A five-star cast, an adored filmmaker, a legendary genre brought up to date: on paper, everything heralded a triumph, and yet... Exactly 30 years ago, in 1995, this film flopped miserably, becoming a gigantic flop across the world. A resounding failure, misunderstood upon its release, but perhaps, also, simply ahead of its time.
DiCaprio and Sharon Stone, faster than their shadows
In the heart of the 1990s, Sharon Stone was at the height of her fame. Revealed to the world by Basic Instinct, she is one of the most powerful women in Hollywood. So, when she decides to produce a film, the studios listen. It is she who initiates this project of a western like no other: Dead or the Quick. The film will be directed by the brilliant creator of the Evil Dead saga: Sam Raimi, at this time he had not yet directed the Spider-Man trilogy, but his visual style is already cult.
Stone imposes its casting. She chose Gene Hackman, who had been a hit in another western, Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, three years earlier. She also spotted two promising young talents who were still unknown to the general public: Leonardo DiCaprio, whom she even paid for out of her own pocket (as explained in detail here), and Russell Crowe, who was just starting out in Hollywood. As for the supporting roles, it was a parade of familiar faces for moviegoers: Lance Henriksen, Keith David, and Tobin Bell (the future Jigsaw). The film was ambitious, the shooting spectacular, the sets sumptuous, the music epic; in short, all the elements were there for a success. Except that...
The film was a box-office disaster. American critics gave it a cold reception, accusing it of parodying the codes of the western, mainly Italian, without capturing its soul. For viewers, the western now seemed a dead genre, and they didn't follow. Dead or Alive collapsed, the victim of a mixture of unclear expectations and a genre then deemed outdated. The western, in 1995, was definitely no longer a hit. Sharon Stone was bruised, Raimi no longer wanted to talk about it, and the film more or less disappeared from the radar.
The Quick and the Alive, a cult film... in France
Ironically, if The Quick and the Alive missed its target in the United States, it gradually found a loyal audience in France. Of course, its theatrical release was no more of a triumph there than elsewhere, barely more than 630,000 spectators, a very modest score, but it was in video stores, then during reruns on TNT, that the film conquered hearts. Its baroque aesthetic, its exuberant staging effects, its gallery of "bigger than life" characters, all this has seduced fans of French-speaking genre cinema, nourished for years by a cultural mix putting the adventures of Spider-Man, Son Goku or Lucky Luke on a permanent equal footing. For them, this strange cowboy film with almost superhuman abilities makes perfect sense.
So much so that, 30 years later, France is still the only country in the world to have received a collector's edition on DVD and Blu-ray, with bonus features and neat packaging.In the United States, even Sam Raimi still refuses to discuss the film or participate in any reissue. A lasting disenchantment.
And yet, elsewhere too, the tide is turning. Today's leading directors like Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim) or even James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) no longer hesitate to claim their admiration for The Dead or the Quick. Wright even cites it as one of his favorite films. Perhaps the initial flop can be explained precisely by a vision too far ahead of its time.
The film is a true pioneer: a strong heroine, stylized editing, dizzying direction, and an offbeat tone halfway between a spaghetti western and a comic book. In fact, it's clear that The Quick and the Dead is much closer to certain visual experiences of the 2020s like Spider-Verse or Arcane than the pleasantly silly Judge Dredd, released two months later that same year, 1995.
Are you interested in the history of the big flops? Check out our features on Tomorrowland: The Hunt for Tomorrow, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and even6 fantasy films that flopped at the box office, must-sees!
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