Entertaining But Way Too Prejudiced & Profane

Rating: 5/10 (30 August 2006)

Most people consider this the best Wyatt Earp story ever put on film, and there have been a half dozen. I don't put in that category for personal reasons: I took offense at the blatant anti-religious tone of the movie. I don't to hear Earp (Kurt Russell) tell us he's an atheist, somewhat mock those who do believe, all the while using the Lord's name in vain frequently, nor did I need to hear the latter over 25 total times in this movie, which is almost 25 times more than any other Earp film. This kind of bias was not needed in the story. What was the purpose? Answer - religious prejudice in films is so strong screenwriters apparently can't help but put it in everyone's face, even if it doesn't fit in the storyline.
Other than that, it's extremely entertaining and Val Kilmer's portrayal of "Doc" Holliday" is still the best-ever. He is the star of this movie in my opinion, and I'm not alone in that view. I think Kilmer is an underrated actor, in the first place.
There are lots of well-known actors in here and the story moves extremely well with one interesting scene after another. It's just too bad they had to include all that blasphemy. I might feel different about it instead of preferring Kevin Costner's version of "Wyatt Earp."