The Best Wyatt Earp film to date!

Rating: Null/10 (25 May 2002)

Tombstone is the best of the bunch when it comes to Wyatt Earp films. The reasons are many. 1)The Look. Tombstone looks real and authentic. The dress is consistent with the time period. From the hats to the suits to the dresses. Every character looks like they just stepped out of a time machine from the last half of the 19th century. Also the exteriors and interiors are authentic. It was not filmed on a back lot somewhere or in New Mexico, but on location in southern Arizona. And last but no least the firearms and holsters were accurate in their use and appearance. Holsters were not worn down the side of the leg with a string strapped around the leg. This holster is pure Hollywood fiction popularized in the 1940's and 1950's. Wyatt Earp did not even wear a holster when he was in Tombstone. He carried his gun in the pocket of his long overcoat, which is depicted true to fact in the in the film. 2)The dialogue. The characters in tombstone use words and phrases of that time period. A good example is "no need to go heeled to get the bulge on dub like you. The screenwriter, Kevin Jarre, (who was also the original director before he was fired) wrote a well researched script that was full of authentic words, phrases and dialogue common to late 19th century not the late 20th. 3)The story. Tombstone is not completely accurate in some of the events that it depicts. The gunfight at the ok corral was about half as long with half as many rounds fired, There was a fourth brother James who was in Tombstone but was not in the gunfight, the vendetta ride was not as long and violent as in the film, Virgel and Morgan were shot about 4 months apart, Doc Holliday died 6 years after the gunfight at the OK corral. Johnny Ringo was found dead with a bullet in his head out in the country, no one knows who killed him. The rest of the film however is fairly true to fact. Most important it accurately depicts Wyatt Earp as a man who did not back down from a fight but also did not go looking for them, as a businessman first and lawman second, and as a fiercely loyal brother and friend. 4) and lastly Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer were Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday personified. A truly great film.