A Great Modern-Day Western

Rating: 8/10 (21 April 2011)

I think that overall, this movie was very good. This movie takes the iconic western theme and mixes it with a modern storyline and witty humor, mainly produced by the character of Doc Holliday. This movie has great twists, and makes the audience feel uncertain and anxious about the fate of the characters. Different types of characters in this story make the audience question who can be trusted, similar to the movie Stagecoach, where no one really knows who is bad and who is good until the characters develop. The storyline of the movie is very exciting, and an array of terrible villains always provides a challenge for the Earp brothers. My favorite thing about this movie is that there isn't just one villain. When one villain dies, it seems like there are many more to take his place. Even though this happens many times, at the end of the movie the audience still has that wonderful feeling of relief seeing the main character succeed.
The Cinematography and editing in the movie Tombstone is great. Fast, cutting action scenes and quick close-ups of the main heroes and villains make this movie very enjoyable. One of my favorite scenes that shows great filming techniques is the scene where Wyatt Earp kills a few Cowboys next to a train with his shotgun. At the end of the scene, the camera takes the position from a dead body, showing Wyatt Earp standing over the body with a dark coat holding a shotgun. This scene is one of those iconic scenes that make you think of movies such as The Wild Bunch and The Searchers, where the main heroes/villains show their authority over other characters by standing over their dead bodies. The editing in this movie is below average. This movie is very good, but some scenes seem to serve no particular purpose, like the scenes with Wyatt and his wife who is addicted to laudanum. The movie is 2 hours and ten minutes long, and it should be about 1 hour and 50 minutes long.
I think the acting in Tombstone was above average. This star studded cast seemed to live up to our expectations, no more and no less. Some usually great actors, such as Charlton Heston and Stephen Lang, seemed to contribute almost nothing to this movie. Kurt Russell plays Wyatt Earp, the enigmatic cowboy with a habit for finding and stopping crime. Russell does fairly well in this performance, he executes the romantic scenes well but I have a hard time believing him to be the hardcore cowboy that he plays. Russell's performance in Tombstone is over shadowed by his performances in movies such as The Thing and Death Proof, both extremely scary movies where Russell gives stellar performances. Russell's performance overall is good, but I think that he could have easily been replaced in this movie by actors such as Kevin Costner and Daniel Day-Lewis. Val Kilmer plays Doc Holliday, a doctor battling problems such as alcoholism, a gambling addiction, and tuberculosis. This, in my opinion, is Kilmer's best acting role. Although Kilmer is great in movies such as Heat and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, I think this is by far his best movie as an actor. The role of Doc is a very difficult one to play, he lingers between depression and happiness constantly. Kilmer executes this role perfectly, giving insight into the effect a terminal disease can have on the human soul. Also, Kilmer has many scenes where he provides comic relief to the action packed sequences of death and destruction. I would compare Kilmer's character of Doc Holliday in this movie to Thomas Mitchell's character of Doc Boone in Stagecoach. Both are veteran grizzled doctors that wander aimlessly through life battling the effects of alcoholism. Both characters provide necessary comedic support to the stories that they are in. Overall, I think that Russell's portrayal of Wyatt Earp and Kilmer's portrayal of Doc Holliday are both essential to the success of the movie, and both actors once again prove why they are among the elite in Hollywood.
The music and sound effects in the movie Tombstone are effectively used, but are nothing extraordinary. A man named Bruce Broughton does the sound for this movie, and he does a great job adding dramatic effect to the scenes that need it. However, I think that some scenes could have used music more effectively to set the mood of the scene. For example, the scene at the beginning where Wyatt and his two brothers are just arriving in Tombstone. Scenes like this are a composer's dream. Most composers will start with a cheery, uplifting instrumental piece that will capture the audience's attention and get them ready for the scenes to come. Also, I think the movie needed more dramatic dark music during scenes where there is killing going on. This kind of music, used very effectively in The Searchers, brings the movie down to earth, and doesn't make it seem corny.
The direction in the movie Tombstone is great. It seems like this would be a very difficult movie to make, having to balance the historical expectations of the story with filmmaking expectations of making the story original. I think that the director, George P. Cosmatos, did a great job with this. Costamos employs great cinematography to makes his scenes realistic, and he uses wonderful sound effects to set the mood of certain scenes. Overall, I think that Cosmatos' greatest strength regarding this movie was his casting. The cast of this movie is great, and they really help to make this movie as memorable as it is. I think that Cosmatos' greatest weakness regarding this movie is the editing. I really think that the movie was too long, and that some scenes seemed extraneous and not relevant to the storyline. I think that Cosmatos did a great job with this movie, he showed how important it is as a director to have experience.