Tombstone (1993)

A successful lawman's plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona, are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating.

Directors:

George P. Cosmatos, Kevin Jarre (uncredited)

Writer:

Kevin Jarre

Stars:

Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kurt Russell	...	Wyatt Earp
Val Kilmer	...	Doc Holliday
Sam Elliott	...	Virgil Earp
Bill Paxton	...	Morgan Earp
Powers Boothe	...	Curly Bill Brocius
Michael Biehn	...	Johnny Ringo
Charlton Heston	...	Henry Hooker
Jason Priestley	...	Billy Breckinridge
Jon Tenney	...	Behan
Stephen Lang	...	Ike Clanton
Thomas Haden Church	...	Billy Clanton
Dana Delany	...	Josephine Marcus
Paula Malcomson	...	Allie Earp
Lisa Collins	...	Louisa Earp
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson	...	Mattie Earp

Storyline

After success cleaning up Dodge City, Wyatt Earp moves to Tombstone, Arizona, and wishes to get rich in obscurity. He meets his brothers there, as well as his old friend Doc Holliday. A band of outlaws that call themselves The Cowboys are causing problems in the region with various acts of random violence, and inevitably come into confrontation with Holliday and the Earps, which leads to a shoot-out at the O.K. Corral.

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Plot Keywords:

two gun holster | double gun holster | tucson arizona | benson arizona | cochise county arizona | 

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Taglines:

Justice Is Coming

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Genres:

Action | Biography | Drama | History | Romance | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

25 December 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tombstone

Filming Locations:

Patagonia, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,454,752, 26 December 1993

Gross USA:

$56,505,065

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures, Cinergi Pictures Entertainment, Alphaville Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min 134 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was Val Kilmer's idea to whistle on the way to the O.K. Corral.

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Goofs

The film shows Curly Bill shooting Fred White in cold blood, being forcibly subdued by Wyatt, but being acquitted due to a 'lack of witness' (presumably because people were intimidated by the Cowboys). In reality, Curly Bill's shooting of Fred White was probably accidental. Curly Bill immediately expressed remorse for the shooting and gave himself up immediately. Wyatt did take Curly Bill away, but more for his own protection as White was popular in town and Earp feared that people might lynch Curly Bill. Contrary to the film, Fred White did not die immediately, but lingered long enough to testify that he himself thought the shooting was accidental. It was White's testimony, combined with evidence that the guns had a hair trigger, that acquitted Curly Bill, not Cowboy intimidation of potential witnesses.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: 1879 - the Civil War is over, and the resulting economic explosion spurs the great migration west. Farmers, ranchers, prospectors, killers, and thieves seek their fortune. Cattle growers turn cow towns into armed camps, with murder rates higher than than those of modern day New York or Los Angeles. Out of this chaos comes legendary lawman Wyatt Earp, retiring his badge and gun to start a peaceful life for his family. Earp's friend, John, Doc Holliday, a southern gentlemen turned ...

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Crazy Credits

For Birgitta C.

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Alternate Versions

A "Vista Series" director's cut was released in February 2002. Just under five minutes of never-before-seen footage were restored. The most noticeable are:

• a scene showing the depths of Mattie's addiction to laudanum and her jealousy over Josephine;
• a somber soliloquy by Doc quoting Kublai Khan;
• a scene explaining Kate's sudden disappearance from the film, with Doc stressing the importance of friendship;
• a scene with McMasters and the Cowboys meeting one last time. A small scene showing the graphic result of that meeting has been re-inserted, with the line "They got McMasters!" being moved into this small insert.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Serious Slaps in Movies (2015)

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Soundtracks

Nocturne in E minor, Op. 72, No. 1
(uncredited)
Written by Frédéric Chopin
Played by Doc Holliday

User Reviews

Val Kilmer's Greatest Performance

Now Tombstone is a film that I would call the last great western of its genre so far. It has every sub plot you could want in you're average film and especially in a western. They have a great cast on board also to establish this gang of ragger muffins. Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp is just as good as Costner and Lancaster were. Val Kilmer is probably the main reason why every fan of it's genre talk about it so much as he is not just a fine actor in this but you believe that Doc Holiday and him were somehow related as he takes on the exact same sense of humour which I have read in books and his likeness is there also from what I have seen in pictures.

Val Kilmer has been in a lot of films but only half of them were good and this goes into one of his best along with Oliver Stone's The Doors and Willow without doubt has to get a mention. There is a superb cast here which makes up of Bill Paxton, Sam Elliot, Michael Biehn, Powers Boothe, Stephen Lang, Billy Zane and of course Charlton Heston. I could go on for even longer mentioning some of the great actors that star in this but the sheer action of vengeance of it make it one of the best action westerns. There are your two type of westerns like High Noon and The Searchers which are very calm but intense films. Then you have The Wild Bunch and Tombstone which are just blood thirsty with plenty of action to cater for all tastes of films.

I am not to familiar with the director but he is surely missed as far as making a western like this is concerned.