There are very few Westerns that have the capacity to match the sheer quality and scale of 1993’sTombstone. The picture is a brilliant work of art that pays tribute to both Old West history and traditional horse operas in a way that you’ll be hard-pressed to find replicated. But most of the credit goes to actorKurt Russell, who was really the driving force of the film. Even from his very first scene as Wyatt Earp, there’ssomething special about Russell’s performancehere, and though he’s made some powerful Westerns since, there’s no denying thatTombstoneis his best. Yes, that opening scene with the Cowboys introduces us to the conflict of this picture,but it’s Wyatt Earp’s introduction that ensures us that everything’s going to be okay, even when it isn’t.
Wyatt Earp’s Intro in ‘Tombstone’ Is Simple Yet Effective
It’s a small thing, butTombstone’s introduction toKurt Russell’s most famous Western heroset the stage for the rest of the film. After seeing a man abuse his horse after it fails to respond to his command,Wyatt quietly walks over and wacks the cowboy with the very same whip. “Hurts, don’t it?” he says, with a pure mixture of calmness and intensity. “Now let go of that stud, and go on about your business.” It’s only one hit, but it’s seriously effective. With it, he asserts his position as not only the film’s hero, but he foreshadows the way he’ll respond to the Cowboys gang later on. Soon after, he’s approached by the U.S. Marshals for a potential job, only for Wyatt to shoo them away, noting that since he already has a guilty conscience, he ought to make enough money in Tombstone to go with it.
Kurt Russell Isn’t What Makes ‘Tombstone’ a Great Western
Kurt Russell is awesome, so this is really saying a lot.
Later on in the film, Wyatt takes the reins of Tombstone from the notorious gang and beats them with their own tactics (even going so far as to ally himself with defecting members of the Cowboys). It’s a small thing, but with this one scene,Tombstoneintroduces one of the coolest protagonists in all horse operas. It’s from here that we watch Wyatt slowly shift from being impartial to the law and his part in keeping it tobecoming one of the principal forces in defending it. Sure, the opening sequence withMichael Biehn’s notorious outlaw Johnny Ringoand his band of Cowboys is more powerful, but this moment with Russell’s Earp is incredibly effective in presenting the hero of the story. If this is how he stands up for his horse, one can only imagine how he’ll stand up for the rest of Tombstone.
Kurt Russell Was Instrumental To ‘Tombstone’s Success
“If I had not been around,Tombstonewouldn’t have, either,” Kurt Russell toldRolling Stonein December 2023. Frankly, that’sall Kurt Russell seems to say publiclyconcerning his part asTombstone’s director after the first director, screenwriterKevin Jarre, was fired early on in production. To this day,Val Kilmerswears thatRussell is directly responsible for makingTombstonehappen, andonce noted that, Kurt is “solely responsible” forTombstone’s success. According to Kilmer, Russell worked closely with replacement directorGeorge P. Cosmatosto pull the entire production together. “I watched Kurt sacrifice his own role and energy to devote himself as a storyteller,” Kilmer noted, “even going so far as to draw up shot lists to help our replacement director, George Cosmatos, who came in with only two days prep.”
Kilmer may have given the breakout performance inTombstone, but Russell is undoubtedly the film’s star. To this day, this 1993 Western is considered not only one of the genre’s best, butone of the best motion pictures of the late 20th century. Only six months later,theKevin Costner-ledWyatt Earphit theaters, but it was nowhere near as complex or successful asTombstone. From that first moment we watched Wyatt Earp defend his horse, we knew that he was the right type of hero to see things through to the end, and it’s stuck with us ever since.
Tombstoneis available to watch on Hulu in the U.S.
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A successful lawman’s plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating.
