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The Quick and the Dead (Superbit...
Stars:
Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Roberts Blossom,
Kevin Conway, Lance Henriksen, Pat Hingle, Gary Sinise, Keith David, Tobin Bell,
Mark Boone, Jr., Woody Strode, Scott Spiegel, Sven-Ole Thorsen, Jonathan Gill,
Mick Garris, and Bruce Campbell
Writer:
Simon Moore
Director:
Sam Raimi
Feature
length: 105 minutes
Languages:
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean
Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 28
Sound:
DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1995/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: TriStar Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
After
the theatrical release of the final film in the “Evil Dead Trilogy” Sam
Raimi directed this homage of sorts to the gunslinger westerns with Sharon Stone
starring as a mysterious cowgirl who enters the lawless town of Redemption with
an eye on avenging the death of her father (Gary Sinise) upon the man who has
ran the town since his death, played with a bit of camp and a lot of zest by
Gene Hackman. There is a quick draw competition that has attracted all kinds of
outlaws and fortune seekers eager to gain the one hundred thousand dollar plus
award if they can draw their gun fast enough and stay alive. “The Quick And
The Dead” is probably more noteworthy now than it was back in 1995 because of
the amount of recognizable stars that include a younger “Pre-Titanic”
Leonardo DiCaprio, a “Pre- Gladiator” Russell Crowe, as well as veteran
genre character actors that include “Sven-Ole Thorsen” (Gladiator &
Conan The Barbarian), Lance Henriksen (Aliens & Millennium), Keith David
(John Carpenter’s The Thing & They Live), Pat Hingle (Batman), Kevin
Conway (The Lathe Of Heaven), and Woody Strode (Spartacus). Genre filmmaker Mick
Garris has a cameo in the film, as does genre icon Bruce Campbell, who is
credited as “Wedding Shemp.”
The
film features lots of kinetic camera moves and widescreen close ups that one
might associate with Raimi’s earlier films as well as some select westerns. I
must admit I enjoyed the film more now than when I first saw it years ago, but
then a lot has changed in the eight years since the film was originally released
and somehow the movie seems a bit more entertaining than it did back in the mid
1990s. The main problem I find with “The Quick And The Dead” is that the
buildup with all of these colorful characters entering the competition is never
quite paid off as much as one would hope. Some actors come and go too quickly
thus taking away some their own energy and presence they bring into the story.
However on home video and in hindsight I see this as more of a transitional film
for Sam Raimi. He would prove himself adept at directing some serious drama with
films like “A Simple Plan” and “The Gift” while becoming one of the most
successful syndicated television producers of the 1990s along with long time
collaborator Rob Tapert on “Hercules The Legendary Journeys” and “Xena
Warrior Princess” before directing “Spider-Man.”
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment is releasing “The Quick And The Dead” as a part
of their “Superbit” collection of films on DVD. I have never seen the
original release on DVD so this review is based solely on my impressions of this
DVD alone. I can imagine though not for certain that in addition to the video
and audio mastering at double the bit rate for this “Superbit” DVD, “The
Quick And The Dead” probably benefits from whatever perfections in DVD
authoring has occurred between the original DVD release and this one. The film
is presented on DVD in an anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of (1.85:1)
preserving the manner in which the film was exhibited for its theatrical release
as close as possible for home video. The picture quality is somewhat mixed with
a hair or two appearing on the print early in the film’s opening and some
scenes that reveal some grain. The film has a muted quality to it and there does
seem to be a faint grain throughout the motion picture so this may be more
intentional than anything else, not including the hair of course.
The
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Soundtrack is about equal to the
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack with the explosive gun fights and
literal explosions that occur in the film jumping out at the viewer, but
otherwise I found the mix to be a bit above average, but not as outstanding as I
have come to expect from viewing other “Superbit” DVD releases. English
Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and French, Spanish,
Portuguese, and Korean Language Subtitles are encoded as options.
“The
Quick And The Dead: Superbit” will debut on DVD-Video from Columbia TriStar
Home Entertainment on Tuesday, August 5, 2003.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All
Rights Reserved.
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The Quick and the Dead (Superbit...