There are a few names in the film industry who know a thing or two about the Western genre, and Kurt Russell would certainly be one of them. From older movies like The Longest Drive and Tombstone, to more recent hits such as The Hateful Eight and Bone Tomahawk, the esteemed actor has traversed his fair share of dusty plains over the years. Suffice to say, Russell is more than entitled to have his say on what should be deemed the best Westerns of all time, but he’s got a pretty hot take when it comes to John Wayne’s work.
The Searchers is widely regarded as one of the best in the genre, and is undoubtedly John Wayne’s best Western. The sprawling epic from 1956 features some of the most stunning vistas in movie history, providing the backdrop for an intense tale of revenge and territorial conflict, with Wayne’s Ethan Edwards the hero at the heart of it all. But, while The Searchers gets plenty right, Kurt Russell insists his own movies are much more realistic and representative of the periods and settings they depict.
Kurt Russell’s Comments On Tombstone & Bone Tomahawk vs. The Searchers
John Wayne’s Movie Gets One Thing Wrong
While Russell showers The Searchers with praise, he admits he is not convinced by the authenticity of Wayne’s picture, insisting it is a little too varnished in Hollywood veneer. Instead, Russell is quick to point out that two of his projects, Tombstone and Bone Tomahawk, have a more interesting and unique approach that feels more befitting of the actual Western experience of the late 19th century.
Speaking to Esquire at the time of Bone Tomahawk’s release, Russell explained his thinking, and pinned it all down to the dialogue used in the different movies. He said:
” The Searchers . That’s the normal Western dialogue of the time, which in no way represented reality. I love The Searchers . I think it’s a cool movie. But the dialogue style? No way. It can’t compare to Bone Tomahawk or something like Tombstone . They are much more of that true flavor.
“This makes you feel that this could actually be some weird little town in 1897 that is just out there where nobody knows where everything really is. The people talked this way. I believe that. I don’t think this is a Hollywood Western dialogue movie. This has a style to it. It lends itself much more to the credibility of reality than almost all Westerns. It doesn’t have a modern day sound to it.”
This statement highlights how, for Russell, authentic dialogue goes a long way toward ensuring that a Western feels as realistic as possible.
Do Tombstone & Bone Tomahawk Really Have More Accurate Dialogue Than The Searchers
The People Of The American West Spoke Rather Eloquently
For all its technical excellence, The Searchers is certainly guilty of dialogue that lacks nuance and subtlety. Perhaps that is more a symptom of that particular era of filmmaking in Hollywood, where big, bombastic performances were the norm, and on-the-nose lines of dialogue felt less harmful to the immersive nature of the moviegoing experience. Either way, there can be very little doubt that The Searchers lacks realism in a number of different ways.
It is hard to know exactly how people of the American West spoke, but a report from The BBC suggests settlers coming over from England will likely have carried with them some of the more complex and flowery speech patterns of Victorian Britain. This would correlate with the distinguished and dynamic dialogue found in the likes of Tombstone and Bone Tomahawk, and goes against the simplistic structure of speech in older pictures like The Searchers.
It would seem, then, that Russell has a point. While The Searchers may have inspired countless movies since, it fails to capture the finer details of the American West, and for that reason at least, Tombstone and Bone Tomahawk have to be celebrated for their intricate and engaging dialogue.
Kurt Russell Nails One Of The Best Things About Tombstone
Tombstone Is Packed With Incredible Dialogue
Screenwriter Kevin Jarre not only crafted a thrilling and emotional story with Tombstone, he imbued the screenplay with some of the most memorable and meaningful quotes of any Western movie. Granted, most of that dialogue can be found in Doc Holliday’s best moments in Tombstone, and some of the credit there has to go to the exceedingly cool performance from Val Kilmer. His most famous quote will always be “I’m your Huckleberry,” but his delivery of the line, “Make no mistake, it’s not revenge he’s after, it’s a reckoning,” underpins Holliday’s fierce and formidable persona.
Kurt Russell’s Wyatt Earp has his fair share of strong dialogue, too, though. A standout is his gunslinging motto, “Fast is fine, but accuracy is final,” while “Jerk that pistol and go to work,” is a gloriously cavalier call to arms. Indeed, whether it be in Tombstone, or Bone Tomahawk, Kurt Russell always finds a way to let his screen presence shine. He’s an actor who understands it’s not about who can shout loudest when it comes to dialogue; it’s about delivering those lines with conviction and authenticity, and that’s one advantage he might just have over John Wayne.