When “Spider-Man” and “Dance of the Devils” maker Sam Raimi takes on a genre, he does so with the greatest possible dedication. This is also the case with the humorous Western “Faster than Death”, which FILMSTARTS editor Pascal Reis would like to recommend to you.
Sam Raimi is one of those filmmakers who have always caused surprises with their variety. If you take a look at Raimi’s work, you quickly notice that he tried out a lot of different genres outside of the “Spider-Man” and “Dance of the Devils” trilogies.
With “A Simple Plan” he was responsible for a darkly humorous thriller in the style of the Coen brothers, with “The Gift” for a dark mystery drama and with “For the Love of the Game” for a baseball romance. But that’s not all, because in 1995 Sam Raimi also delivered the extremely star-studded Western “Faster Than Death”!
Have you not seen the film yet? Then you can currently catch up on it with a Netflix subscription. Alternatively, “Faster than Death” is also available to buy and rent on Amazon Prime Video. Whatever you decide: I can only recommend this crisp western pleasure to you!
“Faster than death” on Amazon Prime Video*
That’s what “Faster Than Death” is about
In the tranquil prairie town of Redemption, an annual shooting competition is held by the imperious mayor John Herod (Gene Hackman), giving him the chance to come face to face with his enemies. This year, duelists from across the country compete: The Swedish Champion (Sven-Ole Thorsen), an adventurer (Keith David), a false priest (Russell Crowe), Herod’s rebellious son (Leonardo DiCaprio) and a mysterious woman (Sharon Stone). ).
One of the candidates is a bounty hunter hired by the residents who is supposed to win the tournament and finally hunt down the dastardly Herod. When the tyrant gets wind of the matter, the mayor suddenly takes the competition seriously and quickly changes the rules. Now it’s a matter of life and death…
A humorous western party
First you have to put it this way: three years after Clint Eastwood buried the American Western once and for all with “Merciless”, Sam Raimi came around the corner with “Faster than Death”. The audience reacted with corresponding disinterest: the western barely managed to gross a little more than half of its $32 million budget. Which is a shame, because for me “Faster than Death” is a wonderfully humorous finger exercise.
Somewhere between homage and satire, Sam Raimi has fun playing with Western archetypesbut without really wanting to break them or even question them. Instead, “Faster Than Death” is just a big playground where gunslingers, poker players, (would-be) God-fearers and nameless people engage in one or two leaden duels.
In my opinion, Sam Raimi is not concerned with a fully developed story or complex characters. He Rather, it puts the pedal to the metal, builds on speed, and relies on a production underpinned with cartoonish elements and allows the excellent cast, in which the always brilliant Gene Hackman (who, by the way, also appeared in “Merciless” and won an Oscar for his performance) once again dominates everything, to act wonderfully relaxed.
After the lively “Faster than Death” do you feel like some really hard Western fare? Then you have to watch “A Stranger with No Name” by and with Clint Eastwood. The following streaming tip explains where the film is currently available and why it is worth watching the dark orgy of violence:
You can stream one of the toughest FSK-18 westerns tonight – this dark orgy of violence was even listed in the past!
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