They DO Make Them Like That Anymore

Rating: 7/10 (6 February 2007)

The reason I love movies is my father. Because of him I grew up watching westerns and war movies, his two favourite genres. While I loved the fact that a huge number of things generally blew up in war movies, I always found the westerns to be more to my taste. The sun glaring off the sand, worried townsfolk scurrying indoors and the single gunman facing down the bad guys. Tombstone is a fantastic tribute to these movies.
Leaving historical accuracy aside, the plot is fairly straightforward. Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) brings together his two brothers, Virgil (Sam Elliot) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) and their respective spouses to seek their fortunes in the mining town of Tombstone. Personally I would have chosen the sister town, Happyland; still, what's in a name? There they meet old friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) and set about making money. Unfortunately, lawless gang 'The Cowboys' ruin everything by being loud, obnoxious, spitting, and shooting the occasional town sheriff and curse-laying priest. Wyatt gets involved though he doesn't really want to, and then Virgil takes the place as the new town sheriff, forcing the two brothers to become deputies. One thing leads to another and suddenly it's all guns blazing as the Earps and Holliday head to the OK Corral.
The Earps and Holiday kill three Cowboys. In retaliation the women folk are shot at, Virgil is crippled and poor Morgan killed. Earp decides enough is enough, becomes a US Marshall, and accompanied by his good friend Doc and three other companions, goes to seek bloody vengeance. We see the descent of Earp into vengeance-reaping killer, a man who loses himself until, at the end of the movie, he finds true love.
This is a movie of the myth of the Earp story, rather than some kind of Hollywood biography. Accept it as such and then we can talk.
Stylistically this movie owes a massive debt to the classic westerns of the past, and is in many ways a homage to them. However, please don't think that this makes it some simple movie. Although the good guys and the bad guys are clearly defined, there is still plenty of symbolism to look out for. The priest at the beginning curses the Cowboys, saying that death would come on a pale horse, which initially is incorrectly translated as death riding on a sickly horse. Then Johnny Ringo shoots the poor priest in the forehead. As the Earps first go to face the Cowboys for the showdown at O.K. there are four of them, like the four horsemen heralding the apocalypse for the cowboys. Behind them we see fire. Now, it may just be a fantastic opportunity to make a great looking movie poster, or it may well be the fires of hell that Wyatt talks about following him later as he and Holliday begin their vendetta ride.
Of course it is this vendetta ride where the priests curse/prophecy comes true. Wyatt being death and the pallid Holliday could easily be called the 'sick' horse. Finally Johnny Ringo is shot and dies in the same way he killed the priest, one shot in the forehead.
The performances in this movie are generally good. The supporting cast are very supportive, and throughout the movie faces pop up that are unexpected. Charlton Heston is the most obvious, but Billy Bob Thornton, Terry O'Quinn, Billy Zane and Michael Rooker all appear in relatively small parts. Kurt Russell is totally convincing as Wyatt, at times doing what appears to be a fine Clint Eastwood impression, but he's believable and looks good. The person who really shines of course is Val Kilmer. Playing the consumptive 'Doc', he's the cowboy all the little Goths want to grow up to be. He delivers every line with panache, his natural charisma turned up to eleven, and no matter what, there is always a look in his eye that says 'You may be holding four of a kind, but I know I've got me a royal flush. Call me, I dare you.' No, this isn't the greatest Western ever made, but it's probably been the most popular for the last 20 years. Give it a go if you're in the mood for some good old-fashioned gun slinging.