Review of Wyatt Earp (1994) by Danny S — 27 May 2009

Beautifully shot epic western with stellar performances by terrific cast. Costner does not portray Earp as a heroic figure, instead giving us a flawed character that appears to be convincing and realistic. Dennis Quaid is superb as Doc Holliday and is almost unrecognizable in the role - think Heath Ledger as the Joker!

Whilst the film is over 3 hours long (apparently there's also an extended version somewhere?!?!) it feels like it has suffered several cuts, particularly as characters appear and disappear without much explanation. Personally, I would've loved to see more scenes with Costner and Quaid showing the development of their characters' friendship. On the DVD I saw there were several deleted scenes, including one where the two main characters share a jail cell and this scene was so beautifully played that it deserved to be in the final cut.

Overall, if you like sprawling epics, you'll love this!