This review includes full spoilers. Proceed accordingly. For other movie reviews from me, click HERE:
Comment: What makes a man like Dusty, Mom? What makes him blog the things he blogs?
Commenter's Mom: A man like Dusty has got a great big hole, right in the middle of him. He can never write enough, or promote himself on social media enough, or add enough subscribers to ever fill it.
Commenter: What does he need?
Commenter's Mom: Revenge.
Commenter: For what?
Commenter's Mom: Bein' too unathletic to play in the National Football League.
Rating: R
Director: George P. Cosmatos, Kevin Jarre
Writers: Kevin Jarre
Stars: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn
Release Date: December 25, 1993 (United States)
Run time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
THE PLOT:
via wiki:
In 1879, members of an outlaw gang known to wear red sashes called the Cowboys, led by "Curly Bill" Brocius, ride into a Mexican town and interrupt a local police officer's wedding. They then proceed to massacre the assembled policemen in retribution for killing two of their fellow gang members. Shortly before being shot, a local priest warns them that their acts of murder and savagery will be avenged, referencing the biblical fourth horseman.
Wyatt Earp, a retired peace officer with a notable reputation, reunites with his brothers Virgil and Morgan in Tucson, Arizona, where they venture on toward Tombstone to settle down. There they encounter Wyatt's long-time friend Doc Holliday, who is seeking relief in the dry climate from his worsening tuberculosis. Josephine Marcus and Mr. Fabian are also newly arrived with a traveling theater troupe. Meanwhile, Wyatt's common-law wife, Mattie Blaylock, is becoming dependent on laudanum. Wyatt and his brothers begin to profit from a stake in a gambling emporium and saloon when they have their first encounter with the Cowboys.
As tensions rise, Wyatt is pressured to help rid the town of the Cowboys, though he is no longer a lawman. Curly Bill begins shooting at the sky after a visit to an opium den and is told by Marshal Fred White to relinquish his firearms. Curly Bill shoots the marshal dead and is forcibly taken into custody by Wyatt. The arrest infuriates Ike Clanton and the other Cowboys. Curly Bill stands trial but is found not guilty due to a lack of witnesses. Virgil, unable to tolerate lawlessness, becomes the new marshal and imposes a weapons ban within the city limits. This leads to a gunfight at the O.K. Corral, in which Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers are killed. Virgil and Morgan are wounded, and the allegiance of county sheriff Johnny Behan with the Cowboys is made clear. As retribution for the Cowboy deaths, Wyatt's brothers are ambushed; Morgan is killed, while Virgil is left handicapped. A despondent Wyatt and his family leave Tombstone and board a train, with Ike Clanton and Frank Stilwell close behind, preparing to ambush them. Wyatt sees that his family leaves safely, and then surprises the assassins. He kills Stilwell but lets Clanton live to send a message: Wyatt announces that he is a U.S. marshal and that he intends to kill any man he sees wearing a red sash. Wyatt, Doc, a reformed Cowboy named Sherman McMasters, Texas Jack Vermillion, and Turkey Creek Jack Johnson form a posse to seek revenge.
Wyatt and his posse are ambushed in a riverside forest by the Cowboys. Wyatt walks into the creek, miraculously surviving the enemy fire, and kills Curly Bill along with many of his men. Curly Bill's second-in-command, Johnny Ringo, becomes the new head of the Cowboys. When Doc's health worsens, the group is accommodated by Henry Hooker at his ranch. Ringo lures McMasters into the Cowboys' clutches under the pretense of parley and then sends a messenger (dragging McMasters' corpse) to tell Wyatt that he wants a showdown to end the hostilities; Wyatt agrees. Wyatt sets off for the showdown, not knowing that Doc has already arrived at the scene. Doc confronts a surprised Ringo, who was expecting Wyatt, and challenges him to a duel to finish their "game," which Ringo accepts (Doc and Ringo have already had a couple of stand-offs in Tombstone that were ultimately broken up). Wyatt runs when he hears a gunshot, only to encounter Doc, who has killed Ringo. They then press on to complete their task of eliminating the Cowboys, although Clanton escapes their vengeance by renouncing his red sash. Doc is sent to a sanatorium in Colorado, where he dies of his illness. At Doc's urging, Wyatt pursues Josephine to begin a new life.
My Review:
Tombstone is among my favorite movies. There are so many fantastic actors in this movie that you have people like Billy Bob Thornton, Charlton Heston, Powers Boothe, Billy Zane, Thomas Haden Church, and Jason Priestley almost just sort of walking around in the background, crushing the little bit of screen time and dialogue they're given. The costuming, sets, and mustaches are all unmatched in the history of Hollywood Westerns. The writers went to obvious effort to include period-specific language. This might be the most quotable move ever made - with nearly every scene providing at least one memorable line. But the reason, in my opinion, that this movie has stood the test of time is that it is one of the best friendship stories in film.
Beneath the Western facade, Tombstone is a movie about two men who are the best of friends. Their bond in this movie was so well-presented that it now serves as a gold standard for on-screen friendship, right up there with Sam and Frodo. They're loyal and self-sacrificing on each other's behalf in a way that is touching and envy-inspiring. I mean, who doesn't wish they had someone in their life that would get up off his death bed and take down a Johnny Ringo for them?
Among the many great things about Tombstone, though, the best is Val Kilmer's performance as Doc Holliday. Simply put, his Holliday is one of the best and most memorable performances in movie history. Kilmer believably delivers dozens of fantastic one-liners in a deeply Southern accent while his character is sick with tuberculosis, drunk, gun fighting, and/or speaking Latin. Somehow it's always cool.
The overall plot is itself pretty straight-forward. The Earp brothers move to Tombstone, Arizona, a town overrun with outlaws calling themselves the Cowboys. With no one else capable of standing up to them, the Earps become the local law enforcement. When Morgan Earp is assassinated, Wyatt and his friends go on a bloody revenge tour, eventually arresting, killing, or driving them all off. It's a quintessential frontier story about bringing law and order to a place of chaos, and it's told well.
The movie is based on true events and is pretty accurate. The original director of the movie, Kevin Jarre, pressed hard for so much accuracy that it delayed production so much that he was eventually fired. The movie picked up a new director, George P. Costmatos, and with Kurt Russell's help, it was made anyway. Some of the film's details are not quite accurate, though. In real life, the timeline of the Earp family's arrival in Tombstone was more stretched than is portrayed in the film. There is no evidence that they did not want to be law enforcement in Tombstone. Wyatt's marriage and affair were on a slightly different timeline, too, with no one knowing for certain when Wyatt's relationship with Mattie ended and when the one with Josephine began. The movie also depicts more Cowboys being killed during the Vendetta Ride to avenge Morgan Earp than actually died. Perhaps the biggest stretch of the movie is that Doc Holliday almost certainly did not kill Johnny Ringo in a duel. It is believed Ringo died by suicide. On the whole though, poetic license aside, the film tells the true story in a very straight-forward way.
The movie is definitely an R-rated movie, with a lot of bad language, violence, and adult situations throughout. The real Tombstone was a violent place, filled with gambling and debauchery, and the movie depicts it accurately.
Overall, I definitely recommend this movie. It's got everything - love, friendship, mustaches, fighting, heartache, surprises, and revenge. From the musical score, to the costuming, sets, and cinematography, the movie is masterfully made. As Westerns go, this is one of the best ever made.
Have you seen Tombstone? If so, what did you think?
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