The number of times the gunfight at the O.K. Corral has been depicted in various forms of media is certainly not a small one. The fight may be the best known showdown in the Old West, and, like so much of history, has entirely different meanings depending on who you are and how you see the world. Hitting store shelves on Blu-ray this week is one of the more recent filmic depictions of the battle, the 1993 film, Tombstone.
Directed by George P. Cosmatos (after screenwriter Kevin Jarre was removed from the director's chair), Tombstone features a large ensemble cast led by Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday. The other two Earp brothers, Virgil and Morgan, are played by Sam Elliott and Bill Paxton respectively, while the Cowboys (the bad guys) are led by Powers Boothe's Curly Bill Brocious and Michael Biehn's Johnny Ringo. The impressive cast doesn't end there as Dana Delany, Thomas Haden Church, Charlton Heston, Jason Priestly, Jon Tenney, Stephen Lang, Billy Bob Thornton, Harry Ca.jpg "Photo Credit: © WDSHE. All Rights Reserved.")
rey Jr., Billy Zane, John Corbett, and Terry O'Quinn amongst others make appearances.
As the everyone involved with the film are very helpful to tell the viewer in the included behind-the-scenes featurette, one of the more impressive things about Tombstone is that while other tales of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral have the famed battle as the climax of the third act, it appears far earlier than that in this movie. It is, unquestionably, an important part, but the movie itself is much more about offering (what it considers) a realistic look at the Old West and the way life was then than it is the tale of the gunfight.
The film – which is the story of the Earps' time in Tombstone, Arizona and their battle with the evil gang known as the Cowboys – is unquestionably action oriented, but Cosmatos (or Russell, depending on which history of the making of the film you believe) manages to show great character depth and concoct a story that would work almost as well with all the action off-screen instead of on.
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Article comments
1 - Gerry
I loved this movie when it came out--and I remember the director trouble issue. It was written about enough at the time, they may as well have addressed it on the "Making of." It's no secret.
What's with releasing movies on blue ray with poor video quality? Lord Of The Rings, Tombstone . . .