The Quick and the Dead - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Quick and the Dead

Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie

When most people think of Sam Raimi they immediately think of three things. Comedic horror movies, Bruce Campbell, and Spiderman. The man has been a legend in the horror community for MANY years, having directed the infamous Evil Dead series as well as countless short films and horror flicks. Probably his biggest mainstream attraction is the Tobey Maguire Spiderman films, but very few people remember that he had a brief foray into the Western genre. In what is known as the “who’s who” of Hollywood at the time, Raimi infused his trademark wit and charm into a Spaghetti western setting and made one of the most fun movies of my childhood. I used to watch my old VHS copy in the late 90s over and over again, watching Russell Crowe spin those silver colts around in his hands and drool over Sharon Stone in my downstairs living room, and have owned the film in at least 4 different formats (including this 4K UHD disc). Over the years I’ve come to realize that it’s not the greatest western ever, and has some storytelling flaws, but it still remains one of the most FUN western movies in my entire collection (right next to Silverado).

A gun slinging woman with no name (Sharon Stone) comes into the stinking (literally) town of Redemption with a motive. No one knows this motive, but does it really matter? Redemption is a rotten town filled with people who would cut your throat just to own your shoelaces. It just so happens that this nameless woman (we’ll call her Lady) has come into town on the eve of a yearly duel, where people from all over the territory come to test their gun fighting skills. Lorded over by John Herod (Gene Hackman), a man who takes $0.50 of every dollar in the town just to allow the citizens life, is running the competition, and it’s not too hard to figure out that he’s the target of the mysterious gun slinging woman.

Along for the ride are every type of miscreant available. A slick high flying trick shooter. A military sgt., a murderous ex-con, a perverted old man, a preacher, and even Herod himself. The only rules of the tournament are this. Accept any challenge from anyone in the event, draw and fire by the rules, and be the last person standing at the end of the day.

Raimi’s trademark whimsical quirkiness blended with the Spaghetti Western genre that he grew up on is a unique mixture. He fills the picture with all sorts of stylistic western tropes, going so far as to have pistol spinning almost a required event for the characters, and tons of slow motion shots of booted feet hitting the pavement. Everyone hams it up a bit, as Sam Raimi can NOT direct a film where chewing scenery is not a sport. Sharon Stone plays Lady with a combination of machoistic tough girl, and a sensitive frightened woman at the same time. When she enters the town of Redemption, Lady is confident about what she wants to do. However, when she finally comes face to face with her target, her internal struggles comes to the surface and the vulnerable woman underneath is slowly revealed.

I said above that this is a veritable “who’s who” of 90s Hollywood, and I meant that. The film has Gene Hackman, a 21 year old Leonardo DiCaprio, Sharon Stone, Lance Henrickson, Tobin Bell, Keith David, Gary Sinise, and lastly, Russell Crowe. All of them put in great performances, hamming it up to Sam Raimi standards, but Crowe and Hackman are the two shining male leads opposite Sharon. Hackman’s Herod is cruel and vicious, but still a man underneath. His violence and greed are unparalleled, but he allows glimpses of humanity through. Crowe isn’t given a whole lot to work with as he’s not nearly as fleshed out, but his charm and charisma back in those mid 90s is enough that you can’t take your eyes off of him during the duels.

While the film is VERY stylish, and uses some great photography with some excellent performances, it does have some faults. The hammy acting can sometime go a bit too far, and I honestly feel like the film could have been trimmed by about 15 minutes and been a bit leaner and cleaner at the end of the day. The focal point being the duel is a great story idea, but there are so many entries that a few of the mano e mano moments could have been cut down and the pacing would have benefited as a result. The Quick and the Dead is not the best western on earth, but it IS a heap load of fun, and is the perfect addition for those who like a stylish and fun western, ala Silverado.




Rating:

Rated R for western violence





4K Video: Video:

According to Sony, this new release of The Quick and Dead was taken from the original 35mm negatives and given a new master and a little touch up work. I can certainly believe it as the 4K UHD disc easily outclasses the old 2009 Blu-ray by a large margin. The film is given a dense grain structure, but it’s clean, it’s pure, and it looks 100% like film without being obtrusive or irritating. The speckles and flecks from the 2009 disc are gone, as are the blatant black crush issues. The Quick and the Dead has a very unique color tone, with lots of deep browns, amber’s and golden hues giving it a very dusty and sallow look at times. Skin tones are deeply bronzed, but primary colors (such as the fake blood obviously used) pop away from the bronzed earthy backdrops, and the detail levels are superb. You can actually see the individual peach fuzz hairs on Sharon Stone’s face, as well as the raw skin on Russell Crowe’s wrists. Comparing against the Blu-ray it’s really no comparison. I always thought The Quick and the Dead looked great on Blu-ray, but this new remaster does the format good. Especially one that was shot entirely on 35mm film instead of digital cameras.

The HDR really is impressive here. The film’s earthy, bronzed, tones don’t always lend itself for heavy color advancement, but the look of the colors are very organic and there is a sense of richness to them that I haven’t seen before in the film. Blacks are deep and inky, but without crush, and the textural details present on the brightly colored sashes of Ace’s outfit are almost shocking. Browns and ambers show different shades instead of being one single colors, and you can actually see little splinters on the old sidewalk as Russell Crowe’s Cort lays down drinking rain water from the sky. The film may not be 100% perfect in the encode (some of the grain can look a bit much at times), but it is an excellent representation of what an older film can look like on UHD.





Audio:

I always thought that the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track from the 2009 disc was excellent, but this new Atmos track really adds that little bit of extra oomph to make it noticeably superior. I noticed off the bat that the Atmos track is accompanied with a 5.1 DTS-HD MA track, which seems (upon A/Bing both discs) to be a repackage of the 5.1 mix from the Blu-ray. The Atmos track opens up the sound stage a bit more with the extra channels, allowing in little foot scrapes and bullet sounds impacting directly BEHIND the listening position. Gunshots ring out with authority and the dialog is almost perfectly impeccable. There IS one small complaint that kept this track from getting a perfect 5/5, and that was due to some mild hiss that came into play 3 separate times (the biggest one being while the Kid and Herod talking on the steps of his house), but they are rather minor and dissipate in a matter of seconds. LFE, though, is simply amazing. Raimi mixed the film incredibly hot so that gunshots rock the listener back as well as deep waves of bass accompany Alan Silvestri’s classic score. Horses hood pound away viciously, and even crashing tables impact like a ton of bricks. The overheads get a few notices with the explosions at the end, as well as a few footsteps from above, but they are not nearly as pronounced as other Atmos tracks I’ve demoed.





Extras:

• ALL NEW: 7 Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score: ​

The Quick and the Dead is not the greatest western ever made, but it is a WILDLY good time thanks to Sam Raimi’s unique vision and an all star cast. I get something new out of the film every time I watch it, sometimes bad, sometimes good. However, this 4K UHD disc makes the movie even more enjoyable, with a brand new remaster and a nice uptick of audio to Dolby Atmos. Comparing the 2 discs side by side It’s not even a comparison, as the audio and video improvements are VERY noticeable. My only complaint in the package is due to the same small extras that we got before being included. That aside, if you’re a fan of Raimi’s one and only western, this is the format to get it on, and if you already have the Blu-ray. Well, it’s an easy upgrade in my eyes.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobin Bell
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Written by: Simon Moore
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English, French DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Sony
Rated: R
Runtime: 105 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: July 18th 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Fun Watch