 What if I told you that on Netflix right now, you can stream a western film directed by Sam Raimi. It's less than two hours long. It's rated R. It features a top-tier cast and the kicker, it's a damn good movie. I would hope the reaction you give me is, I've seen the quick and the dead Adam, I'm gonna watch it again. Or, never heard of this film, but I'm gonna check it out now. If either of those are the scenario by all means go, watch now. Otherwise, stick around and I'll tell you exactly why the quick and the dead is awesome. I'm a sucker for a good western. I like to draw the gun. Before I break down this 1995 classic, I need to give a shout out to Isaac over on patreon.com slash adamdosmovies for being a mithril member. At that tier level, he has a perk where he can recommend movies and I have to watch him and give a shout out like I'm doing right now in the video. So thank you, Isaac. Let's talk quick and the dead. I mentioned Sam Raimi, if you're not familiar with his work, you should be. You're missing out. He did the evil dead. He did Spider-Man 1 and 2 and 3 and 3. It's grown on me. It's grown on me. He also did Doctor Strange, Multiverse of Madness, and a few other gems out there, Drag Me to Hell, comes to mind as a classic that nobody saw but me. His style works so effortlessly in this western theme, the campy zoom ins, the tilted camera angles, the pageantry and overdramatization of everything is on full display. The movie's protagonist just goes by the name lady for most of the film as her name is a mystery to this town that she rolls up into. We will get presented with the reason why in a series of flashbacks as the movie progresses. This woman's played by Sharon Stone. She has a very basic instinct about her and that instinct is to not say much to these people. Keep low, off the grid, sit in the corner with your hat pulled low. Just kind of survey the area. Why is she at this rundown town, this lawless area that's been taken over by bandits? Well, she wants to kill the man in charge. That man is a tough son of a bitch named Herod, played by Gene Hackman. Legendary, Gene Hackman. And Hackman and Stone are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the actors on display here. We have Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy the Kid. We have Russell Crowe as court, a priest, a man of faith who has renounced the old man he used to be and has been reborn, a phoenix rising from the ashes of his past. Lance Hendrickson's in this as ace, a showbody magician of sorts who is quick on the draw and quicker with the ladies. Tobin Bell aka Jigsaw aka Dog is here. Criminally underrated Keith David as Sergeant Cantrell. And then there's Gary Sinise casually popping up here and there in flashbacks. I will say Gary Sinise is making some awkward facial expressions in this movie. His tongue is just out of control. I understand in the scene he's being hung but still this is like pre-hanging. He's already like it's a little off-putting. It's a little off-settling. And I love Gary Sinise. Don't get me wrong. It's just Lieutenant Dan's a bit much in those moments. Blockbuster Hollywood writers today are complete hacks to put it nicely. They don't seem to understand that women can be strong independently of men. They don't have to make men weaker or dumber to build them up. They can actually coexist at the same plane. Men can actually be better than women and the female can still be the protagonist. It's wild. It's crazy stuff. And that's how quick and the dead presents it. Sharon Stone's Ellen is not a gunfighter. She has learned over the years to be good with a gun but she's not like the fastest draw on the west. She gets scared. She has nerves. She's not just this strong female lead. It's about time. I mean she definitely is but not in the generic sense. She has layer tour. She has baggage. She's weathered. She's older. She's still sexy as all hell. She still knows how to show some leg while laying on top of a bear skin rug which is on top of barrels of gun powder. I mean you don't talk about smoking. That's straight fire. Leonardo DiCaprio is charming as all hell. He looks to be 19 in this. Just young as shit. Perfect hair. Perfect teeth. He's Billy the kid. I mean he's the American fetishization of the character on full display. I love it. But Gene motherfucking Hackman is the reason to watch the quick and the dead. He is a powerhouse in this movie. Every scene he's in you feel a little chill in the air. His presence is baller. He saunters around, cash while his men have guns drawn on the town. This is a guy that saw what he wanted and he took it for himself with his posse. The people are on their knees begging this guy to let them keep a little bit of their money and he says nay. In fact he says I might take some more. You guys seem a little too comfortable and that's where Sharon Stone's character comes in. She wants revenge on a past wrongdoing by this guy and in the process of doing so she might end up liberating a little town. It's simple. It's eloquent. It's the 90s. This is how storytelling was perfected. You don't have 14 different subplots. You don't get to know 18 different characters. There are multiple characters for sure but they have limited screen time. There's enough for you to say okay I like this dude. I like the style of that guy. Let's get the gunfights going. And that's where we get to the main premise of this movie. How is she going to get revenge on this douchebag? Well she's going to sign herself up for a one-on-one gunslinging showdown. Bunch of guys are going to compete and one lucky gal in a head-on-head competition where the loser is dead and the winner gets to go on to the next one-on-one showdown. Like I said this is some good Sam Raimi shit. You got great creative camera shots. You got bullet hole silhouettes. You got the viewpoint of a guy's head being blown off. Now I will warn you if you're looking for something a little bit more straightforward like a Christopher Nolan flick where it's all very by the books. Very beautifully presented. You know stock camera shots. Not a lot of movement. You're going to be sorely mistaken. You're going to be sorely disappointed. This is Sam Raimi. That camera's moving all over the place. We're doing wild stuff. Sometimes it works. Most of the time it works. Sometimes they might miss here and there but we thankfully move on quickly. Quickly and the deadly. And that's my thoughts on this movie. I'm a big fan. I eat it up. I can watch this movie every year and I'm glad that it's on Netflix at least for free. Now I want to hear from you. Let me know if you saw this movie and your thoughts. Isaac on Patreon. Thank you again for recommending this gym. It's been a long time since I saw it. I watched it with my son Connor. He's on the precipice of turning 11. He was a huge fan as well. Thanks again for watching. Like the video if you had a good time. Please think about subscribing as I post tons of movie related content each and every week and Patreon's right around the corner. So even if you can only give a dollar it shows some support. It shows that you appreciate what I'm doing and I would appreciate you. All right hopefully I see you soon. Take care.