One of the best westerns ever made

Rating: 9/10 (23 December 2013)

This is not just one of the best Westerns ever made - but arguably the best and most true-to- its-subject movie about Wyatt Earp and the men and women who surrounded him. Not to mention the fact that Val Kilmer does a tour de force as Doc Holliday that absolutely has to be seen to be believed - and if this isn't Kilmer's best film, it's right up there. (It's a shame that Kilmer has not since been handed such a great role that suited him perfectly.) That guy is off the charts in this film! But all actors in this film put in stellar performances and there's not a sour note in the whole film. Plus, it rises above its genre - this is almost more a historical biopic than a Western (not that I dislike Westerns - I don't; I LOVE Westerns). I think John Wayne himself would have endorsed this film. And it does justice to Wyatt Earp, too, who's portrayed as he should be - not a perfect man, but certainly, in the end, a hero and one whose bravery was almost unmatched (short of Billy the Kid, some of the Kid's cohorts such as Dick Brewer, and, of course, Earp's sidekick, Doc Holliday). What a great story, shot beautifully...it's a movie you want to see over and over again. And...is anyone unmoved at the end? Because there's tragedy and there's true romance. True romance. Read about it after seeing this movie - this story (including his lifelong romance with Josephine Marcus - which we only see blossoming in this film) is incredible and it's a big piece of Americana. The men who played Earp in the early movies - who knew him, in fact, in his latter days in Los Angeles in the 20s - cried when he died. I never get tired of seeing this movie. These are people you would have wanted to hang with and fight with if given the chance. This movie even motivated me to visit the real town of Tombstone, still standing where it was in Earp's time, a relic of the past. I felt the need to get closer to a man who was that great, so brave, so heroic, so admirable. And this movie makes you wish you could have joined his band of lawmen/vigilantes. Incredible story, superbly told in this movie. And perhaps you'll feel differently about vigilantes after seeing it, too. For who else was bringing justice to a corrupt and lawless region at the time? And yet this movie - to its credit - also brings out the humanity and tragedy even when the killing of bad men is necessary. And the thankless role Earp was forced into.