's mother) had an affair with a farmer. Fee makes a living as the town's gunsmith and enters the tournament hoping to earn his father's acknowledgment and respect. Killed by Herod.
Ace Hanlon- Ace is a trick shot performer. He has an appearance similar to that of Wild Bill Hickok. In addition to his trick shooting he also entertains people by telling tall tales of his exploits. Killed by Herod (shot twice in the chest).
John Herod- For many years Herod and his marauding band of outlaws roamed the countryside. They then settled on the frontier town of Redemption, extorting the town's citizens in return for their own survival. Herod dictates the town from his mansion in the center of town. His gang members enforce his will posing as the towns "Councilors". Shot in the chest and later in right eye by Ellen, in revenge for tricking her into killing her father.
The Councilors- Herod's gang, masquerading as the town's law enforcers. They are recognized by their clean black suits and armed with long rifles.
Swede Gutzon- Gutzon is a prideful man. He proudly states that he is a champion shooter from his native Sweden; a title nobody really takes all that seriously. Wounded by "The Kid" and eliminated.
Horace- Horace is the proprietor of the town's only saloon and is the manager of the town's gunfighter tournament.
Katie- Katie is Horace's daughter and helps her father run the saloon. She appears to be in her mid-teens and idolizes Ellen.
Mattie Silk- A local prostitute who has her eye on Fee.
The Marshal- The town's local law enforcer, who was killed by Herod and his gang 20 years before. His burnt down office is all that remains of any sign that law and order ever existed here.
Ellen aka "The Lady"- The tournament's only female gunfighter who has a personal vendetta against Herod.
Simp Dixon- Dred's first round opponent. Killed by Dred.
Red Ford- Scars' first round opponent. Killed by Scars.
Flat Nose Foy- He is a gunfighter with bad teeth and a brood of ill-tempered young children in tow. Wounded by Cort.
Virgil Sparks- A debonair southern gentleman who refers to himself as, "The Pride of Texas".
Carlos Montoya- Mexican gunfighter. Spotted Horse's first round opponent. Killed by Spotted Horse.
Spotted Horse- Sioux gunfighter who has a reputation for being impossible to kill in a gunfight. His body is covered with old bullet wounds, and his battle cry is "Spotted Horse cannot be killed by a bullet!". Killed (shot in the head) by Cort.
Ratsy- Ratsy is an errand boy for Herod. He's not very bright and is only partially tolerated by Herod himself. Killed by Herod because he wounded Cort's hand before their duel, ruining his aiming.
Blind Boy- Town's bootblack and merchant of unusual things such as printer's ink, perfume, and loose bullets.
[edit] Trivia
- In all other Sam Raimi films, the director's trademark 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 appears; obviously the car would be anachronistic in this film, but it has been reported that the chassis was removed and used in the construction of a wagon, and also jokingly reported that the entire car was located in a barn.
- The gunfighting contest uses the single-elimination tournament system (unsurprisingly, since most rounds result in the death of the loser).
- Despite popular misconception, this film bears no relation to Louis L'Amour's western novel The Quick and the Dead nor the 1963 film..
- At one point Cort charges towards Herod yelling, "Come get some!" The same line was said in Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness by Ash.
- In a notable special effects plausibility blunder, Herod observes a spot of light on his shadow after being fired upon by the Lady, thus realizing the light passing through him means he has been shot. Setting aside the fact that bullet wounds do not remain "open", for the light from the sun to shine through his body to the ground would require the bullet to have traveled the same path - only possible if he had been shot by someone lying on the ground, in his shadow.
[edit] Awards and nominations
1996 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (Saturn Awards)
- Nominated - Best Actress (Film) — Sharon Stone
[edit] External links
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