The Quick and the Dead (1995)
In this town, your either one or the other.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming. Although there is hardly a genre of movie music that I can say is constantly as impressive as that dubbed “Spaghetti Western” I admit I don’t tend to watch a ton of westerns. I’ve never really zeroed in why that is, and most of the time I do decide to watch one it’s already well known and oft enjoyed by the crowd out there that does watch a bunch of them. As alluded to last time, I had something in mind that I wanted to come back to tonight for just such a reason - and to be honest it’s a bit of a cheat since I already have watched it before so I know if I like it already, it’s just a matter that you might not know if I do. Grab those stirrups and slide on your best boots, tonight we draw as fast as we can in The Quick and the Dead.
There are a lot of story elements going on here, but the main story itself centers around a gunslinger competition in the old lawless west. The size of the pot draws out all sorts of folks - the good, the bad, the ugly, and the revenge-bent. Some just want respect, some would rather be left alone - but for one reason or another they are all there. Of course, the meat of the story rounds up from all - or at least a good number - of the characters involved in the contest and not the contest itself, so in that regard I guess you could say I’ve mislead you into believing the framing device is the story. That is, however, the best we can really get into it lest I ruin potential reveals for you as the story plays itself on screen, so suffice it to say that we have at least four character stories being told withing this tournament of steel nerves and deft hands.
The characters themselves come in a wide range of types. We have an invincible Native, we have a hitman, a priest, a tale-teller, a dirty man, a pervy man, and a woman with revenge in her eyes. That’s of course not even all the main nor the other array of side characters like the blind kid, the main villain, and the one aptly named Kid, It’s a big old cast of characters, but our focus here really lies on the Lady, the preacher, the Kid, and the villain, and that’s where the most development and story springs from. Most the others don’t develop much - and you could argue that not all of the main ones are much in the form of development either, but the main ones at least feel incredibly fleshed out by the end when all the stories come to be told.
The actors also do a good job here, and honestly they should - this thing is packed with some big names, regardless of how much time those big names may get on the screen. It lets some real nuance get in there on even the second-hand gun fighters. Now, I won’t tell you that it’s the most accurate western as it takes a bit of stylish liberties throughout, but it keeps the feel and that’s really what I’m there for anyways. I also won’t tell you that they don’t pull a bit of overacting at various moments - but I’m perfectly okay with it because it’s not really breaking me from my enjoyment if someone wants to chew up a scene or do a backflip after they’ve been shot. There’s something to be said for being able to enjoy a movie without counting rounds and throwing yellow cards because of historical inaccuracies and the likes. Likewise, I don’t hold any of the other moments where something might come off as wack against anything - for example, the dirty pedo guy is something that adds a good character moment into the movie, even without taking into account any of the sad realities of the way-back when.
Two things very western should have: Saloons…
Of course, we get a good array of costumes here. Yes, it’s a Western - but it’s a stylized one. Fancy gun mechanisms, and an absolute food-truck of filigree covered pieces are bound to check out in the prop department, but more so than that each character is distinct. Each of the gunfighters feels different in both look and relative attitude to each other, which is then further well used by making some of the villains guards looking so copy-paste. It’s not just little things like colors of coats, stripes or plain either - coats, types of coats, perhaps this character is more of a suit type, that one over there looks like he just finished wrestling a pig on his way out from jail - even on over to the character themselves, like the preachers progressive cuts and bruises from his treatment, or the various characters with one or more blind eyes.
The set does a wonderful job of being a backdrop, looking all the part of an old west town with the exception of the almost Burton-esque villains house, which probably only feels that way because of how much it stands out from the rest of the ramshackle saloon-style square wood buildings. It’s kind of a nice little contrast that could comment on the wage gap between the master and his little town playthings, but it also helps spruce up the otherwise samey dirt-filled wild west town you’ve seen a hundred times before. Most the buildings look that way outside and in - “yes, this belongs in a western” you’d think, so it just helps it be visually a bit more interesting with that one weirdo-house. The little fountain in the town is a nice touch to break up the street as well. You know how it is, that thing they like to call “visual story telling.”
Speaking off, man Raimi does some whacky stuff in here. I mean, the number of whip-zooms (forgive me for not being entirely positive of the technical name) on peoples faces and objects sometimes made me want to laugh. I get that might be a bit of a me thing in that regard, but it does keep things rather interesting for the eyes regardless. There’s also some nice focus racks in there that give a great visual effect for the scenes. Things are constructed well here, and you won’t be disappointed in watching it visually in the slightest - even if a few times it can be a bit, like i said with acting, over the top. Audio is good - it never quite hits the greatest hits of the spaghetti westerns that I do enjoy so much, but it’s very much the kind of thing that can feel refreshing if you’ve had a stint of movies just throwing in random artist’s pop renditions of things all the time.
… and guns. Usage may vary.
Granted, it has an R rating for a reason, but if you enjoy some westerns, action, and some interesting story telling you will probably enjoy this one quite a bit. I mean, just the actor list alone could tell you that it’s at least probably going to be well acted in the entertainment department, and I know people have watched movies for less. It keeps it’s action pretty simple, but the way it’s visually telling its story within that framework is quite well done - of course, you don’t really hear too many people saying that Sam Raimi can’t direct a movie.