May 31, 1993
THE QUICK AND THE DEAD
Screenplay by Simon Moore
Synopsis by Brian Aldrich
In Colorado, 100 years ago, ELLEN, a young female shootist, arrives in a tough outlaw town to enter a bizarre contest where the contestants fast draw against one another until the last man is still alive. The town is run by MAYOR JOHN HEROD, a fast-gun shootist who gets 25% of every dollar spent in town. Unless they are hookers or hooker's children, single women are an unusual sight in this town. Ellen can't get a room in NELLY WEITZ hotel, so she gets a room in HORACE's saloon. Popular gunman ACE HANLON arrives as well as other well-known shootists: SGT. QUANTRILL, a black gunman; SCARS, an escaped prisoner; GUTZON, a foreigner; and SPOTTED HORSE, an Indian who claims to be invulnerable to bullets. Thieves FLAT NOSE FOY and RATSY show up with a prisoner, CORT, a former bounty hunter turned Priest. Herod arrives and agrees to let Cort live if he wins the contest.
The first duel is fought between the KID, a young ambitious gunman who is Herod's bastard son, and Gutzon. The Kid wins. Cort declares he will not shoot, but he is given one bullet with which he kills his opponent Flat Nose. Herod, pleased to see Cort fall from grace, faces against Ace Hanson and blows him away. Ellen faces DOG KELLY, a dirty swine, and wins her duel.
Meanwhile, Ellen saves Cort from a beating. She reveals she's here to kill Herod for killing her father years ago. Evidently, Ellen's father was the town MARSHALL who Herod killed and then took over the town.
The next day, Herod kills Quantrill who was paid by Nelly Weitz to enter the contest and kill Herod. Herod runs her out of town. The Kid kills Scars. After whorehouse owner EUGENE DRED rapes a teenager, Ellen kills him in their duel. Cort proves Spotted Horse is not invulnerable to bullets. That night, Cort has a chance to run away, but he won't leave Ellen alone to face Herod.
The next day, Herod asks the Kid to step down, but the Kid proudly refuses. Herod kills his own son. Cort and Ellen are forced to duel. Cort kills Ellen. Finally, Herod faces Cort. Cort starts to walk away. Suddenly, the town starts blowing up from Ellen's dynamite. She appears. Her death was faked. She duels and kills Herod. Cort takes over as Marshall and cleans up the town.
Summary Criticism: While the main characters are intriguing, the ending is unnecessarily contrived.
The Quick and the Dead (1995) - imdb
The Quick and the Dead (1995) - wiki
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