The Quick and the Dead

Name: The Quick and the Dead
Genre: Action, Adventure, Western
Released: February 10, 1995
Duration: 107 min
Rating: 49
Cast: Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone

1995

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Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 148 Ratings

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8.1	User Score Universal acclaim based on 148 Ratings

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The Quick And The Dead

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Movie Details & Credits

TriStar Pictures | Release Date: February 10, 1995 | R

Starring: Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone

Summary: A mysterious young woman rides into the lawless town of Redemption to settle an old score that has haunted her since she was a child. She becomes swept up in a deadly quick-draw tournament and, in order to win her revenge, must compete in a contest in which gunslingers from all over put their lives on the line for fame and fortune. (Sony Pictures)

Director: Sam Raimi

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Western

Rating: R

Runtime: 107 min

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Critic Reviews

Michael Wilmington

That conscious absurdity is at the core of The Quick and the Dead. It's a rousingly grotesque, often wildly entertaining western horror-comedy, with co-producer and star Sharon Stone as a sexy lady gunslinger taking on all comers in the gunfight tournament from hell. [10 Feb 1995, p.C]

Janet Maslin

Ms. Stone's presence nicely underscores the genre-bending tactics of Sam Raimi, the cult director now doing his best to reinvent the B-movie in a spirit of self-referential glee. Mr. Raimi is limited by a sketch mentality, which means his jokes tend to be over long before his films end. But his tastes for visual mischief and crazy, ill-advised homage can still make for sly, sporadic fun. Read full review

Rick Groen

Thanks to him, The Quick and the Dead is more than moribund. How much more? Let's just say that there's motion in the picture. Indeed, speaking of accomplishments, Sharon Stone appears clad throughout an entire feature - gee, give a gal a gun and there's no telling what she can achieve.m [10 Feb 1995, p.C1]

Scott Rosenberg

The Quick and the Dead takes on a more serious tone - as if, even in this loonily amoral environment, we're supposed to care about atrocities. The film builds to a satisfyingly catastrophic climax full of biblical flames and fluttering bank notes, but there's far too much dead time along the way. Read full review

Roger Ebert

As preposterous as the plot was, there was never a line of Hackman dialogue that didn't sound as if he believed it. The same can't be said, alas, for Sharon Stone, who apparently believed that if she played her character as silent, still, impassive and mysterious, we would find that interesting. More swagger might have helped. Read full review

Peter Travers

Quick and the Dead plays like a crazed compilation of highlights from famous westerns. Raimi finds the right look but misses the heartbeat. You leave the film dazed instead of dazzled, as if an expert marksman had drawn his gun only to shoot himself in the foot. Read full review

Amy Gamerman

Ms. Stone. She alternates between two expressions here: sullen, and aghast. Then again, if you were listed on the credits as the co-producer of this violently dull piece of shlock, you'd look that way, too. [16 Feb 1995, p.A12]

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User Reviews

Steven1981

Apr 7, 2020

The Quick and the Dead was directed by Sam Raimi who made many films such as Spider-Man, Drag Me to Hell and The Evil Dead just to name a few... 1995 for me was a golden age of movies when great films were coming out such as Desperado, Species, Assassins, Casino.....The golden era has soonThe Quick and the Dead was directed by Sam Raimi who made many films such as Spider-Man, Drag Me to Hell and The Evil Dead just to name a few... 1995 for me was a golden age of movies when great films were coming out such as Desperado, Species, Assassins, Casino.....The golden era has soon passed and nowadays the standard has dropped considerably although you still get the odd decent flick I think most films are just plain crap. In 1995 another gem dropped and it's called THE QUICK AND THE DEAD and it's a kind of western, romance thriller starring an allstar cast such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Lance Henriksen, Gary Sinise.... Sharon Stone plays some gunslinger or cowgirl or gunfighter who enters a competition involving shooting each other by drawing guns on each other. Gene Hackman plays someone named Herod who I think is boss of the whole town or at least he acts like he's in charge of everything but Herod killed Sharon Stone's father when she was little or something and her father was a Marshall. She enters the gunfight competition to kill Herod (Gene Hackman) to avenge her father's death and that's basically the story which is pretty simple. Usually I hate western type films like these but The Quick and the Dead is a great film with thought and consideration put into the film along with great performances by Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman and some violence and nudity that basically makes this a great film. A bonus for the film is that it never gets boring.… Expand

2 of 8 users found this helpful26

Xenophobe114

Jun 25, 2021

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2 of 2 users found this helpful20

PatC.

Jun 18, 2007

This movie is a non-stop compendium of every western cliche, with a generous helping of Clint-Eastwood's-feminist-sister-as-gunslinger. The show misses no opportunity to sacrifice logic and relevance for entertainment value. It has no business working, but entertainment is never about This movie is a non-stop compendium of every western cliche, with a generous helping of Clint-Eastwood's-feminist-sister-as-gunslinger. The show misses no opportunity to sacrifice logic and relevance for entertainment value. It has no business working, but entertainment is never about content, only the way the content is treated, and as entertainment this movie borders on being a masterpiece. It's just plain good old fashioned story telling. If you want to look deeper, fine. Stone's character has hints of Hamlet trying to muster up the courage to bring his fathers murderer to justice. But overall the good characters are redeemed after being bad, and the bad are bad beyond belief. This show was a no-brainer put-down for professional movie critics who make a living trying to sound intelligent. But there's a reason this movie has become a staple of cable TV. It's the basics: plot, script, screenplay, elements that appeal to all tastes, and editing - all coordinated to make for a presentation as digestible as jello. The content is stupid, over the top, unoriginal and disposable, but I would rather see garbage turned into entertainment than entertainment turned into garbage. And there's nothing wrong with cliches, only how they're used. Here they're used in a context where they work. So kick back with a six pack and enjoy top grade movie making without bogging down in cognitive thinking.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

Atrium89

May 24, 2021

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4 of 4 users found this helpful40

NicoDaFlagburna

Jan 30, 2011

Good solid cinematic foundations that are let down by patchy direction. The film feels like it deserves better but the script, the acting and the narrative all interweave like a sweater knitted by your Gran. Not made with any nod to fashion and something that would have looked odd at anyGood solid cinematic foundations that are let down by patchy direction. The film feels like it deserves better but the script, the acting and the narrative all interweave like a sweater knitted by your Gran. Not made with any nod to fashion and something that would have looked odd at any point in history. Though a sweater is a sweater and it will keep you warm but that depends on the fabric. 65/100… Expand

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

Broyax

Jan 1, 2019

Hommage à bien des westerns qui se déroulent à OK Corral et/ou au bout d'une corde (de la vengeance vengeresse), Mort ou Vif est surtout un pastiche souvent rigolard du genre, un genre à part entière qui a longtemps sévi il y a des décennies et rarement brillé à dire vrai... même si on aHommage à bien des westerns qui se déroulent à OK Corral et/ou au bout d'une corde (de la vengeance vengeresse), Mort ou Vif est surtout un pastiche souvent rigolard du genre, un genre à part entière qui a longtemps sévi il y a des décennies et rarement brillé à dire vrai... même si on a toujours vu de non moins rares exceptions ici ou là...

Sam Raimi a donc emprunté quelques vieux codes et autres vieux tics et les a tournés à son avantage... Cette galerie de personnages constitue ainsi à elle seule une véritable satire pince-sans-rire des lieux communs et des stéréotypes usés jusqu'à la corde et simplement dépoussiérés... Avec Gene Hackman en tête, sadique, cynique, cruel et sardonique, soit le genre de méchant qu'on apprécie immédiatement !

Dans le rôle du petit con qui lui va comme un gant, Di Caprio fait des étincelles et quant à la belle et rebelle Sharon Stone en Calamity Jane improvisée, on ne se lasse pas de l'admirer. On peut regretter que son personnage demeure un peu trop veule voire chialeux sur les bords, car Sharon n'est jamais aussi convaincante qu'en blonde vénéneuse et ça, Verhoeven l'a bien compris en son temps.

Elle sert donc (un peu) de repos impromptu du guerrier pour un Russell Crow encore débutant qui fait trop le bellâtre reconverti à la dernière minute et accessoirement le prêtre (!) tueur à l'insu de sa benoîte ignorance. Le scénario, globalement, ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard mais c'est surtout la fin qui se laisse nettement aller...

Néanmoins, voilà un western qui reste assurément très détendu et nous fait ricaner de ses clins d'oeil et autres galéjades... y compris jusque dans le prétendu drame (cf la gamine et son père, allusion hilarante à un certain vieux western très connu...). Enfin, la mise en scène plutôt inventive se révèle en outre assez efficace pour éviter toute impression de répétition.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

TheDude-

Aug 3, 2015

A really cool western movie with great action sequences that really bring out the cowboy in all of us and the cast does a really solid job its a shame that the character development is lacking though

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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94	#94 Best Movie of 1995
49	#49 Most Discussed Movie of 1995
33	#33 Most Shared Movie of 1995