The Quick and the Dead / Bite the Bullet (2-DVD) R

THE QUICK AND THE DEAD: Sharon Stone stars as Ellen, a beautiful gunslinger with a cloudy past. She arrives in the town of Redemption with a bone to pick with one John Herod (Gene Hackman, BONNIE AND CLYDE, THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS), with whom she shares a shady history. Ellen signs up for the annual quick-draw contest, which awards $230,000 to the winner, but her real motivation is revenge. Raimi incorporates beautiful photography and camera work and surprising new twists into the familiar spaghetti Western tropes.

BITE THE BULLET: Filmed in the classic Western tradition, this tale of a 700-mile horse race in the early 1900s takes its stalwart competitors over some rough western terrain and through various inclement conditions. The contestants--a wide variety--have differing reasons for entering the grueling race, but each and every one of them has eyes on the prize: $2,000. The rivals include an honorable Rough Rider (Gene Hackman), a plucky young woman (Candace Bergen), a drifting ex-cowboy (James Coburn), a reckless young man (Jan-Michael Vincent), a wealthy British sportsman (Ian Bannen), and a Pony Express rider (Ben Johnson). As the disparate band of competitors sets out on the harsh and grueling desert ride, each person is forced to respect one another and work together as they endure the dangerous conditions. This episodic tale features gorgeous cinematography of miles of barren and lonely wasteland shot in contrast to the live-wire pageantry of the race, teeming with gritty scenes of the rough Wild West, full of hucksters, hustlers, and bawdy barmaids whooping it up until dawn.