The Quick and the Dead 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Quick and the Dead 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

The law has come back to town... again.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 11, 2026

A bit of an outlier even within the wide net of director Sam Raimi's varied filmography, 1995's The Quick and the Dead celebrated its 30th anniversary last year and remains a solid revisionist Western that still sticks out in a crowded genre. Penned by British screenwriter Simon Moore with an ensemble cast including Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Keith David, Lance Henriksen, Tobin Bell, Gary Sinise, and more (as well as Bruce Campbell in a minor role, naturally), it's a stylish effort that only proved to be a modest hit at the box office. Nonetheless, Raimi's enduring career has led to a growing reputation for the film, at least enough for Sony to now reissue what was already a pretty solid 4K disc in 2018. This new Steelbook combo pack, however, only offers a mild upgrade in two primary departments (picture quality and extras) and otherwise plays identically to that previous release.

The Quick Synopsis: When a skilled gunslinger known as "The Lady" (Stone) enters the dusty town of Redemption, The Quick and the Dead reveals the reason for her arrival: a deadly quick-draw tournament organized by its ruthless mayor John Herod (Hackman) for shits, giggles, and a cash prize. As expected, gunfighters from across the West have traveled to compete for a cash prize: there's "The Lady", of course, as well a preacher named Cort who struggles with his violent past (Russell Crowe) , a cocky young man named “The Kid” (Leonardo DiCaprio), and several others. As the story and tournament progress (complete with a few detours in and around town), it becomes clear that "The Lady" has a personal vendetta against at least one of Redemption's residents... and that's not the only connection.

For a fuller synopsis and appreciation of the film, please see Martin Liebman's review of Sony's 2009 Blu-ray. As my slightly softer 4/5 rating suggests, I'm perhaps not quite as enamored with The Quick and the Dead as Marty but I still find it to be a largely durable and entertaining effort with lots of quotable dialogue and stylized action.

The Quick and the Dead 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: These screenshots are sourced from the included Blu-ray disc.

Sony is no stranger to "bumping up" perfectly solid UHD transfers with slightly more polished improvements, and that's the case with The Quick and the Dead for this recent 30th Anniversary Steelbook. Like Air Force One, Groundhog Day, and several others, The Quick and the Dead now features a Dolby Vision color grade and (presumably) better encoding than Sony's earlier 4K release, as it's authored on a full triple-layer disc and runs at a higher bit rate. I was a pretty big fan of how this looked on UHD back then and this feels like a natural evolution with tighter, more controlled color values and black levels/shadow details that likewise appear more faithful to the original cinematography. Nighttime and dimly-lit scenes similarly look a bit more grounded and natural thanks to better-handled contrast. But while this new transfer clearly gets the edge overall, I'd personally rate both 4K discs 4.5/5 for the exact same reason: they're similarly near-perfect within adjusted expectations but tend to struggle a bit where film grain is concerned. The brightest skies often appear noisy and, even at a higher bit rate, sporadically "buzz" in a way that, while hardly distracting (and perhaps even part of the source material), resembles faint compression artifacts more so than organic grain. This is still a high-quality effort overall and certainly the best this film has ever looked -- especially since the previous 4K disc struggled during those moments as well -- but it's still a hair's breadth away from perfect, in my opinion.

As for the Blu-ray, it's sadly the same one as before -- a newly-remastered disc would have been nice. I've fittingly re-graded it as 3.5/5 and, while decent enough on small to mid-sized displays, is really starting to show its age.

The Quick and the Dead 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Conversely, the Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mixes sound identical to the previous tracks on Sony's earlier 4K disc, so please see Martin Liebman's linked review for details. In short, they're both immaculate.

Optional subtitles and dubs are included, and there are a lot more options than on the previous 4K disc.

The Quick and the Dead 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

If you like the look of clichéd "Wanted" posters, Sony's new Steelbook is for you. All four top-billed cast members are featured in a sepia-toned group shot below the film's title with a simulated wood background; elsewhere, the theme is continued with only Sharon Stone's "Ellen McKenzie" and Gene Hackman's "John Herod", who are featured together on the back cover and on opposing panels inside the Steelbook. Both the UHD and Blu-ray discs sit on overlapping hubs on the right and a Digital Copy code is tucked inside. It's not the most creative effort, to say the least.

As for the modest on-disc bonus features, they're all contained on the 4K disc and even include a new supplement that's not listed on the packaging or press release; otherwise, they're identical to what we got on Sony's earlier 4K disc. As for the recycled Blu-ray, it still contains Sony's optional "MovieIQ" feature the offers details about the cast/crew, soundtrack, and more as the film plays.

• KINDA NEW! The Reckoning: Writing "The Quick and the Dead" (19:22) - This mid-length retrospective piece, produced by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures, is sourced from an undated but recent audio interview with writer Simon Moore, who's otherwise better known for writing Traffic and the 1989 mini-series of the same name. He talks at length about his approach to writing the film, his long-time love of the genre (which largely began with Spaghetti Westerns), bringing an outsider's perspective to the material, blending contemporary and established themes, the characters and casting, and much more. It's mostly paired with supportive clips from the film, but also features a handful of vintage photos, images of the script, and other items. (NOTE: After further research, this piece and several other new extras were apparently created for this 2022 French release.)

• Deleted Scenes (7 clips, 5:15 total)

• Theatrical Trailer (2:18)

The Quick and the Dead 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sam Raimi's The Quick and the Dead stuck out like a sore thumb in 1995, even after the revisionist approach of films like Tombstone proved successful. I'm not convinced that Raimi's film bridges the gap between its disparate tones as well as some fans think it does, but it's still perfectly enjoyable thanks to its quotable dialogue and cast performances. Sony's new 30th Anniversary Steelbook edition offers two modest improvements to their already-solid 2018 4K release with Dolby Vision grading and a lone "new" bonus feature, but more effort in the latter department (and a remastered Blu-ray) would have made this closer to a definitive effort. For the price, it's only really recommended to die-hard fans with Dolby Vision-ready setups or perhaps those who haven't bought the older 4K disc yet.