Tombstone (1993). Cert 12. Director - George P Cosmatos. Writer - Kevin Jarre Starring - Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Bill Paxton, Sam Elliot, Michael
Biehn & Powers
Boothe.
Straight of the bat, for me this is the second best western ever made.
Unforgiven being the best. Enough of that however, back to Tombstone.
I can already hear shouts of, 'what
about the dollars trilogy' or 'what about John Wayne's stuff'. Well, I
just do'‘t think they hold well in the test of time. I am a big fan of
Eastwood, I love the Dirty Harry movies, but the only western he's made
that I enjoyed was Unforgiven, I thought his earlier westerns whilst
gritty and a good vehicle for Eastwood were cheap and the dubbing was
awful. John Wayne on the other hand, well maybe it's an American thing,
but for me the guy just plain couldn't act.
Tombstone is great
for so many reasons. Universally good performances from an excellent
ensemble cast. Kurt Russell is fantastic as Earp, looking through barely
open eyes with a tiredness like he's seen and done it all. Bill Paxton and
Sam Elliot star as his brothers. Powers Boothe and Michael Biehn as
leaders of the cowboy gang. Nice little cameos from Charlton Heston and
Jason Priestly add to the already impressive cast. For my money though the
star of the film is Val Kilmer in a career best performance as Doc
Holliday. Looking close to death for most of the movie, he pulls of a tour
de force performance that was cruelly ignored by the people who hand out
statues.
The film doesn't rely solely on action. Instead of
ploughing straight into the OK coral gunfight, we instead build up a
rapport with the Earp family and get to know the major players in the
cowboy war. The tension builds slowly and then explodes for the gunfight
and there is no looking back.
The film also looks great, making
good use of location and lighting to give a realistic gritty look at the
Wild West. The action scenes are handled well by director George Cosmatos.
The sound plays a great part in the movie, straying away from the old
whistly scores of westerns of old and giving them a needed kick up the
backside.
One of the best examples of the western genre and along
with Unforgiven is the film that dragged the genre kicking and screaming
back into modern cinema.
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8/10 for Tombstone. Poster Quote - What will be on your tombstone? |