In 1993, George P. Cosmatos directed one of the most spectacular Westerns ever: Tombstone. While the script was layered in nuance and carried a cast of legends, it’s a tale of two scenes sharing the similar foreboding line, “Hell is coming with me!” Fans can place the two scenes immediately, recalling the Old West galloping in the background. However, those lines were darker and had a deeper meaning than many realized.
At the time of the movie, it seemed like a filler story during a horrifying opening scene followed by a motivated sheriff hell-bent on vengeance and nothing to lose. The connection was an easy tie, but casual fans of the film didn’t attach the gravitas to both scenes Cosmatos may have inserted into the characters of Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn). Both were fierce, but one was inspired to protect a community, and the other was stimulated to inflict pain and fear. Essentially, one was good, and the other was evil, which is where the depth of those scenes begins.
The Unholy West of Tombstone Found its Origin in the Holy Bible
Cosmatos and screenwriter Kevin Jarre (The Devil’s Own, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Glory) shared a love for riveting cinema and the depths of American history. They knew what professors and scholars love—that history forms a tapestry throughout time, and somehow, it’s all connected like a strand of dominoes clapping each other from the back. Yet, in Tombstone, history takes center stage from the minute details of the entire Earp family to the monumental shootout at the O.K. Corral.
The film is steeped in history and the rich heritage of the Western genre. In its opening seconds, the dulcet tones of film noir antihero and Western great Robert Mitchum narrate the story of “The Cowboys” and the Earps meeting in the mining Arizona boomtown of Tombstone. From that opening montage of black-and-white saloon piano to the final dance of Wyatt Earp and Josephine Marcus sashaying in the snow, the romanticized “Old West” sets every scene in the movie, except two. Those were about the Bible and carried a darker meaning.
In a fascinating opening scene of Tombstone, the Cowboys gang interrupts a Mexican wedding with a shootout reminiscent of the glorious 1960s vintage films. After the gun-barrel smoke clears and all the Mexican police groomsmen are dead, a priest boldly shakes his finger in the face of the outlaws and yells in Spanish. The lieutenant of the henchmen, quick-drawing Johnny Ringo, didn’t flinch and shot the priest directly between his eyes.
The scripture Johnny Ringo quoted is a haunting verse from the apocalyptic Book of Revelation in the Bible. Many theologians and scholars remain polarized by the intent of this chapter in the Good Book. Is it a literal transcription of what is to come at the end of the world or a metaphorical description of something evil that has taken over the planet and bent everything on it to its whim? The story is about the final conflict between Jesus Christ and Satan.
At the time, Satan ushers a fourth plague over the Earth personally, where he is given a fourth of the world to kill through sword, famine, plague, and wild beasts. The scripture is written in the first person from the Apostle John’s perspective, which is a vision he saw about that moment. What he wrote would be the warning Johnny Ringo translates in the movie.
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. (Revelation 6:8a KJV)
A Revelation of Scripture Created the Exodus of Tombstone
Amid the historical celebration of Wyatt Earp’s life in Tombstone, there is no authentic proof to note the venerable law enforcer ever quoting that scripture at the Tucson — or any other — train station. It is for the theatrical effect that benefits the overall screenplay and creates a circuitous path of destiny for the film’s central figure. Yet, it’s not the Cowboys figurehead standing in his way, Curly Bill Brocius (Powers Boothe). It was Ringo.
Something continuously prevents Wyatt from fulfilling his destiny and ridding this town of capitalist nightmares that sacked it years ago. It’s like the devil toying with Job in another chapter of the Bible. God knows Job will stand up to the enemy, regardless of what was hurled at the quaint family man. So Satan keeps upping the ante until Job finally can’t deal with life and ultimately comes close to cursing God.
His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your faith? Why don’t you just curse God and die!” Job answered, “You sound like one of those fools on the street corner! How can we accept all the good things that God gives us and not accept the problems?” So even after all that happened to Job, he did not sin. (Job 2:9-13 ERV)
The closer Satan got to Job’s family, the more overwhelming the temptation to confront evil became. After an opioid-induced shootout and Curly Bill killing Marshall Fred White (Harry Caray, Jr.), Wyatt didn’t want to get involved, but the goodness in him prevailed. The threats. The fear. The devastation. And then, Wyatt’s younger brother Morgan (Bill Paxton) was shot in the back and killed. Wyatt couldn’t take it when Johnny Ringo pushed yet again.
But it was after the prophetic claim that Wyatt had his trusty gang of civic-minded vigilantes by his side, one of which was brought to him in a bag. That is when Wyatt succumbed to the pokes. Of course, the angel of death takes his place in the form of Doc Holliday, and this happens.
Wyatt Earp Learned Fulfillment Comes With Facing Fear
When faced with Doc instead of Wyatt, Johnny Ringo was quite literally struck with the fear of God. Everything in that scene was building toward Ringo hightailing out of the grove, but a cowboy couldn’t handle someone calling him a chicken or leaving an unwarranted threat. They dueled, and Johnny died. Then, Wyatt shows up ready to face his demons but learns a “greater grace” set in, which wasn’t necessary. Kurt Russell creates a facial expression that is indicative of many Christians today. When they realize sheer destruction is looming, but in the blink of an eye, it disappears; it can be scary.
That is the power of grace in real life and in Tombstone. Wyatt never asked Doc to duel in his stead. Wyatt slightly wanted Doc to feel better, but being a brave soul, he headed out to the Grove to face certain death through the barrel of Johnny Ringo’s gun. It wasn’t necessary. It disappeared. Once the fear washed away, Wyatt knew he had no choice but to finally rid Tombstone of the plague swallowing it. Ergo, he became a plague of justice on his own. That was equal to breaking “the fourth seal” in the Book of Revelation. If the priest had quoted the entirety of Revelation 6:7-8, fans would have understood the darker meaning of the warning.
And when the fourth seal was broken, I heard the fourth Living Being say, “Come!” And now I saw a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death. And there followed after him another horse whose rider’s name was Hell. They were given control of one-fourth of the earth, to kill with war and famine and disease and wild animals. (Revelation 6:7-8 TLB)
The breaking of that fourth seal is what James Cameron spoke of during Terminator 2; it is “Judgment Day.” Based on Biblical prophecy, God will judge the living upon the breaking of the fourth seal on this day. That’s when the pale horse shows up. In Tombstone, that is what it took for Judgment Day against the Cowboys—something had to break completely in Wyatt Earp’s heart for him to be released and destroy that plague. Wyatt Earp is not an archetype of Christ, but another scripture also describes that ominous meaning.
The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when the avenger comes upon the murderer, the avenger shall put the murderer to death. If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at them intentionally so that they die or if out of enmity one person hits another with their fist so that the other dies, that person is to be put to death; that person is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when they meet. (Numbers 35:19-21 NIV)