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Sam Raimi’s “The Quick and the Dead” gets a bum rap. When the film was released in 1995, it was casually mocked by mainstream audiences who, at first sight, weren’t able to accept lead actress Sharon Stone heading a Western. Also, it’s possible that mainstream audiences weren’t ready for full-bore Sam Raimi style, which this film has in spades. Raimi employs his quick zooms, fast cutting, and Dutch angles with endless enthusiasm, making his Western just as frenetic and exciting as any of his better-loved cartoony horror films. “The Quick and the Dead” wasn’t a big hit, making only $47 million on its $35 million budget. Raimi’s fans will defend the movie, and Stone’s performance is exemplary; she didn’t deserve the mockery she received in the 1990s.
“The Quick and the Dead” is about a sharpshooting competition wherein the world’s most skilled quickdraw experts gather in the small, dusty town of Redemption to prove their mettle. The winner will get a huge cash prize. The losers, well, they’ll all be shot in the duels. Gene Hackman and Leonardo DiCaprio have roles as fellow competitors, and Russell Crowe plays a onetime shootist who has become a priest. Stone’s character is the mysterious stranger who rolls into town.
The script for “The Quick and the Dead” is credited to screenwriter Simon Moore, best known for high-profile miniseries like “The 10th Kingdom,” the 1996 version of “Gulliver’s Travels,” and “Dinotopia.” Like many studio films, though, Moore wasn’t the only writer to touch the project. Indeed, in a 2013 interview with Vulture, Raimi revealed that he was always unhappy with the ending that Moore wrote, and decided to seek out the help of another screenwriter. That screenwriter was Joss Whedon, and it seems Whedon gave Raimi some invaluable advice.
Raimi needed an extra screenwriter for The Quick and the Dead; Joss Whedon was available
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Whedon and Raimi, it should be noted, have something in common: they are both directors of some of the biggest Marvel Comics movies of all time. Raimi directed three “Spider-Man” feature films from 2002 to 2007, and Whedon directed two “Avengers” feature films in 2012 and 2015. Whedon also took over the script and directing of “Justice League” in 2017 for DC, replacing Zack Snyder (and taking no screen credit). Raimi noted in the Vulture interview that he loved “The Avengers,” admiring Whedon’s talents as a filmmaker. He then added that he and Whedon had worked together before, even if the public at large didn’t really know about their collaboration. Raimi said:
“[I]n 1994, I was making a western called ‘The Quick and the Dead,’ and having a script problem, and I came to the studio and said, ‘Can you find me a writer? I’ve shot this movie, and the end isn’t quite working.’ And ultimately, the movie didn’t quite work. But they suggested Joss Whedon, who was doing ‘Buffy.’ So I met Joss, and he saw the movie, and he helped me solve this ending in one afternoon. I thought, ‘Damn, you’re a good writer! I wish I could have had you rewrite the whole movie and save this picture!'”
“Buffy” is, of course, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the popular horror/comedy series from 1997. Whedon wrote the 1992 feature film that inspired the TV series, though, so Raimi would have been familiar with Whedon’s work in 1994. Whedon was well-known at the time for his talents at punching up other people’s scripts. In addition to “The Quick and the Dead,” Whedon also added to the scripts for “The Getaway,” “Speed,” and “Waterworld.”
Whedon’s fall from grace
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Whedon, of course, was also one of the credited writers of “Toy Story,” which came out the same year as “The Quick and the Dead,” so Raimi caught Whedon right in the middle of his initial career upswing. Indeed, Raimi was impressed, saying:
“I’ll never forget how good he was, and how precise, so when I saw ‘The Avengers,’ I was not surprised that his name was on it. It’s a very hard job to take all those heroes and all those stories and know exactly what bits the audience needs and what they don’t need.”
Whedon eventually found multiple successes and, for many years, was a darling of both Hollywood and the geek community. His “Buffy” TV series ran for an impressive 144 episodes, with Whedon writing 27 episodes and directing 20. Whedon’s additional shows (“Angel,” “Firefly,” “Dollhouse,” “Agents of “S.H.I.E.L.D.”) all gained cult followings, and his name was, for many years, synonymous with both quality and feminism (he tended to favor complex and powerful female characters).
Of course, Whedon was hastily dropped by his fans in the early 2020s when it was reported that he mistreated his actors on the set of “Justice League,” and was borderline cruel to some of the actresses he worked with on “Buffy.” His bullying behavior was widely substantiated by several of the people he had worked with. That was followed by reports of wild infidelity from his ex-wife. Whedon may have written feminist texts, but it seems that he didn’t treat women with respect in real life.
But for a spell, he was Hollywood’s golden child, and Sam Raimi got to reap the benefits of his talents, years before he started bullying people on “Buffy.” We can at least enjoy that much.
