Plot: What’s it about?
Considered to be by many, one of the better Western movies made, Tombstone left an immediate lasting impression on me. I’ve not really ever been a fan of this genre, and it’s something that Hollywood has all but stopped making ever since John Wayne died some twenty five years ago. One needs to but look in the American Film Institute’s list of Top 100 movies to see a few of those are indeed Western’s. Movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Stagecoach, Unforgiven, The Wild Bunch, The Searchers and High Noon are but some of the titles that have made this such a popular setting for some of our favorite movies. So in 1993, we returned to the OK Corral for the umpteenth time to tell yet another story of Wyatt Earp. This time played by Kurt Russell. As fate would have it, just a short time after this was released, Kevin Costner was working on another epic by the name of Wyatt Earp, itself the same story. While Wyatt Earp was more historically accurate, I found Tombstone to be a lot more entertaining (though I consider neither to be a "bad" movie). With the sheer star-power of the movie alone, it stands to reason why this movie was so popular. Led by Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer, the movie featured more starring roles by popular "A" list actors. Bill Paxton, Sam Elliott, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston (a must for any western movie), Jason Priestly and Dana Delany grace the screen as well and all do a top-notch job.
But I digress, enough about the history of the movie, let’s see what it’s all about. Essentially, the story hasn’t changed, just the actors. Focusing later on in his life, long after he has made a name for himself; Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) has decided to head to the mining town of Tombstone and meet up with his brothers. Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) are eagerly awaiting his arrival as they plan to make their fortune in the "Queen of the mining towns". Naturally Wyatt is the undeclared leader of the bunch, and is almost constantly solicited for local law-enforcement jobs. But a local presence is more than a nuisance to the town and the Earp’s in general. A group of outlaws and bandits called "The Cowboys" all but run the town and the Earp’s tend to look the other way, having served their time as the long arm of the law. Led by "Curly Bill" Brocious (Powers Boothe) and Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn), the Cowboys have their run of the town by gambling, drinking and getting away with whatever they want. Eventually this starts to nag at the brothers and before we know it, they’re all deputized and wanting to kick some ass!
I feel that I have left out the most important man in the story, though. Val Kilmer’s Doc Holliday is simply the scene stealer. Holliday, a dentist from the East Coast, has come out to the West to help his advanced condition of Tuberculosis. Holliday and Wyatt are lifelong friends, one doing essentially anything for the other. So it’s with these four that justice has to be served. In a somewhat all out war against the Cowboys, the movie takes off from here and never looks back. In somewhat of an annoying sub plot, Wyatt’s wife, Mattie (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) seems to have a drug problem which leads Wyatt’s eyes to wander to local actress, Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany) and the affair that they have. Of course, I don’t want to give away the ending, but Tombstone is just a good, old-fashioned movie that has entertainment as the main focus. It makes it fun to watch, even if the mustaches are about the fakest thing you could imagine. Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer are wonderful (as is the rest of the cast) in a modern retelling of a timeless Western classic. I can’t recommend this release enough.
Video: How does it look?
True fans of this movie will know that this is the second incarnation of Tombstone on DVD. The first was released as part of Disney’s first wave of titles and was given a Dolby Surround mix and a 2.35:1 non-anamorphic transfer. Well, things (and times) have changed and Disney is actually putting some pretty decent DVD’s out when they want to. This brand new anamorphic transfer is leaps and bounds superior to the original, yet another testament to the benefits of DVD’s being anamorphic. The only thing I would have to say is that the image looks almost too sharp. While it’s nice to see the images as sharp as they could be, it has a very uneasy feel about it. The black levels are right on target (as they were not in the original release) and edge enhancement isn’t a problem. The hues are very well placed. This being a Western, browns prevail and they all look great in this new transfer. So while they have given us what we asked for, I still feel myself wanting; but not much. This transfer, quite simply, blows the other one away (no pun intended).
Audio: How does it sound?
I think I remember saying that this release would sound awesome in a 5.1 mix. As it turns out, it does…sort of. Given a new DTS 5.1 mix as well as a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, Tombstone has never sounded better. Usually the DTS has the edge, but I would have to go with the Dolby Digital version here. It seems that in areas where we would expect the surrounds to be used, they aren’t; or at least to their full potential. When compared with the older DVD though, it’s quite clear to tell which one is superior and it’s this one. Dialogue is very natural and free of any distortion and as much of the action comes through the front three speakers, the surrounds are used on occasion and with great effect. Not the best-sounding DVD out there, but it’s a vast improvement over the original and that’s what matters here.
Supplements: What are the extras?
One of the initial releases in Disney’s coveted "Vista Series", Tombstone is a 2-Disc Special Edition that pulls out all the stops. In addition to the "given’s" like two new 5.1 soundtracks and a brand new anamorphic transfer, we also get a screen-specific audio commentary by director George Cosmatos. Though his accent is a bit strong, Cosmatos does have great respect for the film and I can even recall on the old Laser Disc that Cosmatos did some commentary for some deleted scenes. It’s a good track, but a bit long at times and unless you’re really good at interpreting his abuse of the English language, I’d pass this up. The plethora of the extras are on the second disc, the first of which is "The Making of Tombstone". This is actually a series of three separate featurettes that make up one big feature. A lot of research went into this film, though we might not know it from what we see on screen. Though these "Making of…" featurettes often seem kind of standard and monotonous, this one is actually pretty well done and deserves a look. Some rather interesting features are the Tombstone Timeline and the Tombstone Epitaph’s. The timeline is the real timeline of what happened to whom and when while the epitaph has quotes of what happened at the famous gunfight at the OK Corral. Very interesting indeed. Next up are some storyboards that feature the gunfight at the OK Corral with some themed music to accompany them. Lastly, there is a theatrical trailer and a teaser trailer that are presented in non-anamorphic widescreen. A collectable map of Tomstone is also included, illustrated by Wyatt Earp himself (it’s a reproduction, in case you’re wondering!) Not a bad little Special Edition here. While other discs have tons more features, this is a great offering of a great movie at a good price. The audio and video quality are a major improvement over the previous release so it makes sense that if you already own the movie, rebuy it. And if you don’t own it, this is your excuse to pick it up!
