Now I enjoy western movies and although this doesn't have that traditional western vibe going for it, it's still pretty darn entertaining. This movie is like watching a comic book western movie come to life and although the plot is a bit absurd it's creative and has substance to it. Despite the it going in a narrow direction but it goes in a narrow direction with at least some substance. The plot is about a woman named Ellen aka Lady(Sharon Stone) who is a badass cowgirl that comes to a western town with a motive and ends up in a quick draw tournament with bunch of contestants. Anyone can challenge anyone in this tournament. The reward for winning the tournament is 120,000 dollars and the last man standing takes it all. What I liked about this movie besides it being a movie about a quick draw tournament in the west is how fun, intriguing and creative the action scenes are. A bit wacky at times but still pretty cool to watch, even the dialogue is a bit comic book like. Sharon Stone is charismatic and very attractive in this, especially with the cowgirl attire. Leo is pretty good as the Kid even if he can be a little annoying at times. Gene Hackman stands out as the villain without overdoing it and actually backs up what he says for the most part unless when he is unsure. So it isn't a shock why he owns the whole western town but this isn't the first western Gene has been in. Russell Crowe is in this and although he plays decent part in the story his character ain't nothing special and sort of comes off mundane but he was in good shape. Despite his mysterious past. Overall I enjoyed this movie, not one of the best western I seen but it's a pretty cool one.

7.8/10

Although The Quick and the Dead is primarily remembered among film fans starring Sharon Stone as a revenge seeking frontier woman, for me the film stands out because of Gene Hackman. As John Herod, outlaw kingpin and ruler of the outlaw town of Redemption, Hackman is one of the most evil people ever created in any film genre.

Sharon Stone has excellent reasons for wanting this man dead, although the truth is the key to the whole film and I won't say. Suffice to say, she's learned the gunman's trade and more than holds her own with any of the male competitors.

In westerns about outlaw towns the usual is for the outlaws to respect each other as they are all men on the dodge. That's not what you get in The Quick and the Dead. Hackman for his sadistic amusement decides to conduct a fast draw contest, a kind of fast draw Superbowl. He's even kidnapped a former member of his band, Russell Crowe, who has renounced violence and become a preacher. And his unacknowledged offspring Leonardo DiCaprio is in the contest as well.

There is of course a big similarity to the Kirk Douglas/Johnny Cash western, A Gunfight. But in that it was just the two of them staging a contest for both pride and money. That's expanded on quite a bit in The Quick and the Dead.

I thought Gene Hackman was brilliant in the Clint Eastwood classic, The Unforgiven. Brilliant and evil also. But Hackman's character of a town marshal in The Unforgiven is a boy scout next to the outlaw kingpin of The Quick and the Dead.