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| Two name stars are caught in shadows on this dubious poster for Sam Raimi's The Quick and the Dead |
The local king of a small western town promises a fortune to the winner of a shooting competition, which all the local sharp-shooters naturally line up for.
The Quick and the Dead is written by Simon Moore (Inside Out (1985, TV-series)) and directed by great Michingader filmmaker Sam Raimi (It's Murder! (1977)).
As the plot outline above suggests, there isn't much of a riveting story to be found in this artificial 90s western, which is closer to pastiche than homage. Raimi meeting the western could possibly mean either gold or horse manure, and the latter unfortunately most resembles the case with The Quick and the Dead.
The film is loaded with elements (sunglasses, the absurdly high reward prize and much else), which is very 1990s, and at the same time the stars stand out like sore thumbs in an environment that never becomes remotely authentic, funny or thrilling, which could have compensated some for the lack of authenticity.
No one esteems themselves here, although young Leonardo DiCaprio (This Boy's Life (1993)) is worth looking at here in the threshold between boy and young man. There are outstanding effects, (among them are bizarrely enormous explosions near the end), and flashy, stylish photography (by Dante Spinotti (Slipstream (2007))). But this style exercise bores more than it excites.
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Evil Dead (2013) - One hell of a ride (producer)
Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) - A fun, eye-popping adventure
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
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Drag Me to Hell (2009) - Raimi returns to horror in high style
Army of Darkness (1992) or, Medieval Death
Evil Dead II/Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987) - Campbell, Spiegel and Raimi's crazy, gory classic
Watch a 3-minute clip from the film here
Cost: 35 mil. $
Box office: 47 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.34 times its cost)
[The Quick and the Dead was released 10 February (North America) and runs 108 minutes. DiCaprio was paid 150k $ for his performance, - reportedly Sharon Stone (Intersection (1994)), paid it out of her salary, because she so wanted him in the film. Gene Hackman (Lucky Lady (1975)) was paid 1.3 mil. $. Shooting took place from November 1993 - February 1994 in Arizona. The film opened #2, behind Billy Madison, to a 6.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 18.6 mil. $ (39.6 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Raimi has stated about his situation after the release of the film: "I felt very empty. And I felt that I cannot continue down this road of style. I need substance." He returned with A Simple Plan (1998). Stone returned in Roseanne (1995, TV-series)) and theatrically in Casino (1995); Hackman in Crimson Tide (1995). The Quick and the Dead is rotten at 58 % with a 5.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Quick and the Dead?
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