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Tombstone Movie Review

Tombstone is a 1993 western film directed by George P. Cosmatos and starring Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer and Dana Delany. It’s a bombastic mess of a movie.

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“Why Johnny Ringo, you look like

somebody just walked over your grave“

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Loosely based on the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, but only loosely, the movie is not historically accurate at all. Unlike previous versions of this story, this one was done more for the masses than for the critics, and that shows in its bombastic, very action-oriented execution.

I personally do not care for this many shootouts in my westerns, so I was bored quite a bit, especially in the excessive second half. There are some things that worked here, but for the most part the storyline is an utter mess as the movie unsuccessfully attempted to be both old-fashioned and modern. It just felt like this odd mix between the two disparate tones.

The characterization is the strongest thing about this film, that goes without saying. While the acting is all over the place, ranging from believable to over-the-top, the standouts are clearly Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer, both very charismatic in their roles. Doc and Wyatt are excellent here and their dynamic is superb too.

Others are also solid, but there are way too many characters in this roster, resulting in many people being sidetracked and brushed aside. I loved every scene with Josephine. It was wonderful seeing Dana Delany in such a serious, well written role, and she is great here. The romance worked for me and this is where the movie reached the most enjoyable moments, thus more of the romantic elements should have been included.

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Tombstone is clearly very epic in its cinematography and score that are so well executed and grandiose that they reminded me of westerns of the past. In particular, the horse riding scenes were very moving and spectacular. The shootouts are well filmed, but again very excessive. As for the direction, it is not that good. The editing and pacing are also problematic and the script needed much more work.