The story the movie Tombstone tells is pretty strong. The Earps comes to a small Arizona town to settle down and end up in a war with another family in town. As interesting as that all is, the behind the scenes of the movie is almost as compelling.
The screenwriter was a man named Kevin Jarre and going into Tombstone had been very successful. He was only 39 and had already written Rambo: First Blood Part II, Glory and Navy Seals. Rambo made $150 million domestically and Glory won three Oscars. Because of this success, Jarre had been hired as director of Tombstone in addition as the screenwriter. Things went wrong instantly.
The studio was concerned Jarre was shooting it like an old Western from the 1950’s. Not only that but the script was far too long. Jarre was fired as director about four weeks into shooting. If you watch the Charlton Heston scenes in the movie, those were directed by Jarre.
A new director was hired in George P. Cosmatos. But even how much he actually did is under debate. Kurt Russell says that it Cosmatos was used as a sort of placeholder and it was Russell himself who actually directed the movie. Val Kilmer didn’t disagree and said Russell should have gotten a producer credit between all of that work as well as re-writing Jarre’s far too long script.
Regardless of who directed or should get credit, Tombstone wound up being a movie with a good story but iconic individual scenes and performances that make it far better better than it should be. Jarre wound up never directing again. He did write The Mummy but never worked again after 2004. He would become a Hollywood cautionary tale of sorts.
He wound up with a DWI in 2009 and died two years later of heart failure at only 59. He is now a notable example of someone who could write but not direct. Just because you can do one thing really well, doesn’t mean you are good at something else.
The movie itself is led by Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. Kilmer should have gotten an Oscar nomination for the role but the movie was not viewed in that way when it came out. It was thought of as a generic western or action movie when it was released and it’s much more that. There aren’t many supporting performances in the entire decade as iconic as Kilmer as Doc Holliday. In a cast that’s filled with a lot of very good actors, Kilmer puts on a clinic.
Kurt Russell is fantastic as Wyatt Earp and really is one of the best actors to never get a Oscar nomination (along with Donald Sutherland and Kevin Bacon). It’s especially impressive when you know the behind the scenes stuff going on as well as trying to race to beat the Kevin Costner movie Wyatt Earp to the theaters. Tombstone did beat it by six months. Wyatt Earp did get an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography but it was Tombstone that made more than twice as much money and is still remembered today.
I went to the actual Tombstone, AZ a couple years after the movie was released. It was pretty incredible. They reenact the OK Corral shooting and the area is set up like the old town looked in the 1880’s. But I had no real idea about that area before seeing Tombstone years earlier. The movie and rich characters made me care. Tough to ask much more from a movie that when it came out was only thought of a generic action/western.
42. Tombstone
43. Ransom
44. Wayne’s World
45. The Insider
46. Back To The Future Part III
47. A Bronx Tale
48. The People Vs. Larry Flynt
49. Eyes Wide Shut
50. The Sandlot
51. Happy Gilmore
52. Contact
53. The Green Mile
54. Man On The Moon
55. Boyz N The Hood
56. Grosse Pointe Blank
57. Independence Day
58. The Rainmaker
59. Go
60. The Firm
61. Magnolia
62. The Talented Mr. Ripley
63. Tommy Boy
64. The Usual Suspects
65. In The Line Of Fire
66. My Cousin Vinny
67. Awakenings
68. JFK
69. Toy Story
70. Home Alone
71. Jerry Maguire
72. Titanic
73. Billy Madison
74. Apollo 13
75. Braveheart
76. Edward Scissorhands
77. Cape Fear
78. The River Wild
79. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
80. 12 Monkeys
81. Stir Of Echoes
82. Mission: Impossible
83. Total Recall
84. Quiz Show
85. For Love Of The Game
86. Being John Malkovich
87. Men In Black
88. Scream
89. Alive
90. Three Kings
91. Glengarry Glen Ross
92. Die Hard With A Vengeance
93. The Blair Witch Project
94. Twister
95. Dirty Work
96. Election
97. Tremors
98. Any Given Sunday
99. The Wedding Singer
100. Clerks