Tombstone [Blu-ray]

Overview

A high-energy action adventure based on legend rather than historical fact finds Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) desiring to retire from law enforcement. With brothers Virgil (Sam Elliot) and Morgan (Bill Paxton), he arrives in Tombstone, Arizona intending to build his fortune. He discovers that long-time friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) is there and that the town is run by a group of brutal outlaws called the Cowboys. Earp, frustrated with his laudanum-addicted wife, begins a romance with traveling stage actress Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany). Meanwhile, the Cowboys terrorize the citizens of Tombstone unchecked. When the town marshal is killed by a Cowboy, Earp steps in to prevent a lynching by an angry mob. He also refuses to hand the killer over to his fellows, beginning the enmity between the Cowboys and the Earp brothers. Virgil, overcome with guilt at doing nothing to help the Tombstone citizens, accepts the position of town marshal. With Wyatt and Morgan as his deputies, and the help of Doc, Virgil attempts to arrest several Cowboys, resulting in the famous OK Corral shoot-out. The Cowboys take revenge by ambushing two of the brothers and injuring Virgil and killing Morgan. The Earps leave town, apparently cowed. Wyatt returns, wearing the badge of a U.S. marshal, vowing to destroy every last Cowboy. He hunts them mercilessly, until the leader, Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) challenges Wyatt to a duel. While not regarded as an artistic masterpiece, "Tombstone" is considered the best of director George P. Cosmatos' prolific films. The all-star cast (including Thomas Haden Church and Billy Bob Thornton in small roles) delivers solid performances. Both William A. Fraker's cinematography and Bruce Broughton's stirring musical score are expertly designed for dramatic effect. Blood is shown liberally in several key scenes, but seems intended to show that there is nothing glorious in Wyatt Earp's actions, only necessity. He and his deputies take on the symbolism of the horsemen of the apocalypse -- dispensing judgement, and the Biblical references form a symmetry at the beginning and end of the film.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/27/2010
UPC:	0786936725247
Original Release:	1993
Rating:	R
Source:	Walt Disney Video
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	2:10:00
Sales rank:	3,670

Special Features

The making of Tombstone; Director's original storyboards; Trailers & tv spots

Editorial Reviews

The Wild West's most famous feud, previously the subject of no less than a dozen movies, gets its definitive screen treatment in this violent, sprawling, and historically accurate telling of the notorious gunfight at the OK Corral and its bloody aftermath. Kurt Russell heads a stellar cast, portraying legendary frontier marshal Wyatt Earp as a weary gunfighter who joins his brothers Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) as they seek their fortune in a dusty but booming Arizona mining town. When a faction composed of renegade outlaws and rustlers -- led by Curly Bill Brocius (Powers Boothe) and Ike Clanton (Stephen Lang) -- runs roughshod over Tombstone, Wyatt again dons a lawman's badge and enlists the aid of his disreputable friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), in wiping out the town's lawless elements. Kevin Jarre's screenplay not only packs a wealth of character and incident into this flawlessly produced retelling of the Earp-Clanton conflict; it does so by remaining largely faithful to the historical record while enhancing the dramatic impact of many actual situations. The muscular direction of George P. Cosmatos (Rambo II) goes a long way toward making Tombstone the most operatic of horse operas: He adds forceful emphasis to scenes delineating violence, betrayal, and tragedy. Although this film avoids the simplistic white hat/black hat formulas of yore, it is not a revisionist western, just a good old-fashioned barnburner of a movie guaranteed to rouse the long-dormant cowboy in us all. This Vista Series DVD presents the director's original cut, which Cosmatos accompanies with detailed commentary. Other extras include a Tombstone Timeline, which lists the historical events in chronological order, production featurettes with behind-the-scenes footage, original storyboards, and DVD-ROM content.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

About two dozen Hollywood regulars -- from character actors on up to superstars, obscured by moustaches which practically consume their entire faces -- got together with director George P. Cosmatos for this vigorous, bloody take on the Wyatt Earp story. Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer make a soulful Earp and Doc Holliday, and the rest of the large ensemble effectively personalizes the body count. The film does a good job driving home just how difficult it was to bring peace to any region of the Old West. Even in "retirement," Earp became embroiled in one fracas after another, though his whole will was directed toward avoiding violence. But even if it makes token gestures toward non-violent idealism, this movie is really about watching a bunch of bad-ass lawmen mop the dusty streets with outlaws. And they do look tough in their matching black suits. There are several sequences of merciless mayhem guaranteed to get the adrenaline pumping, in which Earp himself blows people away at close range. (It's interesting to note the usage of the term "cowboy" in the film: While modern viewers have come to think of it as neutral, describing anyone on horseback with a brimmed hat, Tombstone reminds that it was first ascribed to the lawless miscreants who wore red sashes and shot up innocent bystanders.) Among the cast of thousands, look for an early career appearance by Billy Bob Thornton, as an all-talk bully whom Earp slaps into submission.

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