Flat Western Fails to Fill Boots

Rating: 5/10 (8 June 2008)

Based upon the legend of Wyatt Earp, feared and respected law man, and the gunfight at the OK Corral, George P. Cosmatos' ("Rambo II") film never fills the boots it attempts to.
The script has failed to inject any interest in the life and times of the Earp boys as they ride into Tombstone and turn it upside down, chasing away all the nasty cowboys. The only character we really end up interested in is Doc Holliday, humorously played by Val Kilmer in what is one of his best roles. Others just don't inspire, such as Kurt Russell, Sam Elliott, Billy Zane and Powers Boothe, or they don't sit right, like Bill Paxton as the younger Earp or Michael Biehn, who tries hard as Johnny Ringo, but doesn't quite pull off the tortured, lethal gunman.
Most of the gunfights, including the big one, are well staged, but little else is left to help recommend what is otherwise a fairly flat western. Kilmer and the film's good looks keep it above water. Charlton Heston provides a cameo. Also stars Robert Burke, Dana Delaney, Stephen Lang, Joanna Pacula, Jason Priestley, Michael Rooker, Dana Wheeler Nicholson, Frank Stallone and Billy Bob Thornton.
Tuesday, May 6, 1997 - Video