Tombstone (1993)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

George P. Cosmatos

Writer (WGA):

Kevin Jarre (written by)

Release Date:

25 December 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | Romance | Western

Tagline:

I'm your Huckleberry!

Plot:

A successful lawman's plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona, are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating.

Plot Keywords:

Cowboy | Doc Holliday | Tombstone Arizona | Arizona | Wyatt Earp

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Kurt Russell	...	Wyatt Earp
Val Kilmer	...	Doc Holliday
Sam Elliott	...	Virgil Earp
Bill Paxton	...	Morgan Earp
Powers Boothe	...	Curly Bill Brocius
Michael Biehn	...	Johnny Ringo
Charlton Heston	...	Henry Hooker
Jason Priestley	...	Deputy Billy Breckinridge
Jon Tenney	...	John Behan, Cochise County Sheriff
Stephen Lang	...	Ike Clanton
Thomas Haden Church	...	Billy Clanton
Dana Delany	...	Josephine Marcus
Paula Malcomson	...	Allie Earp
Lisa Collins	...	Louisa Earp
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson	...	Mattie Blaylock Earp, aka Celia Maddon

MPAA:

Rated R for violence. (director's cut)

Runtime:

130 min | USA:134 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Latin

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Iceland:16 | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Cinergi Pictures Entertainment

Trivia:

At the Birdcage Theater, one of the cowboys sees the juggler, "Professor Gilman" and says "Aw! Professor Gilman? I seen him in Bisbee. He catches things." To which another cowboy stands up, pulls a gun and says "Hey, Professor! Catch this!" and shoots one of the bowling pins he's juggling. This is based on a true anecdote told in the Time Life book series "The Old West-Gunfighters" profile of the OK Corral shootout. As in real life, the juggler raced off stage yelling "My God! They're really shooting at us!" Actually...."Professor" Gillam was performing a show in which blanks would be fired at him, and he would spit slugs out of his mouth that he had already prepared, when the cowboy made his "Catch this" remark.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the first Mexican village scene, when the wedding party is leaving the church the preacher puts on his hat inside the church. As the party leaves the church he is seen putting it on again.

Quotes:

Wyatt Earp: [Tyler reaches for his gun] Go ahead, skin it! Skin that smokewagon and see what happens...
Johnny Tyler: [pauses, scared] M-mister, I'm gettin' tired of your...
Wyatt Earp: [slaps Tyler across the face, unafraid] I'm gettin' tired of all your gas, now jerk that pistol and go to work!
Wyatt Earp: [slaps him harder, now completely steely-eyed] I said throw down, boy!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Knocked Up (2007)

Soundtrack:

Le Danse Macabre

Val Kilmer's Greatest Performance

Now Tombstone is a film that I would call the last great western of its genre so far. It has every sub plot you could want in you're average film and especially in a western. They have a great cast on board also to establish this gang of ragger muffins. Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp is just as good as Costner and Lancaster were. Val Kilmer is probably the main reason why every fan of it's genre talk about it so much as he is not just a fine actor in this but you believe that Doc Holiday and him were somehow related as he takes on the exact same sense of humour which I have read in books and his likeness is there also from what I have seen in pictures.

Val Kilmer has been in a lot of films but only half of them were good and this goes into one of his best along with Oliver Stone's The Doors and Willow without doubt has to get a mention. There is a superb cast here which makes up of Bill Paxton, Sam Elliot, Michael Biehn, Powers Boothe, Stephen Lang, Billy Zane and of course Charlton Heston. I could go on for even longer mentioning some of the great actors that star in this but the sheer action of vengeance of it make it one of the best action westerns. There are your two type of westerns like High Noon and The Searchers which are very calm but intense films. Then you have The Wild Bunch and Tombstone which are just blood thirsty with plenty of action to cater for all tastes of films.

I am not to familiar with the director but he is surely missed as far as making a western like this is concerned.