Review of The Quick and the Dead (1995) by Phil C — 04 Mar 2011

Before you say "Sharon Stone isn't Clint Eastwood, and this is bloody unlikely" can I just mention that the whole thing is meant as a Spaghetti Western homage/ tribute; From the close-ups of determined eyes and skewed camera angles through to the dramatic soundtrack (which often threatens to break into echoed whistling and harmonica solos), her character Ellen is the only progressive element in Sam Raimi's reverent "take" on what constitutes the ideal, modern Western,.

It's the classic revenge format, in this case because Ellen's father the sheriff was humiliated and murdered when she was a child by a gang lead by Gene Hackman's sadistic Herod - king in all but name of the frontier town of Redemption, where he hosts a gladiatorial knockout contest for gunslingers. He proves he will stop at nothing when he challenges Leo DiCaprio's Kid (who looks about fifteen) to a gunfight and fatally wounds him, although it's been acknowledged that he's Herod's son - or perhaps because of this fact.

It isn't as good as "High Plains Drifter" or any of the "Dollars" films - the characters often come across as stereotypes, including Russ Crowe's curiously understated turn as bad-guy-gone-good Cort, but within the confines of the genre I think it holds up well. The most shocking thing which COULD have happened would have been if Herod had survived and prospered despite the justified ill-feeling towards him , but that would have broken the rules of spaghetti-making!