Tombstone (1993) review from the Jackass Critics

Story Summary

Tombstone chronicles the events surrounding the real-life Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, focusing on Wyatt Earp's life after Law Enforcement in Dodge City. Wyatt (Kurt Russell) meets up with his brothers Morgan (Bill Paxton) and Virgil (Sam Elliott) in Tombstone, Arizona. The brothers come to Tombstone to make their fortune and live in obscurity. Wyatt's old friend and legendary Gunslinger/Gambler Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) is also currently residing in Tombstone and before you know it, they are all making their money and having a great time; which is short lived. The local outlaw gang, The Cowboys, is making trouble in the area which lead to confrontation between the Earp brothers and Holliday. Virgil and Morgan take as Lawmen. Seeing that something is going to happen, Wyatt reluctantly joins them; leading up to the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral and releasing the region from the grip of the Cowboys.

DVD features

This DVD is the Director's Cut and called the Vista Series. Tons of extras. With a Tombstone Timeline, Faro at the Oriental and a map of Tombstone reinacting the day of the O.K. Corral gunfight highlight this Special Release. It gets the Treatment with Widescreen, THX-Certified Dolby or DTS 5.1 Surround Sound. This DVD has everything.

Analysis

Tombstone accurately depicts the Earps and Cowboy's lifestyles; of course, from the Earp's point of view. But that doesn't take anything away from the film. Great Cinematography and a marvelous score really brings this tale of suspense to life.
Kurt Russell pulls off his Wyatt Earp character quite well. Clearly showing his struggle to not be drawn into the Law again as well as trying not to fall for the free spirited Josephine Marcus.
Russell's performance is only overshadowed by Val Kilmer's portrayal of Doc Holliday; quite possibly Kilmer's best performance.
Other notable characters are Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) and Curly Bill Brocious (Powers Boothe), the leaders of the Cowboys. Both were briliantly played. We cannot forget the 'Cowboy Friendly' Sheriff Behan (Jon Tenney) or Billy Breckinridge, the gay Deputy played by Jason Priestley.
There are some downfalls to the movie. The movie should have ended at the Train Station as Wyatt shows his Marshall's badge to Ike Clanton. This would have given the film a solid ending. Instead, it takes us through the chasing and killing of many Cowboys; long and drwan out through two montages. Maybe cutting these and giving the lesser-main characters more substance would have made this a Grade A Western. Its still pretty good.

Final Thoughts

Movies based on real-life events usually distort the facts, which, I'm sure, this one does as well. Tombstone shows the Old West for what I always thought it was; gambling, shooting, drinking and bad vs. good. A wonderful tale that throws a little bit of history at you. A definite must see.

Da Bonghit Rating: 8

	Review by:Da Bonghit This person doesn't review here much anymore, so we aren't going to bother typing anything funny about them...
Average Rating:	8.200000	Reviewers Last 5 Reviews True Romance - 9 out of 10 The Fugitive - 9 out of 10 Tombstone - 8 out of 10 The Score - 7 out of 10 Memento - 8 out of 10
Number of Movies Reviewed:	5
Median Rating:	7
Mode Rating:	8
Reader Ratings:	7.142900
Jackass Average:	6.253700
Reviewer is more generous than your average Jackass.

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VISITOR REVIEWS Average User Rating is a 9
guy	9	July 7th, 2003
everything worth saying in a review about this film was stated above and below. fantastic in its characters, writing and execution. FYI: two bits is a quarter ($US 0.25).
Mark Eckler	8	February 8th, 2002
Whether this film accurately portrays the actual events at Tombstone, or not, doesn�t matter. It is an engaging tale populated with appealing characters. All the more interesting because the individuals actually existed. I don�t know that Val Kilmer necessarily outperformed anyone else in the film, I just think his part was written a little more heroically. None the less, Doc Holiday is a hoot to watch. This movie is a perfect example of entertainment well done for the sake of entertainment.
The Realms	9	February 6th, 2002
Gotta put my two bits in on this one too (anyone remember how much two bits is, in US green backs?)... I just bought this movie in a two disk discount pack. It came with Shang Hi Noon (which is funny as hell) for roughly the cost of one disk sold separately. I know it's the older version of the DVD without the map but I can always steal Fuersty's map when he's not looking. The movie is fantastic and I would recommend it highly to anybody looking for a good movie to sit down and watch with a bucket of melted butter and some popcorn. My hunting partner liked it so much when it came out he actually started to wear his leather outback coat and hat with a .44 strapped to his waist and walked around the house at night for months (sorry Philip!).
fuersty	8	February 6th, 2002
Tombstone is quite the excellent film and definetly the best western of the decade (but when your main competition is Maverick, I don't know if that is saying much). The action is really above the board and suspense is held pretty high during the shootout at the corral, and you already know how it's going to end up! As Da Bonghit touched on, the performance from Kilmer will likely be what people remember him doing when he goes crazy Marlon Brando style here as will inevitably occur. Of course we've also got Sam Elliot doing the same thing he does in real life, play Sam Elliot and he pulls it off marvelously. But then again, why wouldn't he? He's Sam Elliot. The DVD itself is really awesome. It got the five star treatment. It actually includes a map that Wyatt hand drew back in the day, a few decades after the event. Now that is cool. If you got the old version you are bummin big time.

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VISITOR COMMENTS

Smiley	June 8th, 2003	Reply
my fave movie. i must of seen it 30-40 times. i liked the whole ensemble and their roles and the script; however, Val Kilmer's performance blew me away. he deserved an award for that. i still use his memorable quotes in my daily routine and in the office :)

Bryan	December 26th, 2004	Reply
As good as a Western gets even if it is written up to satisfy the Hollywood crowd. Kurt Russell is great but Val Kilmer should have won a Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance! It has all the elements a good western needs to keep you watching it over and over again! I highly reccomend it to anyone who likes the dying western genre!