Tombstone (1993)

• Year: 1993
• Released: 25 Dec 1993
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 2 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108358/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Tombstone
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/tombstone
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, Latin, Spanish
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Biography, Drama, History
• Runtime: 130 min
• Writer: Kevin Jarre
• Director: George P. Cosmatos, Kevin Jarre
• Cast: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott
• Keywords: 19th century, historical figure, arizona, saloon, retirement,

	7.8/10
	50/100
	74% – Critics
	94% – Audience

Tombstone Storyline

Wyatt Earp along with his brothers and their wives move to Tombstone to start a new life putting his life as a lawman and gunslinger behind him. Also coming to Tombstone is Wyatt’s good friend, Doc Holliday. However, it turns out that “The Cowboys”, a group of men, among whose members include The Clantons, pretty much act as if they are above the law. Wyatt would be asked to be Marshall but rejects the offer but his brother, Virgil who can’t stomach the violence around him accepts the job over Wyatt’s objections. Eventually a confrontation between them and The Cowboys is going to happen. And who will survive?

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Tombstone Movie Reviews

Earps & Doc vs.Mean Cowboys as early Organized Crime

A late entry in the western genre when already not too many were being made, this is one of those re-watchable mini-epics, with strong entertainment value. It begins with a bang, an intense shoot-out after some supposedly historical footage narrated by actor Mitchum. We are introduced to The Cowboys, this era’s version of the Mafia, led by the charismatic Curly Bill (Boothe). These first few minutes manage to unnerve and surprise the audience right away: we are also introduced to the psychotic gunslinger, Ringo (Biehn), but he’s revealed as the most dangerous of the bunch only after the shoot-out, a sleight of hand by the filmmakers – they made him look sympathetic in those early moments while everyone is blasting away and he just stands there looking dazed and bothered. Only afterward do we realize he’s a lethal lunatic of the damned – it’s a powerful beginning.

It’s amazing how well this film turned out considering all the rumors of a troubled history. Credit must be given to director Cosmatos and the actors. It’s a fairly huge cast, with numerous speaking roles, and everyone seems to have at least one good moment during the story. Then there’s Kilmer as Doc, who is good or great in every scene he’s in – this is easily Kilmer’s best role. Doc is already sick as the movie begins but he manages to stay in the game to the very end, more dangerous than any 2 cowboys, using supernatural willpower & sardonic wit to distract everyone and himself from the fact he’s nearly a walking ghost. Russell is just super-solid as Wyatt; he conveys a strength, tapped from unknown sources (whereas Doc draws from within), standing tall when other tough guys quake in the knees. These two make a terrific team; it’s not the usual buddy stuff of most pictures. All the supporting cast is fine, including Elliott and Paxton as Wyatt’s brothers, though there are some overly obvious moments. Earp’s on – off relationship with the actress (Delany) has its ups & downs, there’s not much room for subtlety as Earp’s wife looks on quite upset as Delany strikes another of her bemused expressions. Also, due to the large number of characters, some of their stories have a heavily truncated feel (Priestley’s, for example). The Vista director’s cut special edition DVD has some restored footage to improve this problem. The better scenes are the confrontations between the men, the threats swung high & low, and the sheer thrill of watching Russell slap an overweight Billy Bob Thornton silly.

And we have the villains, ah yes, the villains. I’ve already mentioned a couple of them – another one is Lang as Ike Clanton in a deliciously cheesy, hammy yet mesmerizing performance. By the last 3rd of the movie, I was so wishing he would get his – please, someone – Earp, Holliday, anyone ! – blow this bastard away! Ike is one of the great unsung villains of movie history, a tribute to Lang’s abilities. The conflict in this true-life story stemmed from the notion that there were no real villains. It was a matter of which faction had the rights, based on gun power and political ambition. In other words, the Earps were just making a political power play in the view of some and there was little difference between them and The Cowboys. But this film wastes no time in establishing Wyatt and his brothers as the decent side of the coin and when you have characters like Ike, there’s no mistaking which side are the bad guys. For a different take on this piece of history, check out the original Star Trek episode “Spectre of the Gun” from ’68. Oh yeah, there are also other films like the Lancaster – Douglas opus from 1957. But the Gunfight at the OK Corral in “Tombstone” was just one set piece out of many.

A significant Western

The legendary O.K. Corral incident in Tombstone, Arizona has been told previously in Edward L. Cahn’s Law and Order (1932), Lewis Seiler’s Frontier Marshal (1934), Allan Dwan’s Frontier Marshal (1939), William C. McGann’s Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die (1942), John Sturges’ Gunfight at O.K. Corral (1957), John Sturges’ Hour of the Gun (1967), and Frank Perry’s Doc (1971). It was also filmed by Lawrence Kasdan in Wyatt Earp (1994), a year after George P. Cosmatos’ “Tombstone.”

Cosmatos visualizes “Tombstone” in a new different way… He introduces Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) leaving Dodge City for the silver mining town of Tombstone to seek peaceful and profitable life… There, he is joined by his brothers Virgil (Sam Elliot), and Morgan (Bill Paxton), and their wives… Once arrived, they catch up with Wyatt’s highly cultured friend, the flashy gambler and gunman, John Henry ‘Doc’ Holliday (Val Kilmer), accompanied by his voluptuous Hungarian consort Kate Horony (Joanna Pacula).

In Tombstone the Earps found that the wild town is controlled by an elite body of gunmen (the vile Clantons as well as their ally) known by the red silk sashes they wore around their waists…They call themselves the “Cowboys.”

All the elements of entertaining cinema are here—the upstanding hero figure and his unyielding nature (Earp); the eccentric, tragic sidekick (Doc Holliday); the lawless gang of villains led by the roughneck Curly Bill (Powers Boothe) and the testy Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn); and the terrific action, which is, by its very nature, the classic elements of the Western… We also have good romance, funny lines and gun fighting skills…

Cosmatos chooses to focus the attention on Wyatt’s bloodiest days in Tombstone… With Russell and Kilmer, he creates two characters that are both human and heroic… The shootout at the O.K. Corral sparks with real excitement… As the Earps with Doc Holliday step into the street and head down for their ultimate approach, they unexpectedly do look like their myth… Four tall figures in long black coats advancing in a line, stern and unstoppable, a transient moment in time congealed eternally in our minds

While it still promotes some of the old west myths, it’s far more accurate than most westerns.

In movie westerns, there were shootouts all the time, Indian attacks and chaos. Well, this is true…in films. But in reality, the west was not so lawless and things like the shootout at the OK Corral were the exception rather than the rule. So, when you watch “Tombstone” understand that in many ways it is more historically accurate than most westerns but it still presents an image of western life that isn’t really true….at least not for the average person living out west back in the day. So, when you watch the movie, just understand that it represents an exception…not the rule. And, while this might surprise you, the famed shootout wasn’t even seen as anything that important when it happened…and it was only because of Wyatt Earp’s publicizing it so much in the 1920s and 30s that we think it was some big to do today.

The film is a modern and more adult version of a western. There is a LOT of realistic blood and gore…which there would have been in shootouts (WHEN and IF they occurred). It’s certainly NOT a film for kids and is one I recommend but only for adults who know what they’re getting into…it’s unrelentingly tough and violent. This is much unlike other versions of the story (such as “My Darling Clementine” and “Gunfight at the OK Corral”)…and for added realism, Doc Holliday looks awful…which he should have looked like since he was dying from Tuberculosis. Overall, very unpleasant but very well made.