The Quick and the Dead (1995)
Western, Action, Drama, Romance, Thriller • 1h 47m
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobin Bell, Roberts Blossom, Kevin Conway, Keith David, Lance Henriksen, Pat Hingle, Gary Sinise, Mark Boone Junior, Olivia Burnette, Fay Masterson, Raynor Scheine, Woody Strode, Jerry Swindall, Scott Spiegel, Jonothon Gill, Sven-Ole Thorsen, Lennie Loftin, Matthew Gold, Arturo Gastelum, David Cornell, Josef Rainer, Stacy Linn Ramsower, Tony Lee Boggs, Scott Ryder, Timothy Patrick Quill, Solomon Abrams, John Cameron, Michael Stone, Butch Molina, Mick Garris, Greg Goossen, Oliver Dear, Ruben Angelo, James Cotner, Bruce Campbell
US Cut: Sony 2025 Steelbook 4K Blu-rayInternational Cut: France 4K Blu-ray
Best English-friendly release · updated 11 months ago
UHD tiers
Overview
A mysterious woman comes to compete in a quick-draw elimination tournament, in a town taken over by a notorious gunman.
Director: Sam Raimi
Sony 4K Blu-ray steelbook
Unaltered version: 2007 Ultimate Edition DVD? Or 35mm scan
Sony 4K Blu-ray steelbook, correct audio pitch and more bonus features
Confirmed to be a port of Sony's international 4K, encode different to Lionsgate's. Audio in the correct pitch and a cross-selection of archive extras where the Lionsgate had only one audio commentary. High Def reviewer thought the 2.0 was a mixdown of the 5.1 track.
Unaltered version: 2007 Ultimate Edition DVD? Or 35mm scan
LaserDisc has the original Mono
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray audio is in the wrong pitch while the Sony release is in the right pitch
All releases after 2010 have digital alterations to some scenes. https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=999332
Director: Sam Raimi
Theatrical: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical: Sony 4K Blu-ray
2.1 Cut received a 4K remaster for a cinema release. No announced home video release yet.
3D version: Disney 3D Blu-ray
3D version: Disney 3D Blu-ray
Director: Sam Raimi
Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray
Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray
Director: Sam Raimi
Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray
Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray (only the US Theatrical is in 4K)
US Theatrical: 1993 MCA/Universal Home Video LaserDisc [41603]
Director: Sam Raimi
Theatrical: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Editor's Cut: Sony Blu-Ray
Theatrical: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Editor's Cut: Sony Blu-Ray
Director: Sam Raimi
Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray > Lionsgate/StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray (Lionsgate/StudioCanal has Dolby Vision while Eagle Pictures doesn't)
Director: Sam Raimi
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray: the old master looks problematic and the new scan from the interpositive looks marvelous, just like Existenz from Vinegar Syndrome. Encoding by Engine House is excellent.
Director: Martin Scorsese
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot seen on the previous Columbia Classics release and has better encoding
Original mono mix: 1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1991 Columbia LaserDisc
The 4K Blu-ray mono is only minimally worse (see blah-ray).
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: Michael Apted
Director: James Wong
Director: David Greene
Director: Richard Linklater
Criterion Blu-ray uses the same transfer as Sony but the encoding is slightly worse than Sony and barely noticeable see caps
Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray in viewing looks very similar to both the Criterion and Sony caps, but no side by side comparison available
Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray is part of a 3-film box set like the Criterion
Director: Neill Blomkamp
France Metropolitan 4K Blu-ray, glitch fixed from Sony
The Sony 4K Blu-ray has a glitch around the 40 min mark where a shot is repeated; no word from Sony about a replacement at the time of writing, i.e. 8/1/8/22
Directors: Frank Oz & Jim Henson
LaserDisc, Shout! Factory's 2.0 is a downmix of the 5.1
Director: Jim Henson
Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray
Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray, Shout! Factory doesn't have the low-pass filter that's on the Sony US 4K Blu-ray from 2021 with Dolby Vision (or the worse HDR10 only release from 2016). Shout! Factory retains more high-frequency grain and detail.
Embassy Home Entertainment JPN LaserDisc or 1999 Sony US DVD 2.0
Director: Luc Besson
2020 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray vs 2017 Sony 4K Blu-ray (20th annivesary) vs 2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray (Luc Besson Box Set). The first two have totally different texture.
StudioCanal: More natural looking. Better defined grain. The white balance is rather yellow/orange. Some say it is closer to the original theatrical release.
2017 Sony: More vibrant and impactful. The white balance is rather neutral. While color noise and grain can look busy because it had been sharpened and had micro-contrast boosted.
2025 Sony: Supposedly an improved version of the 2017 release? Shows around 20mbps-higher overall video bitrate. caps
2025 Sony US 4K Blu-ray has the original 5.1.
The Atmos on the Sony release is reportedly better than StudioCanal's.
Disc info of the box set discs. This film have recieved multiple encode/versions in different regions over the years. The 2017 Germany4K Blu-ray is encoded differently than the 2017 Sony but not better. Also, the same can be said to 2024 France Gaumont 4K Blu-ray while comparing to the 2020 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. The StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray omits all the extras from previous releases, being barebones.
More Western on Blu-ray
Director: Norman Taurog
Undercrank Frank Borzage: 1922 Silents Blu-ray
Undercrank Frank Borzage: 1922 Silents Blu-ray
Director: Howard Hughes
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Director: George Pal
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Warner Bros NTSC DVD
The old DVD's track has significantly better detail compared to BD, especially on the score. The BD has some extra detail on dialogue, but also exhibits strange artifacting (e.g. sample 3, 0:20) which suggests possible AI "enhancement" or some other form of aggressive filtering. In contrast, DVD appears to be completely unfiltered and sounds good throughout. Samples
As the BD is significantly rolled off, a lot of the detail (real or fabricated) is buried in the mix and not audible during normal playback.
TV series
Original TV Version: Japan LaserDisc, US OOP Bandai DVD for English dub
"Remix" Remaster: Italy Dynit Blu-ray, US Funimation/Crunchyroll Blu-ray for English dub
The "Remix" remaster has slightly different cuts for some episodes, and completely redone audio mixes. The original TV version of the English dub also has an entirely different audio mix from either the Japanese mix or the "Remix" remaster.
Director: John Ford
1988/1990 WB Hi-Fi VHS, crystal clear, albeit with some distortion in louder areas
The 4K Blu-ray reuses the same poor mastering used on the 2006 WB Blu-ray, only with a completely unnecessary bass cut and extra noise reduction.
Even putting resolution aside, the Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray has the best video. The old Blu-ray master and earlier DVD both had massive issues with colour.
That said, picture on the 4K Blu-ray isn't perfect, with strange posterized magenta glints and some instances of DNR: https://bsky.app/profile/dagscott.bsky.social/post/3leahavqi7k2l
Director: David Dobkin
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