The Film
Wyatt Earp has been the subject of so many movies that he should have his own box set. One of the best known is Tombstone. It's probably not because it's an especially great movie, but it does have an especially great cast, with an astonishing 85 speaking roles and about 80 seriously fat mustaches.
Aside from the facial hair, the movie focuses on Earp (Kurt Russell) and his two brothers (Sam Elliot and Bill Paxton), who move to Tombstone looking to cash in and enjoy the quiet life. However, a band of Cowboys make both very difficult, because they spend a lot of time (and bullets) terrorizing the tiny town. The band of brothers soon try to police the town, with disastrous and entertaining results.
Everything comes to a head at the O.K. Corral, and if you don't know what that is, pick up a history book -- or at least click over to Wikipedia.
Tombstone's 2.35:1 transfer is a mixed bag. When daylight appears, outdoor scenes include a gold-rush of goodies, even as the dust flies. In many scenes, the color palette is rich and bold -- except on Kilmer's face, which is intentionally ghost white. However, most of the movie is on the darker side, and detail is completely lost in a lot of those scenes. For so much cool imagery, it's just slightly disappointing. Still, we can't knock the detail in Russell's killer mustache, which deserves its own film credit.
The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is a blaze of awesomeness, with bullets flying, horses clopping and other background noises aplenty. Almost every scene in this movie offers something interesting from a sound standpoint. The click of guns being loaded, the sounds of boots shuffling in the dirt, thunder rumbling, and even the occasional hole blown through the chest all ring nicely through the appropriate speaker or speakers. Even the soundtrack plays well, without ever overpowering. Fans will be pleased, if not completely blown away (no pun intended).
The Extras
Whoever put together this pitiful collection deserves to be shot -- or at least pistol-whipped. We appreciate the 27-minute making-of feature, but the rest is just Disney kicking around dust. Was no one in the all-star cast available for commentary? What's Jason Priestly doing? Instead, the only other features are 4 minutes of storyboards, two trailers, and a bunch of TV spots.
Final Thoughts
It's sad that Disney is letting Tombstone ride into town without a properlt restored and remastered video presentation. Lucky for them, the movie holds up even without the star treatment. The uneven image and stinky extras might make you think twice about buying this one. However, the all-star cast and entertaining second half make this one old western town you'll want to revisit. Yee-ha!
Product Details
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