Review of Wyatt Earp (1994) by Alec B — 04 Mar 2018
The exploits of Wyatt Earps' western history in the late nineteenth century are told in this biographical account of his life.
The film is epic in length (over three hours) and production values. However it falls short of other modern Western movies such as Unforgiven released a year earlier that received much greater acclaim.
It mainly stars Kevin Costner as Earp. Now I am going to be controversial here. Costner is a wooden actor and I longed for a vintage Clint Eastwood in the role.
The movie's lengthy running time could been disected by at least forty minutes.
I much preferred Unforgiven and if memory serves me correct the great performance by Gene Hackman in that film. So imagine my disappointment at seeing Hackman relegated to about twenty minutes of screen time.
I had more viewing enjoyment watching Gunfight at the O.K. Corrall (1957) starring Burt Lancaster as Earp than this tedious version.
Just when you think the film is nearing a conclusion as in the legendary gunfight it goes off at a tangent of revenge killings for another forty minutes!
All is not a write off with this film. The production values are great as in production design, cinematography and locations.
A wasted opportunity.
This review of Wyatt Earp (1994) was written by Alec B on 04 Mar 2018.
Wyatt Earp has generally received positive reviews.
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