The Quick and the Dead

release year: 1995
genre: western
viewing setting: home DVD, 4/13/11 and 1/29/05

synopsis: All sorts of different gunfighters come to a small town for a quick-draw contest.

impressions: Quite an entertaining modern-day western. The main plotline revolves around Sharon Stone's revenge-seeking female gunslinger, but there are plenty of other good characters: a killer-turned-priest who doesn't want to fight, a son seeking recognition from his mean father, a seemingly-bulletproof Indian, a hired assassin, a fake gunfighter, and more.

things to watch for: Any of the gunfights; enough attention has been put into all the contestants that pretty much all of their fights are interesting.

something this movie has that no other movie has: Holes through bodies that just got shot.

acting: Sharon Stone starts off good (i.e. mean and menacing) then gets soft for a while before becoming tough again. Russell Crowe is the repentant gunman who just wants to be a priest, and provides a good co-protagonist. Leonardo DiCaprio is believeable as a young tough who thinks he can win it all. Gene Hackman makes a great bad guy, with many similarities to his character in Unforgiven. Other actors of note who appear here: Lance Henriksen, Keith David, Gary Sinise, Sven-Ole Thorsen, and even Woody Strode!

final word: Good, tough, gritty western with lots of action.

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