The Quick and the Dead - the Superbit Edition on DVD

Sam Raimi directs this Sharon Stone co-production about a woman bent on revenge who enters a gun fighting event as a way to kill the man who done her wrong.

Stone plays Ellen (a.k.a. “the lady”), a mysterious babe who shows up in the subtly-named town of Redemption, looking to exorcise her personal demons by offing town boss John Herod (Gene Hackman). She arrives on the eve of the Big Gun Fight, where gunslingers from all over compete for a huge cash award given to the last man (or, this year, woman) standing.

Herod is a real snake and we don’t for one moment think he won’t get his comeuppance - nor do we mind that it’s coming. But before that happens he, who appears to win the event whenever it’s held, will be challenged by the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio (as “the Kid”), Russell Crowe (as a former gunman turned preacher - who’s forced into the event by Herod), as well as colorful gunslingers played by journeyman performers such as Keith David and Lance Henriksen.

A series of flashbacks gives us increasing insight into what made Ellen who she is today, including a final one that really drives the point home.

But most of the movie follows the gunfights and the lead up to them. It’s a round robin-type thing where any challenger is free to challenge any comer, the shootouts taking place on the town’s main street at the stroke of whatever hour happens to be appointed.

We had steeled ourselves for some kind of feminist rant, but were pleasantly surprised to find that “the Quick and the Dead” is rather straightforward. Ellen’s part would have worked just as well if she’d been a haunted male rather than a haunted female - and the fact that they did make her a woman opened up some interesting “fish out of water” plot points including writing DiCaprio's character as a wannabe love interest.

Stone carries off her role very well. She has good screen presence and is very believable. We’re left to wonder where Ellen has been for the past twenty years or so, but that’s not Stone’s fault and, to be fair, it doesn’t really affect the movie.

Hackman is always great and his bad guy here reminds us of his nasty turn in Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven.” Herod doesn’t do his own dirty work here, though, rather relying on intimidation and henchmen (people of hench?) to keep the townsfolk in line.

DiCaprio seems to us a very underrated actor. Granted, we’ve only seen him in a few films, but he always turns in a good performance and this film is no different. His immature “legend in waiting” is carried off believably. Crowe is also very good as the bad man turned good who’s forced to do bad again.

In the end, it’s a fairly predictable outcome but told with enough imagination - and featuring Sam Raimi’s typically good direction - that it works just fine.

What also works is Columbia Tristar’s Superbit treatment which, as usual, gives us a DVD that looks and sounds positively spectacular. We didn’t have a copy of the original DVD release to compare it with, but this version does, indeed, offer the kind of superior picture and sound for which the Superbit line has become known.

The picture is presented in anamorphic widescreen, 16x9 TV compatible, and though the film has a bit of a yellow look to its production design the picture itself is wonderfully rich and detailed. Likewise the audio, offered in either dts or Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, fills the room beautifully, with great rumbling thunder and rain that surrounds us. Naturally, the gunfire also sounds very believable and the dialogue also comes through very well.

One thing we’ve noted in the Superbit collection that we haven’t commented on before is the default audio selection, which used to be Dolby Digital but which is now dts. This isn’t a big deal, but it is a nice touch because we find ourselves using dts most of the time when it’s offered because we like its overall smoothness and fidelity. It isn’t a huge difference from Dolby Digital - and if we didn’t listen for it we’d probably never know the difference - but dts does seem to be becoming the “audiophile” choice for movie soundtracks so it’s nice to see Columbia Tristar using this as its default for its “audio and videophile” line.

In all, a good addition to the Superbit collection.

The Quick and the Dead - the Superbit Version, from Columbia Tristar Home Video
105 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1, 16x9 TV compatible), dts and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
Starring Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio
Produced by Joshua Donen, Allen Shapiro, Patrick Markey,
Written by Simon Moore, directed by Sam Raimi

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