Lots of flash but you can bury this one

Rating: 5/10 (10 January 2004)

"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.