User reviews

I wont review the film here as it has all been said before. I did want to praise Val Kilmer's portrayal of "Doc" Holiday. Throughout the entire film, his acting and character embellishments are so nuanced and well done that by movies end, we feel his loss in a very personal way. Credit must also go out the the costumers and make-up artists for their contribution to the overall effect of his role. All the way through the film, he looks sickly, pale and world-weary. His mannerisms and intensity of gaze profoundly establish this character as a focal point in this production. But as for what I started this off with, I consider this role as probably the very best for Val Kilmer. It required subtlety and careful restraint and made the viewer believe that we weren't watching an actor merely regurgitating lines and hitting their foot-marks. I, for one, was entranced by the carefully studied body language and facial expressions...the sweaty desperation of a man who sensed his own mortality but strove to enact his own justice for justices sake. This was just very well done!

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.

TOMBSTONE, one of two epic westerns about Wyatt Earp released within a few months of each other (1993-94) lacks the lyrical, 'warts-and-all' quality of Kevin Costner's WYATT EARP, but is a more successful film, with tighter pacing, more clearly drawn characters, and a reverence to the genre that has made it the most popular Western of the last twenty years.

From the opening scene, narrated by the legendary Robert Mitchum, a nod to the great Hollywood Westerns of the past is evident; a gang of outlaws calling themselves 'The Cowboys' break up a Mexican wedding in a small town, ruthlessly killing nearly all the men, including village priest Pedro Armendáriz Jr. (son of the legendary Western actor), in a scene reminiscent of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. Led by two of Hollywood's flashiest character actors, swaggering Powers Boothe, and coldly psychotic Michael Biehn (playing Johnny Ringo), the presence of such pure evil sets the stage for the Earps' arrival in Tombstone.

A powerful cast is essential for a great Western, and you couldn't find a better group of actors as the Earp brothers; Kurt Russell, chiseled, squinty-eyed, and razor-thin, is an ideal Wyatt; Sam Elliott, one of Hollywood's best Western actors, plays Virgil with a growl but a twinkle in his eye; and Bill Paxton, soon to achieve stardom in APOLLO 13 and TWISTER, makes a terrific Morgan. Then there is Val Kilmer, as Doc Holliday...While Dennis Quaid, in WYATT EARP, gave the most realistic portrayal of the dying dentist-turned-gambler/gunfighter ever recorded on film (he was superb), Kilmer, relying on bloodshot eyes, an ambiguous sexuality, and a Brando-esque line delivery, literally steals TOMBSTONE, and has become the 'Doc' everyone remembers. He is so charismatic that you nearly forget that the Earps are the focus of the story! Watch for his early scene confronting a shotgun-wielding (and chubby!) Billy Bob Thornton (three years before SLING BLADE), out to kill Wyatt, and you'll see my point.

The events leading up to the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral are clearly and decisively presented, from Wyatt's first meeting with future wife Josie (Dana Delany), to the murder of Tombstone's Marshal (Harry Carey, Jr., son of another legendary Western star, and a staple of many John Ford films), which leads to Virgil taking the badge and making his brothers (in Wyatt's case, reluctantly) deputies, to the friction with Ike Clanton (GODS AND GENERALS' Stephen Lang) that explodes into the short but bloody shootout that became legendary.

Where TOMBSTONE and WYATT EARP both excel is in presenting the aftermath of the gunfight. Unlike MY DARLING CLEMENTINE or GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL, the true story doesn't tie up neatly with a happy ending at the Corral, but becomes darker and bloodier. The Earps are placed under house arrest, and after they are acquitted in court, friends of Clanton (in TOMBSTONE, Ringo and other Cowboys), cold-bloodedly murder Morgan and cripple Virgil. Wyatt explodes, and grimly sets about, with Holiday and a small band of gunmen, to execute every possible Clanton ally he can find ("You tell him I'm coming! And hell's coming with me!"). Becoming a wanted fugitive himself, he only stops his mission of vengeance long enough to take the ailing Holiday to a friend's cabin (Charlton Heston has a brief but memorable cameo as the rancher), but the gambler returns in time for the gunblazing climax of the film.

TOMBSTONE is the kind of Western that critics love to say aren't made anymore, a throwback to the golden days of Ford and Hawks, when Good and Evil were clearly defined. Director George P. Cosmatos grew up on those films, as well as those of Sergio Leone, and he said, of TOMBSTONE, that it was made to honor the Westerns he loved so much.

It is his love of the Western that makes TOMBSTONE a truly superior film!

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.

Delivered to the big screen at a time when the Western was as fashionable as flared jeans, this semi-factual presentation still uses the oft used effect of yore; to load the bad guys guns with blanks to demonstrate the super human capabilities of the heroes. It's still done today but with laser guns and any number of exotic weapons replacing them - and we still forgive it regardless. Notable, primarily for an unforgettable rendition of Doc Holliday or, Val Kilmer not playing Val Kilmer for a change, this ultimately represents another closing down sale for the Supercowboys franchise as the encroaching Superheroes drive them out of town. It has all the ingredients that made the genre great in its day but, remove the sentimental value from the mixing bowl and the reason for its decline is as plain as plain flour for all to see.

Proof that westerns can be fun, Tombstone delivers an action-adventure popcorn movie that doesn't have to be campy and one-dimensional to be enjoyable. Here, Wyatt Earp biography is told like a fable. Sure, the facts are often recalculated in this film. But this is not looking to give a straight-on accurate view of Wyatt Earp's life. This is trying to take a man's life as a basis and then add to it to make a cinematic joyride. As opposed to the overlong and plodding "Wyatt Earp," this film decides to have a good time with the story and not get too bogged down in the misery. Kurt Russell is powerful as awful, and no man can deny that Val Kilmer, in his finest performance to date, was fully due for an Oscar nomination, if not an Oscar win. And Michael Biehn also gives a first rate performance as the sadistic Johnny Ringo. This is a thrill ride for anyone who loves westerns, or a good film to try to get others to start watching westerns.

I was expecting more from this one, which unaccountably has acquired the reputation of a modern classic. Russell is good, Kilmer steals the show, and Delany is miscast in a role that required a more fiery, vivacious persona; her scenes with Russell generate zero heat, and their romance, such as it is, goes nowhere.

The earlier parts of the film have their moments (notably the Bird Cage scene, which probably captures the reality of Wild West entertainments pretty well), but in the third act everything unravels in confused montages of Peckinpahesque ultraviolence. Apparently the film was conceived as a much lengthier epic before being whittled down to its present dimensions; in the process, the story was condensed, rushed, and jumbled.

For a true modern classic in the Western genre, see Unforgiven.

"Tombstone" is one of those stylized movies that has a lot of good qualities--some fine players, nice camerawork and a couple of tense scenes. But, overall, it's a mess. Nothing hangs together. It's really just a series of scenes strung together and called a movie. Kurt Russell, no stranger to action hero roles, is Wyatt Earp but you never get inside this guy. We start off with a sense of family with Wyatt and his brothers but nothing develops. We just have scenes. Hugh O'Brian may have provided a clearer characterization on the old TV show. But Val Kilmer is good, playing the sharp-witted, weak-lunged Bat Masterson. The whole thing starts off like a documentary with Robert Mitchum intoning something about the old west while some silent picture is shown. It might as well have been the one of "Beef--it's what's for dinner" spots. I don't know who this director is but he was obviously trying unsuccessfully to recreate the spaghetti westerns of the 1960's. The violence is layered in like a cake. I think there must be a UCLA film course out there that might talk about the need for subtlety when trying to establish a sinister characterization. Otherwise, it's just another shooting gallery. If there isn't there should be. This film is good for a couple of clips but it needs to be buried on Boot Hill otherwise.

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.

God bless George P Cosmatos. To anyone who is a fan of the old west genre, holy smokes!! This little piece of western history hit with a thunderous explosion. Tombstone, was in theaters around the time that Eastwood's-- "Unforgiven" was just heading out. That (Clint's western saga) won a lot of awards, but to my dismay, it seems as though ' they ' missed this one. To me this is what Oscars are made of . Steely-performances that bring the viewer to a place of awe. Simple. This film of the old west, that some will quibble about the fact that they didn't go into further detail on the lives and events that were part of each character here. Or that some of the facts were traded or missed all together in Tombstone. The director had set this western up and many others on their heels. Everybody mentions Val Kilmer in this as the incomparable 'Doc' Holiday. No doubt that he was indeed just that.

But add to it the way that Russell and Elliot with Paxton were the brothers that fell right into cinematic place. They were picture- perfect in their places. Then you bring in Dana Delaney, who is made for this part of the love opposite Wyatt, feisty, smart, educated and beautiful. and Stephen Lang another 'Pro' in about anything he takes on. I think he has multiple acting-personalities, his range is as broad as lake Superior. From a confident Jewish Lawyer David Abrams in 'Crime Story' (1986-88) to a quivering voice scumbag criminal outlaw in this, he has all the talent and a few other actor's talents too! Along with him, Michael Biehn, who was prime as Ringo, oh yeah! Charlton Heston as ' Henry Hooker' the solid standing rancher, who aides 'Doc' in a time of trouble, to Powers Booth, as the smart-Aleck's, oddly likable but equally slimy instigator 'Curly Bill' . The guy you love to hate. There was many moments that were the blocks that built the story, the one in particular that seemed strangely authentic, was when Wyatt and Virgil (Russell and Elliot) walked with Allie and Mattie, from the train after meeting up, and stopped at that storefront window and stood there, as if posing for a portrait. Wyatt sort of directed them to take a moment and take a picture of it to remember in their mind. That was a pause for reality in this for me. This had both tragedy and hard fought victory. The Arizona sky and scenery was dreamy in some sequences and the camera crew and sound was top-notch. I still can't really say there is another 'West' picture that stimulates my senses better than Wyatt and the whole gang, with 'Doc' the wild huckleberry, at your service....

The crew that played together in this film, helped make it a smash hit!! There are the other actors that took part as well, too many to list with the 'word' limit on IMDb, but, it was so good, you could feel it even after the movie was over! I highly and gladly recommend to western lovers and action movie seekers.

Tombstone...Justice is coming.(*****)

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.

Tombstone is a 1993 western that centers around a successful lawman whose retirement plan gets disrupted when a gang of outlaws invades his new home of Tombstone, Arizona.

I'm not a very big fan of western films, but I think this movie is absolutely fantastic. The story of Wyatt Earp is one that has been told several times, but this is my favorite adaption of all of them. Kurt Russell's performance is superb, and with the rest of the cast bring the story to life with a raw realistic quality that really helps you get behind the characters and invest in what's going on. It's full of great action, terrific sets, and a lot of memorable dialogue that you'll be quoting for years to come.

This is an all around great movie, and if you like westerns and haven't seen it before, I would highly recommend checking it out.

Ok. Background. I'm a Sephora junkie girlie girl. And I love this movie. For me, this is an important caveat. This is not just a guy movie. It's ridiculously good and the "I'm your huckleberry" scene is one I can watch over and over transfixed. Val Kilmer is that good. This is Val Kilmer at his best. Kurt Russell is phenomenal and tell me a movie that Sam Elliot sucked in. I dare you. Because he's awesome in everything. Guys ultimate movie? Yes. Women? Well, if they're not moronic vacuous creatures, yep, they'll love it. Or they should anyway.

I just watched this movie on television recently and was not very impressed. Sure, I was interested but the movie was more like a photo montage than anything else. There was almost no character depth and little character development. It was if the director was trying to cram as much action in as possible. I felt as if I were watching one big commercial for over two hours. While I am a fan of many of the actors in the film, they weren't given much to work with by the director so their performances were less than stellar (but they did a valiant job). I did like Val Kilmer's acting a lot though. So, the acting was good but mainly the character depth was terrible.

6/10

The film starts out promisingly enough but then shoots itself in both feet by robbing its villains of any kind of threat and wrapping an affected romantic plot around its already emaciated waist. The romantic subplot is silly and carried off in a lighthearted manner reminiscent of corny '80s TV serials, but the worst thing is the villains. Though Earp does deliver some wrath upon their heads by the movie's end, we've already seen them act in too casual a manner, to the point where any threat they may have had is gone. Now it's just a bunch of guys shooting each other with no emotional kick for the viewer to really make him put his fist in the air and say, "You get that son of a B!" Mainstream types will gush all over this, which is what it was made for. But if you like your Westerns down and dirty, with real stakes at hand and real villains about to get theirs, stay away from this popcorn crap.