Simply Perfect

A Masterpiece!

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

**SPOILERS** All the critical acclaim and other opinions, okay. I'm just gonna add my two cents because I think this is one terrific little western. It isn't all hazed up with dark, political motives, just good guys and bad guys. Let me get something off my chest, here. The OTHER movie of the same name? THAT'S the stupid one, as a matter of fact, I'm surprised that they didn't have the transformers (or maybe Batman), doing battle right along with all the other super gunfighters.In THIS H.B.O. movie, the story is a lot more down to earth. Given that ALL westerns are fantasy, and are for entertainment I think that we have to look at just a couple items. The actors- you have to be able to find an identity for each one of them; Done, and Done. The scenery, is it sufficiently "western"? Yup, (more on this later). Dialogue? A small problem; too late twentieth century in places. Story? Good. Direction, Pretty darn good.Just a couple of points... These things are prevalent in almost all westerns, and it's a P.O. Why, oh why, did Valion leave Dobbs' gunbelt, horse and gear? It's is his by right of booty. Plus, you DO NOT leave a horse saddled and tied up. If you're not gonna take it, unload it and set it free. You won't be doing it any favors, though; it's a domesticated animal, and needs to be taken care of. Same thing for Ute's pony and gear.Another reviewer mentioned the fact that the relationship between Valion and the Ute (both are half-breeds) should have been explored. I agree. It would have taken a minute of dialogue or less to explain the fact that They were half-brothers, don't you think? Possibility - calling The Ute by name right before he killed him. Another "He led a raid on a Blackfoot village, killed a lot of women and children; including our mother". Oh, well...How about this relevant issue? there is an outbuilding in Bender's Flats, so it MIGHT have been an outhouse, and once they left the area, they were doing their business in mother nature, but, Susannah's brother not putting up a privy? Inhuman.Back to the scenery. When I first saw this movie on H.B.O., I was struck by how beautiful the surroundings were in Cinematography. I've owned a couple copies of this movie in VHS and DVD, and in High Def, it is striking to say the least. One of my favorite Westerns, and I recommend it for all who want an uncomplicated story that's entertaining and very well done on all points.

Totally unrelated to the Sam Raimi directed Sharon Stone film of the same title and much better too. The Quick And The Dead is a very under rated made for HBO western starring very authentic cowboy actor Sam Elliot. The film is very well made, looks great and is based off a book by Louis L'Amour. The pace is quick and is action packed. Performances are good and the dialogue is sharp. The film is very much in the same style as Shane and Pale Rider. Matt Clark of The Outlaw Josey Wales fame was a great villain. Sam Elliot was a natural for this role and was excellent here as leading man. The Quick And The Dead is excellent entertainment and will not let down fans of the genre.

Impressive location shooting in northern Arizona helps this rather worn plot along, and so does the acting.Tom Conti, ex teacher and ex Civil War sergeant, his wife Kate Capshaw, and their little boy Kenny Morrison, pull up stakes back east and head out West where a man and his family can escape the violence of the Civil War and breathe the fresh, clean, anarchic air.They offend one of those crusty, villainous families that are so often offended in these Westerns -- "Shane," "Will Penny," the Clantons -- and Conti and family are pursued by these revenge-driven miscreants over snowy hill and grassy dale.Well, I'll tell you. They don't know nothing' about survival in the West. Their hides are saved only by the appearance of Sam Elliott in buckskin and leather, toting a repeating rifle and various other gear. Elliott guides them through the wilderness towards the rude log cabin, miles away, that they will some day call home. But, of course, not if the evil family has anything to say about it.Time and again, the pursuers and the pursued wound one another but each carries on, leaving a trail of blood. The pursuers actually are winnowed down. One by one, they are plugged, except for the youngest, who sensibly decides to hell with it and rides off alone towards home. The rest of the pursuers don't fare so well.The plot line really is hoary. A pioneer family are unprepared for the violence they encounter and are saved by a romantic, sun-tanned stranger. The family's wife is attracted towards the mysterious savior and vice versa. "Mrs. McKaskel, if you wasn't married I'd of chased you till you dropped," says Sam Elliott, by way of declaring his deep affection for her. Mrs. McKaskel's pretty pale-blue eyes glow with pleasure.The acting is professional enough. Nobody can complain. Sam Elliott is his usual laconic, masculine self. He has a habit of holding conversations while facing at a right angle to the other, which gives him an opportunity to stare over his shoulder at the person he's addressing. Poor Tom Conti is saddled with a face that's about as interesting as a bowl of porridge, a kind of fleshier Dustin Hoffman, and his voice sounds like he suffers from an adenoid condition. He handles the role very well but those attributes knee-cap his performance.Kate Capshaw is quite a fox when you get right down to it but she's usually cast as a properly brought up, middle-class figure, as she is here. Only one film, whose title I can't remember, gave her an opportunity to show a slinkier and sexier side. I was genuinely worried about the family's son. He's about ten or eleven years old. I quailed at the thought of another cuddly kid saying cute things, but this kid can act. It could have been awful. He might have had disabling asthma attacks under stress or something. I shudder at the thought. That I never wanted to stomp him like an insect is a tribute to his talent.I enjoyed the message though. I thought it was carefully considered, thoughtful, and humane. Only Wussies swear off violence. Real men kill.

This was only a few years after I started working in Hollywood, and my first show on location. I loved it; Flagstaff in the autumn, cool talent (one day they even helped us wrap out a location far from the trucks by carrying sandbags!), cool teamsters who were actually working w/ teams of horses, watching the '86 World Series at the motel, arc lights (I was an electrician), DC power, staying warm next to an arc grid (if only the production manager knew that we were burning a $15 stick of carbon just for the heat!), San Antonio Peaks, Schneblee Hill Road, Oak Creek Canyon, and just working in the Great West on a Western. The director and Tom Conti were perhaps better suited to working on a stage drama concerning manners and mustaches, however I found the rest of the crew to be very glad to be working on a Western. And Sam Elliot was just ............ cool. Good times.