Tombstone

First of all, I love the movie. Now some may say, "What a moron..." and others will undoubtedly agree with me. But I think it's great. When I first saw the film as it debuted in theaters eleven or so years back, I came away thinking, Men doing a man's job. Sounds a little chauvinist, I'll admit, but there you are. The movie is a tribute to men being men, living their lives on their own terms. The fact that the story is about the Earp saga is almost secondary to the film. To enjoy this movie, I don't think that it's so important for it to have historical accuracy to the letter or even have rain falling consistently through the shots. I would only advise viewers to let this Remington-painting-come-to-life wash over them and just go along for the ride. As long as we remember that this is Hollywood, all is well.

Then there's reality. As real aficionados of Tombstone history will see, the movie sacrifices or distorts some of the facts and compresses time. In the end it's a shame, really, because the film never realizes its full potential. I'm convinced that if this movie was true to history, it could only have been better. Previous reviews talk about and compare with Costner's Wyatt Earp. I think elements of both films combined would have made a great movie. For instance, I would have lifted much of WE's script from when Wyatt arrives in town (the story, not the dialog) and used it in Tombstone. And then get the rest of the facts straight. The true story is compelling on its own, and would still be entertaining.

The special edition DVD includes deleted scenes, that for the life of me, I can't figure out why they were deleted in the first place. But the scene when Wyatt and Josie rest after their spirited ride still has the payoff of the scene cut out - Josie and Wyatt getting it on. I get tired of directors thinking that the audience is sophisticated so we'll just let them figure it out on their own. Come on George, some of us didn't know that Wyatt was cheating on Mattie.

Finally, I've got to say that the movie was cast well. And the costumes were true to life - men liked to be colorful and unique in that time and place. The guns were accurate, as were the holsters (low slung and quick draw is a Hollywood invention). As for the scenery, I lived in Arizona for a while, and I do miss the big sky.

If you want to be entertained, this is the movie for you. If you want a history lesson, better hit the library...

One of the finest westerns ever filmed. Excellent action. A very good script. The cast was amazing. Val Kilmer should have received an Oscar for his role as Doc Holiday. The movie was probably about 90% accurate historically, but was one of the best retellings of what had occured.

Tombstone, Arizona is a boom town from silver and is hounded by an organized gang called the Cowboys. It is led by Curly Bill Brocius (Powers Boothe). Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) is a cold-hearted killer. After success in Dodge City, Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) moves to Tombstone to find riches and a more simple life. He is joined by his brothers Virgil (Sam Elliott), Morgan (Bill Paxton), and close friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer). Despite having his wife Mattie there, he becomes infatuated with actress Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany). The Earps get into confrontations with the Cowboys which eventually leads to the shoot-out at the OK Corral.

There are a lot of good actors as both good guys and bad guys. Kurt Russell may not be the most impressive of the lot but he does a solid job. Val Kilmer is really hamming it up. He steals the movie with his memorable performance. Other than him, this is a straight western without much comedy. It's not camp. If there is any problem, it's that the movie is too ambitious. There are a lot of characters. It tries to be grand. It's quite a western. It's slightly better than the even longer Lawrence Kasdan's Wyatt Earp which came out 6 months later.

Now Tombstone is a film that I would call the last great western of its genre so far. It has every sub plot you could want in you're average film and especially in a western. They have a great cast on board also to establish this gang of ragger muffins. Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp is just as good as Costner and Lancaster were. Val Kilmer is probably the main reason why every fan of it's genre talk about it so much as he is not just a fine actor in this but you believe that Doc Holiday and him were somehow related as he takes on the exact same sense of humour which I have read in books and his likeness is there also from what I have seen in pictures.

Val Kilmer has been in a lot of films but only half of them were good and this goes into one of his best along with Oliver Stone's The Doors and Willow without doubt has to get a mention. There is a superb cast here which makes up of Bill Paxton, Sam Elliot, Michael Biehn, Powers Boothe, Stephen Lang, Billy Zane and of course Charlton Heston. I could go on for even longer mentioning some of the great actors that star in this but the sheer action of vengeance of it make it one of the best action westerns. There are your two type of westerns like High Noon and The Searchers which are very calm but intense films. Then you have The Wild Bunch and Tombstone which are just blood thirsty with plenty of action to cater for all tastes of films.

I am not to familiar with the director but he is surely missed as far as making a western like this is concerned.

I loved this movie so much I bought it right after seeing it the first time. The acting is incredible in this film. I'm not a huge Kurt Russell fan, but he played his role very well. Among others, I consider this one of Val Kilmer's best performances. Even if your not a Western fan (like me), you'll still at least enjoy this film. Excellent lighting, cinematography and sound design. Intense pacing and story telling. All the classic elements of good guys and bad guys. Great story development and plot buildup. You have to see it at least once.