Hell's coming with me!

Rating: 8/10 (10 December 2014)

While not exactly epic in scope - "Tombstone" does compress the passage of time a fair bit - it does do a fine job of entertaining its audience. This viewer isn't surprised to hear that it plays with the facts - such is the nature of motion pictures - but wasn't exactly expecting a history lesson in the first place. It's extremely well shot and does transport its audience to a different time and place. Everything feels very authentic, from the production design to the costume design. Granted, this gets pretty melodramatic - right after a key death has occurred, our main character is standing outside in an absolute torrent of rain. Subtlety is in short supply. But one thing this movie is not, is boring, and it fills a two hour and 15 minute run time quite thoroughly.
A rock solid Kurt Russell leads an absolutely fantastic ensemble. There are LOTS of familiar faces here, although some unfortunately end up with very little to do. Russell plays the legendary lawman Wyatt Earp, who has left that line of work behind - or so he hopes. He retires to the Arizona town of Tombstone with brothers Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) and their wives. Ultimately, fate dictates that Wyatt will NOT be able to "live and let live". A very scummy gang of outlaws that call themselves The Cowboys are going to become more than just a nuisance, and Wyatt will be forced to deal with them.
It's the engaging and effectively eccentric Val Kilmer, as Wyatts' good friend Doc Holliday, that ends up stealing this show. Kilmer completely immerses himself in this character. Dana Delany as Josephine is an appealing love interest for Wyatt. Elliott, Paxton, and Russell make for a rather believable trio of brothers. Michael Biehn, Powers Boothe, and Stephen Lang stand out among the many antagonists. As Doc says of Biehns' Johnny Ringo, he most likely wants revenge for having been born in the first place. Lang as Ike Clanton is such a worthless weasel that you keep hoping to see him get his comeuppance. It's nice to see Western veterans such as Harry Carey Jr. and Buck Taylor among the Tombstone citizens; the real Earps' namesake fifth cousin plays the role of Billy Claiborne. Robert Mitchum, whose son Chris has a tiny role, serves as the narrator.
Good action scenes and visceral moments combine with some poignant elements to make for an enjoyable experience.
Eight out of 10.