Episode Description
Sam Raimi’s wild-ass Western has his signature style all over it, but from a certain perspective, it’s really Sharon Stone’s vehicle: As star and producer, she reportedly got both Raimi and Leonardo DiCaprio attached to the project, and she even contributed to creative elements like costuming and plot. What a lady!
THE QUICK AND THE DEAD was critically divisive when it came out (despite an all-star cast including Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, and Keith David), and we weren’t much more unified in 2025: We’ve got a variety of opinions on if the ridiculous plot gets too much in the way of a real story, what the value of a good gag is in otherwise well-charted cinematic waters, and whether or not the whole thing even holds together.
References:
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“The Masterpiece that Almost Was: The Quick and the Dead” by Ryan Sanderson for Perisphere, the Trylon blog
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“The Family Stone: How Sharon Stone’s Vision Shaped The Quick and the Dead” by Courtney Kowalke for Perisphere, the Trylon blog
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“Lance Henriksen Interview on The Quick and The Dead (1995)” by John Kenneth Muir
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TheQuickAndTheDead.net , created and maintained by Bob Bish, a featured extra and production assistant on THE QUICK AND THE DEAD
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“Give to the Trylon’s Film Forever Fund so they never have to increase ticket prices!
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Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Main Theme” composed by Alan Silvestri from the THE QUICK AND THE DEAD soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 361: THE QUICK AND THE DEAD (1995)
2:54 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
6:01 - Sam Raimi, the man that you are
23:23 - Is it too patently absurd to connect emotionally?
39:56 - Does it work better as a parody?
49:36 - A deconstruction of the stoic Western persona
58:10 - The performances that stand out (and don’t)
1:06:20 - The Junk Drawer
1:14:25 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1995
1:22:45 - Cody’s Noteys: The Quick and the Said (15 one-minute discussion topics)