One of YouTube channel Honest Trailers’ jokes about the movie Tombstone is that it answers the questions “what if you only made a movie out of the good parts.” Only modestly successful at the box office, this new telling of Wyatt Earp and his adventures around Tombstone became a staple of Cable television and is now regarded as one of the most awesome (and manly) movies ever made. This was a real treat on my watchlist, as it somehow is generally accurate while still retaining the feel of an entertaining blockbuster. It’s got an unbelievably full and incredible cast, and it’s a testament to both the actors and the screenplay that nearly all of them leave their mark.
What’s interesting about Tombstone was that it was a sincere
update of the classic Western outline. Our protagonist or protagonists show up
in a town riddled by chaos. Though reluctant, they ultimately have to use
violence to clean up the place. Indeed, this might be the last high-profile
Western to not be a deconstructive film. If you ask me, the idea of the
deconstructionist Western has been well overplayed by now. Film reporters and
critics are always gushing about films for challenging the classic American
myth of the West, but these days it’s hardly a brave and bold stance within
Hollywood. But that’s not what this review is about, so I’ll get back on topic.
Before going further, I should note that there are two major sources of the inaccuracies in Tombstone. One is that the timeline is simplified and condensed. The time of the Earps’ arrival in Tombstone to the Vendetta Ride was between two and three years. The movie makes it feel much shorter. Also, the characters were up to a lot more, often changing jobs and in the case of love interest Josephine actually leaving the town for a while before coming back. One switcheroo in time is that Doc Holliday seems to die shortly after the Vendetta Ride and then Wyatt links back up with his romantic interest. Actually, Holliday lingered on until 1887, about five years after the movie ends.
The second source is, as with many westerns, the many legends and
played-up memoirs surrounding the events. For example, deputy Billy
Breakenridge (Jason Priestley) is shown as a possibly homosexual shrimp who’s
trying to fit in with the cool villains. This is because Wyatt Earp really
disliked him, and portrayed him as effeminate and useless in his recollections.
Screenwriter Kevin Jarre often prefers the legend over the facts, as will be
shown later on in this review.
Wyatt Earp with a badge.
Wyatt Earp (played here by Kurt Russell) is arguably the most famous
lawman of the Old West and one of the better known gunslingers from that era,
too. The reasons can be attributed to his participation in the most famous
gunfight, the one at the OK Corral, and the fact that he managed to live all
the way to 1929, giving him plenty of time to hobknob with reporters and more
importantly Hollywood people. Tombstone mostly refines the historical figures
into good guys and bad guys and Earp is no exception. His life before Tombstone
was spotty, with him operating on both sides of the law. To be fair, his crimes
were hardly murderous, involving the occasional theft of a horse or running a
brothel in Peoria, Illinois. On the subject of Wyatt, the scene where he walks right into a crossfire of hostile bullets and doesn't get hit actually happened (the big "NO!" scene).
As in real life, the movie sees Wyatt and his two brothers (as well as
their wives, more on them in a bit) head to the mining town of Tombstone,
Arizona to seek their fortunes. There’s the older and somewhat more moral
brother Virgil (Sam Elliott) and the younger Morgan (Bill Paxton). They
successfully set themselves up running a saloon, but increasingly fall afoul of
the Cowboys, a highly organized gang of cattle thieves. In this movie Wyatt
Earp is very reluctant to become a lawman again (his claim of a “guilty
conscience” implies that he was in some dark, violent affairs, but in real life
he had only ever killed one man before Tombstone). It eventually gets to the
point, however, that he and his brothers have to become deputies to bring some
law and order.
This brings us to the gunfight at the OK Corral. It was a famous
four-on-four gunfight with the Earps and Doc Holliday on one side and four
members of the Cowboys on the other. It’s been filmed numerous times, and often
inaccurately, with directors choosing to draw out the action by having the
participants fire at each other from behind cover or literally running around
the town. Tombstone presents the gunfight with more accuracy, meaning
that it’s not the longest affair, yet somehow it’s thrilling to watch, aided
greatly by the editing and Bruce Boughton’s music. There are a couple
inaccuracies to notice. The space of the gunfight is much larger than it was in
real life, allowing for more movement. One fact that really blows people’s
minds is that it was actually cold (a word used often is “blustery”). Much of
Arizona is on elevated land, so while it’s in the generally warmer American
Southwest, it also receives snowfall.
The Gunfight at the OK Corral is not the climax, however, as vengeful
Cowboys fire on the Earps, killing one of them. Wyatt forms a small band and
goes on his Vendetta Ride. Earp gathered a posse of Doc Holliday and three
defecting Cowboys to hunt down the men who killed his brother. The movie
presents a rampage where dozens of bad guys are gunned down. In reality the
Vendetta Riders are confirmed to have killed only four and then had to get the
hell out of Arizona before Sheriff Johnny Behan (a slimy and corrupt character
in the film played by Jon Tenney) arrested them. Let’s be honest, the movie
version is way cooler.
As said before, this movie has a really full cast and plenty of
stand-outs. The Cowboys’ villainy is played up, with a lot more murder and
mayhem. The movie also doesn’t get too deep into their primary criminal
activities, which is stealing cattle from Mexico to sell on the cheap (while
still making a profit) in America. Curly Bill Brocius (Powers Boothe) is
presented as the leader. His chuckling, playfully evil personality is not too
far from the real Curly Bill, who once held up a wedding at gunpoint and made
everybody strip naked and dance.
Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) and Curly Bill (Powers Boothe)
The real leader of the gang until his death was Old Man Clanton, but
he’s absent from the film. He was originally to appear, played by aging veteran
Western actor Robert Mitchum, but Mitchum suffered an injury. The filmmakers
decided not to recast the role and have Mitchum provide the opening and ending
narration. Clanton’s two sons Ike and Billy Clanton (Stephen Lang and Thomas
Haden Church) still appear sans their major family stake in the Cowboys’
business. Ike in particular stands out as the cowardly bully who keeps creating
situations where the Earps and Cowboys run afoul of each other.
The last villain of note is Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn). In reality he
was a typical semi-literate western thug, but for some reason legends sprouted
up that he was a great gunfighter and highly educated. Tombstone opts
for a mix, a Ringo who’s psychotic and fills his emptiness with violence, but
also a very observant and intelligent man who’s able to exchange hostile barbs
in Latin with Doc Holliday.
Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer); what is
he hiding behind his back there?
Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer in his greatest role) is the most remembered
character from Tombstone. Born John Henry Holliday, he was pursuing a
career in dentistry (hence the “Doc” appellation) when he was struck with
tuberculosis. He moved west to Kansas and then, in hopes the drier climate
would help him, the Southwest. Along the way he stopped being a dentist and
engaged in gambling and gunfighting, becoming friends with Wyatt Earp. He was
known for his calm, gentlemanly demeanor and quick wit. Kilmer nails him
perfectly, remaining charming no matter the situation and delivering quips such
as “I’m your huckleberry” that went out of style in the 19th
Century, but have found new life in internet meme culture. He just owns every scene he's in despite not being the actual main protagonist. More importantly to
the legend of Wyatt Earp, he’s an incredibly loyal friend who would ride into
hell with you even when coughing up blood from tuberculosis. Truly an inspiring
figure of bromance.
While Tombstone is noted for it’s manly awesomeness, it does have women
in it and here I have my only major complaint with the movie. The Earps arrive
with their wives, and Wyatt’s is Mattie Blaylock (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson), a
laudanum-addicted woman who is no longer able to connect with her husband.
Actually, the Earps’ marriages were common-law affairs. People in the Old West
sometimes became husband and wife without proper ceremonies, and these unions
were sometimes understood to be temporary. The movie doesn’t explain that,
though, so it’s even more cold what happens between Wyatt and Mattie. He meets
and falls in love with the highly-spirited and more interesting actress Josephine
Marcus (Dana Delany).
Doc Holliday's main squeeze in the movie is Kate (Joanna Pacula). The movie leaves
out that she was called Big Nose Kate because Pacula doesn't have the big nose.
Actually, Mattie’s existence was suppressed for a long time by
Josephine. The affair between Wyatt and Josephine caused a scandal and to
protect her and her husband’s reputation, Josephine removed any mention of
Mattie from her recollections. The entire romance subplot is very awkward and
if you think about it Wyatt and Josephine come off as adulterous jerks despite
the film’s best efforts. It doesn’t show an actual sexual affair, with Wyatt
and Josephine showing interest in each other, but holding back from going much
further. In fact Wyatt takes some of the things he likes about his interactions
with Josephine and tries to apply them to his relationship with Mattie, only
for the movie to make her scoff and reject his attempts to better the marriage
because she’s too high on laudanum. Josephine is also aged up from being in her
late teens to somewhere in her late 20s.
Awkward love story aside, Tombstone is an absolute banger of a movie
and always entertains. It’s got the general outline of history, avoiding some
of the gross inaccuracies of earlier Earp films, but integrates some of the
myths to make sure we’re entertained. Almost everything about this movie is
perfect.
Rating: 9/10
This is considered one of the coolest walking line moments of cinema. The end credits made much of it.
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