The Quick and the Dead (1995)

Gene Hackman plays John Herod, an evil man who rules the town of Redemption with an iron fist. He takes 50 cents of every dollar made in town as a tax, and hosts an annual six-shooting tournament so he can kill his enemies out in the open.

A strange woman named Ellen (Sharon Stone) arrives in town just in time for the tournament. She wants revenge against Herod for a past misdeed. She says he “stole my life.” But this year’s tournament has attracted a number of other interesting sorts as well.

There’s Sgt. Cantrell (Keith David), hired by the poor townsfolk to rid themselves of Herod. There’s The Kid (Leonardo DiCaprio), eager to win approval from Herod, who he thinks is his father. And there’s a former gunman turned preacher named Cort (Russell Crowe), who vows not to fight.

When Cort was young, Herod took him under his wing and made him a member of his gang. Then Herod forced Cort to kill a priest; Cort responded by turning to religion himself.

But Herod doesn’t believe a killer like Cort can change. And he’s always looked forward to an opportunity to match his gun against Cort’s.

Review:

With a cast that includes Hackman, Crowe, Stone and DiCaprio … well, you know you’re in for a film with some strong performances. You’re also in for a film heavy on Spaghetti Western influences, right down to the dusters many of the characters wear.

Heck, the past misdeed done to Ellen’s character is a minor variant on the reason Charles Bronson seeks revenge in “Once Upon a Time in the West.” Then there’s the old trick of shooting a chair from under a man with his neck in a noose, lifted from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”

Unfortunately, Raimi goes a little crazy with the special effects. Like apple-sized bullet holes in the head of a man who’s been killed in a gunfight. Like exploding buildings that somehow don’t kill any innocent bystanders.

Still, this marks one of the more entertaining big-screen Westerns of the 1990s. Oh, and Woody Strode has a tiny role as a coffin-maker. It marked his final screen appearance. In fact, he died at age 80 in 1994, the year before this film was release.

Directed by:
Sam Raimi

Cast:
Sharon Stone … Ellen
Gene Hackman … Herod
Russell Crowe … Cort
Leonardo DiCaprio … Kid
Tobin Bell … Dog Kelly
Roberts Blossom … Doc Wallace
Kevin Conway … Eugene Dred
Keith David … Sgt. Cantrell
Lance Henrikson … Ace Hanlon
Pat HIngle … Horace (bartender)
Gary Sinise … Marshal
Mark Boone Junior … Scars
Olivia Burnette … Katie
Fay Masterson … Mattie Silk
Raynor Scheine … Ratsy
Woody Strode … Charlie Moonlight
Jerry Swindall … Blind Boy

Runtime: 107 min.

Memorable lines:

Blind boy: “Herod lives in that house. He gets 50 cents of every dollar in this town.”
Ellen: “What’s the town get.”
Blind boy: “It gets to live.”

Ellen: “In case you forget, preacher, I saved your life last night.”
Cort: “No, I think you just stretched it out a bit. Might even have gone to heaven if you’d let me die.”

Herod, to the residents of Redemption: “This is my town. If you live to see the dawn, it’s because I allow it. I’m in charge of everything. I decide who lives or who dies.”

Ellen to Herod: “I’m gonna kill you if I have to ride all the way to hell to do it.”
Herod: “Do you have some particular problem with me?”
Ellen: “I’ll let you know.”

Herod to Cort: “Like I say: You put a fox in the hen house, you’ll have chicken for dinner every time.”

Cort to Herod, as he prepares to face Ellen: “Sorry, John, change the rules. From now on, all the fights are fair.”