Customer Reviews

Tombstone

5 star:		(361)
4 star:		(75)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

While this movie may never achieve the critical acclaim it deserves, there is a grassroots appreciation for this movie that points out, once again, the different worlds of professional movie critics and the movie-viewing public. For example, Leonard Maltin describes Dana Delany as 'goofy' in this production. Personally, I found her captivating, and -- for some reason -- the most attractive I have ever seen her.

Kurt Russell turns in another excellent performance, proving once again that he has grown considerably as an actor over the years.

The performances of Michael Biehn, Sam Elliott, Powers Boothe, Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton, Billy Zane, Jason Priestly, Joanna Pacula, even Charlton Heston, in supporting roles -- major and minor -- are carefully crafted and played to perfection.

But in my book Val Kilmer steals the show as Doc Holliday. Chalk this up as another excellent performance (e.g. Thunderheart) by the oft-maligned but excellent actor.

Do yourselves a favor and view this movie as a stand-alone ... don't try to compare it to the other Wyatt Earp movies; don't compare it to history. Just enjoy it as it is -- a truly well-told tale, a violent love story (think True Romance set in the 19th century if you will), full of outstanding performances.

This story (as are almost all tales about Earp) is heavily romanticized. History reveals that there were no good guys or bad guys in the power struggles that took place between town authorities, Earp's crowd, and The Cowboys. Nonetheless, the director has paid close attention to period accuracy in costume, language, and props. The firearms used -- an area that is often woefully researched -- are period accurate, with only the most minor license taken for cinematic effect.

My guess is that in time this movie will establish itself as an audience favorite regardless of "expert" opinion. And the cast members have every reason to be proud of a truly fine ensemble performance.

This is one of the most entertaining westerns ever made and as such, ranks right up there with "Shane," "Open Range," "Ride the Man Down" and Eastwood's "The Unforgiven." It is a story of changing times that haven't quite changed enough. Kurt Russell gives his best performance as Wyatt Earp, coming to Tombstone with his brothers to settle down and put his lawman days behind him. Tombstone is a wild town still and a group known as The Cowboys and a young gunslinger named Johnny Ringo begin to make this impossible.

Dana Delany is radiant as the actress Wyatt falls for even though he is married. His wife has become a drug addict and his marriage is not the stuff dreams are made of, but Dana Delaney is. The film takes its time as Wyatt and his brothers are slowly drawn towards the history we have come to know, and the aftermath we may not.

This is a multilayered story more faithful to the truth than most versions. What makes this film superior to other westerns is the depth of the story and the realistic performances of the cast. The finest of the aforementioned is Val Kilmer's extraordinary turn as Doc Holliday.

This film more realistically portrays the relationship of Holliday and Wyatt than any other film. Kilmer's Holliday is dangerous and intelligent, and above all, loyal to perhaps his only real friend in life, Wyatt Earp. Kilmer so became the real Doc Holliday that it was said he remained in character on the set at all times, even when the camera was not rolling. His performance is something that will always be remembered by anyone who watches this film.

Wyatt is a real man in this film with raw courage but no self delusions. He is no gunman and realizes he can not beat the quick and dangerous Johnny Ringo in a gun battle. Doc Holliday, in spite of his illness, has Wyatt's back and arrives there first. What follows is one of the most tense and accurately portrayed gunfights in film history.

Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp remained friends until Holliday finally was overtaken by the tuberculosis which had plagued him for years. As in real life, Wyatt Earp actually does find happiness and settles down with Dana Delaney after his wife dies in this film. The real Wyatt became quite wealthy in the latter part of his life.

The rich tapestry of events that formed the legend of the dangerous Doc Holliday and Marshal Wyatt Earp are given the best and most accurate screen treatment ever filmed. This is a must see western. You will never forget it and you will never see a better and more colorful true to life performance than Val Kilmer's turn as Doc Holliday.

Having already seen My Darling Clementine (1946) and The Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957) several times, I was curious to observe what director George Pan Cosmatos and his screenwriters would do with essentially the same material in this film. There are significant differences between and among them but suggesting comparisons and contrasts would be unfair to three different films which appeared over a 57-year period.

Now on to Tombstone. Director George Cosmatos worked with a large cast and all of the performances are first-rate. William Fraker's cinematography and Bruce Broughton's musical score are carefully integrated within the narrative and serve it well. My own opinion is that Val Kilmer (Doc Holliday) dominates each scene in which he appears. However, Kurt Russell (Wyatt Earp), Dana Delany (Josephine Marcos), Sam Elliot (Virgil Earp), and Powers Boothe (Curly Bill Brocius) hold their own.

As portrayed in the film, Tombstone (Arizona) is a western town in the last stages of being a community dominated by outlaws. The involvement of the Earps coincide with a growing local desire among residents to establish law and order. The eventual showdown at the OK Corral is a key event but by no means the only one. I was especially interested in how Cosmatos and Russell develop Wyatt Earp's character as he struggles to follow his conscience, establish some stability in his own life, and thereby complete a transition from gunfighter to private citizen.

Back to Kilmer for a moment. I do not recall a prior or subsequent film of his in which he reveals the comic timing, nuances of personality, and conflicting anxieties which he does while portraying Holliday in Tombstone. His is a masterful performance, maintaining an exquisite balance between playful humor and force of will. I recalled elements of that performance while recently observing Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. However, the Holliday character is revealed to have much greater depth and complexity than Sparrow's even as both characters demonstrate at every appropriate opportunity a unique flair for mimicry.

I do have a few minor quibbles. First, I think the pace of the plot lags unnecessarily at times. Also, the evolving relationship between Wyatt Earp and Josephine Marcos is not always in focus, even when allowing for a period of adjustment as they take each other's measure. Finally, I really don't understand the purpose of the final scene except to offer an alternative to the neat-and-tidy conclusion which so many other films offer. That said, I think that Cosmatos, his cast, and crew have created 135 minutes of generally entertaining, sometimes hilarious, and often thought-provoking material. Perhaps the more ambitious scale (e.g. timeframe and subplots) precludes the dramatic impact of its predecessors, My Darling Clementine and The Gunfight at the OK Corral. In any event, I enjoyed it.

Final point: I wish all other versions offered special features comparable with those provided by the Vista Series DVD. They include a commentary by Cosmatos, the 134 Director's Cut Edition, featurettes ("An Ensemble Cast," "Making An Authentic Western," and "The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral"), an interactive Tombstone storyline, The Tombstone Epitaph - Actual Newspaper Account, and Cosmatos' original storyboards for the O.K. Corral sequence.

Aside from this being a great western action adventure film, it's a true story which a lot of people forget or don't realize. The main actors do an excellent job and the movie has a fine supporting cast. Being an old west history buff, I have studied documents and accountings of this time in history and have visited the town of Tombstone 5 times. This movie not only accurately portrays the town, especially the Bird Cage Theater which is nearly exact, but the costuming is the best I've seen of 1880's style reproduction. There are a couple of inaccuracies like Marshal White being shot in the chest, (he was shot in the groin), and Virgil and Morgan being shot on the same night, (they were shot 3 months apart). Nonetheless, the events are accurately portrayed as they happened, right down to minute details like a bullet striking over Wyatt's head when Morgan gets shot in Hatch's Saloon, and the dog continuously barking afterwards. The makers of this movie did their homework and are to be commended on the fantastic result. They even used a lot of the phraseology of the time and some lines are directly from documentation of interviews of people who were witnesses to these events. Included in these is of course the best line..."I'm your Huckleberry." The source of this line is from the book "Tombstone." By the way, a Huckleberry is old west vernicular meaning, "The best man for the job." An outstanding movie about part of the life of an outstanding man, Wyatt Earp.

Although I'm a greater fan of the Lawrence Kasdan / Kevin Costner version of Wyatt Earp's life, TOMBSTONE -- the Director's Cut -- is a marked improvement from the original threatrical version. Several key scenes are extended from the original release, and many new scenes are added that give the characters a bit more emotional depth. While much of the action still remains over the top, Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer epitomize the violence so prevalent between the lawmen and the Cowboys of the time period. Don't be duped, however, by the documentaries; they're very short, and they truly don't add much to the experience. While some interesting tidbits are thrown out about the making of the picture, very little is of relative substance.

Tombstone DVD

Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer and Sam Elliott are in a superior retelling of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona in the late 1800's.

Recommended for fans of the old west and for fans of Sam Elliott, like me.

Gunner December 2007

Tombstone is the retelling of Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the city before and after the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The movie begins with Earp trying to start over and forget his past in the mining town of Tombstone. The Cowboy gang holds a stranglehold on the town that cannot be broken. Before long, Earp and his two brothers must strap on their guns once again to clean things up. This may be a familiar story, but it is anything but. An impressive cast, excellent action, and even some humor makes this western fully enjoyable.

While Kurt Russell is excellent as Marshal Wyatt Earp, Val Kilmer steals the show as dying gunman Doc Holliday. His performance is truly great and should have earned him an Academy Award for his performance. Even as tuberculosis takes its toll on him, he remains the same hard drinking, card playing gunfighter that he always was. The relationship between the two men is fully believable and one of the better points of the movie. Michael Biehn and Powers Boothe are also excellent as Johnny Ringo and Curley Bill, the leaders of the Cowboy gang. The fantastic supporting cast includes Dana Delaney, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Stephen Lang, Charlton Heston, Jason Priestley, Robert Burke, Joanna Pacula, Michael Rooker, and Billy Zane. As well, look for old western star Harry Carey JR as the marshal of Tombstone. The Vista Series DVD is loaded full of extras which are all very good. The best may be the deleted scenes that are included. At times during the movie, it seems a bit choppy with editing, but the movie is still very good. For fans of westerns check out this action-filled western!

Wow! What a movie! You may have seen this epic western before but unless you've watched the Vista Series DVD you haven't seen half of it! There are several new scenes added into the film that makes the movie as a whole more interesting and in-depth.
It fills several holes and all and all makes this a better movie.
This is of course, an adaption of the historic O.K. Corral old west shootout that took place in Tomstone, Arizona.
The plot is perfectly constructed and is next to flawless.
The performances are magnificent!
Kurt Russell Makes the perfect Wyatt Earp and is totally believable in the role of the famous western lawman.
Sam Elliot of TNT fame is cast as his typical old-west sheriff and is very good at playing Wyatt Earp's brother.
Bill Paxton in an interesting change of role is cast as another of Wyatt's brothers and is most interesting in the role and pulls it off extremely well. Now, the absolute best performance in this film is given by the incredible Val Kilmer and watching his slyly sarcastic Doc Holliday on the screen makes you incredibly upset that he didn't even get nominated for an academy award which is downright unjust! He is the epitome of cool as he utters such classic lines as, "I'm your huckleberry" or whispering to his girlfriend, "Look Darling, It's Johnny Ringo" at the sight of the infamous outlaw. His accent is so believable it's amazing to think that it's put on! One of the most famous scenes in 'Tombstone' is one in which Val Kilmer's Holliday, after watching gunslinger Johnny Ringo show off by spinning his pistols around, takes two shot glasses and mocks Ringo by duplicating his movements.
When viewing one of his other performances, say, his Bruce Wayne character in 'Batman Forever', released the same year as Tombstone, it's amazing to think that this is the same Val Kilmer that played Doc Holliday in Tombstone.
Incredibly, Val Kilmer has all but dissapeared from the screen.
His last film being the little-seen 'The Salton Sea', released earlier this year. He surely deserves to be a more well known presence on the screen. All in all this is a powerful tale of friendship and justice that should be treasured among the best westerns, in fact, Tombstone is The Best Western ever to grace the screen!

Let's face it. There are 'guy' movies and there are 'girl' movies, also known as 'date movies' or 'chick flicks.' Anything with Hugh Grant qualifies as a date movie, while "Fried Green Tomatoes" is a chick flick. "Beaches" is a chick flick. "Steel Magnolias" is most definetly a chick flick. "Tombstone"...well, if you like spicy hot buffallo wings dripping with bleu cheese, cold beer, and football, this movie is for you.

Critics of "Tombstone" -- and you know who you are -- point out its cliched plot, which is more or less based on the real-life fued between ex-lawman Wyatt Earp and his brothers Morgan and Virgil, and their friend John "Doc" Holliday, and a gang of transplanted Texas outlaws called the Cowboys, which culminated in the world's most famous shoot-out, the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. They point out that some of the dialogue is stilted and hokey, if not outright ridiculous. They shake their heads at gunfights which rage for minutes with no one troubling to reload and the villains seemingly unable to hit anything except trees, windows, dirt, and if they are very lucky, the non-lethal areas of our heroes. I look upon these souls with pity. Because they are missing the whole point of this classic, pen-ultimate "guy" film: GUILTY PLEASURE.

Like football, beer, and the afformentioned spicy chicken wings, "Tombstone" is not good. It is just fun. I would even argue that movies like this are the whole reason movies were invented in the first place (and keep in mind the first silent pictures were Westerns). You can save your message-laden morality plays and Oscar-grubbing prestiege pictures for when you are trying to impress your girlfriend's parents at dinner, because after desert, chances are your future father-in-law will light up a stogie and fire up this DVD over that copy of "Yentel" on the coffee table. And thank goodness for that! Would you rather watch Barbara Streisand in drag or Kurt Russel bash some foul-mouthed cowboy over the head with his own .44?

How can you go wrong with a cast that includes apparently every working character actor in Hollywood? In addition to Kurt Russel (Wyatt) and Val Kilmer (Doc), you've got Sam Elliot (Virgil), Bill Paxton (Morgan), Billy Bob Thorton (the very unfortunate Faro dealer), Powers Boothe (Curly Bill), Michael Biehn (Johnny Ringo), Michael Rooker, Charlton Heston (yes, Charlton Heston), Jason Priestly (Billy), Billy Zane (the actor in the kilt), and even that guy that played Lowell on "Wings" ? The answer is, you can't. This (Vista) DVD is money well spent, because in addition to a few minutes of extra footage (which, by and large, doesn't add much to the viewing experience) there is a supplementary disc loaded with extras. As if you needed them!

The flick opens with a demonstration of first-class villainy on the part of the Cowboys, who are led by the cheerful, opium-smoking and apparently insane Curly Bill Brosius, and his right-hand man, the homicidal gunslinger Johnny Ringo. They crash the wedding of a Mexican lawman and substitute the traditional throwing of rice with the throwing of lead. This establishes them as worthy bad guys, and the credits haven't even rolled yet!

Cut to the arrival in Tombstone of Wyatt Earp, played by Russel. Wyatt is a weary former town marshal with, shall we say, a phyiscal approach to problem solving. Before he has spoken a word of dialogue, he hosswhips a stablehand for maltreating his trusty steed. Minutes later, he strolls into a salloon and gives loudmouth card dealer Billy Bob Thorton perhaps the most humiliating verbal and physical thrashing in cinematic history, spitting out lines like "Are you gonna do something about it, or just stand there and bleed?" before tossing him out through the swinging doors. And this is just his first day in town! Wait until he gets comfortable!

Wyatt is joined not only by his brothers, but by his tuburculois-stricken gunman-gambler pal Doc Holliday, who gets even better dialogue than Wyatt, and gets to say it in a marvelous Tidewater-aristocratic drawl while strolling about town in his cape. The only thing deadlier than Doc's three-gun pistol rig is his own death-wish. Never mess with a man whose motto is: "Say when!"

Wyatt, Doc and Co. have made the ultimate Western mistake. They have Tried To Leave the Past Behind Them. Fools! Don't they know that only breeds mayhem?

Now, understand that Tombstone, Arizona in 1889 is like a college town the day before graduation where in addition to being drunk and violent, all the men are carrying guns and big ... buck knives. The Cowboys run the show and don't rightly appreciate Mr. Earp and his pals throwing their weight around. Before long, insults turn to fisticuffs, which turns to gunplay, which turns to Wyatt Earp using his boot spur to give cowardly Ike Clanton a no-frills facial massage, saying, "All right you cur! You've called down the thunder....you tell 'em I'm coming, and hell's coming with me!"

When Wyatt says stuff like that, you should take him at his word.
Stupidly, the Cowboys don't, and luckily for us, the OK Corral shootemup is just the beginning of the mayhem. Suffice to say by the time the final credits roll, Boot Hill is a growth industry.

This is a great, fun movie that is not meant to be taken seriously, as Kevin Costner's pompous, overdrawn "Wyatt Earp" apparently was. It's just entertainment, and the actors, most especially Val Kilmer, have a blast living out their childhood fantasies of playing Once Upon a Time in the West. You will too. Like Wyatt, "I'll take my oath on it."

The fight's commenced, folks....now get to fightin' or get away!

This is a fun movie. Kurt Russell is dead-on as a wiley Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer steals every scene he appears in as Doc Holliday. Bill Paxton is good as Wyatt's brother Morgan. Is there anyone that looks better under a cowboy hat than Sam Elliot? He plays brother Virgil Earp. Not so much a true narrative as a series of vignettes featuring the above characters (with the centerpiece Shootout at the OK Corral) the film is nonetheless a very entertaining look at these characters. Powers Boothe is menacingly bad as Curly Bill, the leader of the outlaw Cowboys.

Kilmer's Doc Holliday, in particular, is a load of fun. "I'm your Huckleberry" he taunts Johnny Ringo, and although I have no idea where this saying originated, Kilmer repeats it in this film to entertaining effect. Later on he is asked why he sticks his neck out for Sheriff Earp. "Wyatt Earp is my friend", he replies simply. The other man scoffs "I've got LOTS of friends". "I don't" says Doc.

This is the kind of movie that perpetuates the "Legend of Wyatt Earp", but it's also the kind of movie that grown men still quote liberally with big smiles on their faces more than a decade after it's initial release.