Review of Tombstone (1993) by Deb S — 14 May 2010

Wyatt Earp (played by Kurt Russell), a retired peace keeper with a reputation, re-unites with his brothers Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) in Tucson, Arizona where they venture on towards Tombstone, a small but growing mining town to settle down.

There they encounter Wyatt's longtime friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), a arrogant, suave Southern rogue with a mean streak who seeks relief from his tuberculosis in Arizona's drier climate. What is touching is the relationship between Wyatt and Doc.

They love one another like brothers and no one can deny that Val Kilmer gave a knockout performance as Doc Holliday. There are a couple of snags in the way of happiness for Wyatt though. His wife is addicted to laudanum (opium) which she acquired to treat her headaches and there is a gang of vicious criminals terrorizing the town.

After a couple run-ins with this murderous bunch of outlaws, Wyatt realizes he can't live the safe life he wanted and has to step up and keep law and order in the town. After his brother is killed, he becomes focused on killing all the cowboys for what they have done and vows he will wipe them out completely so they can't rise again to cause more mayhem to the area.

Michael Biehn gives a first rate performance as the sadistic Johnny Ringo. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Ringo twirls his own gun in Doc's face and his drunken sweating cup twirl response was fantastic, but even before that, when he talks Latin to Johnny Ringo, that was sheer wonderfulness.

A brilliant western! Tombstone delivers action and adventure and the pace never lets up. Love it, Love it, Love it!