Dom Robinson reviews
Tombstone Every town has a story. Tombstone has a legend.
Distributed by
Entertainment In Video
Cat.no: EDV 9028
Cert: 15
Running time: 124 minutes
Year: 1993
Pressing: 1999
Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
Chapters: 12
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
Languages: English
Subtitles: None
Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
16:9-enhanced: No
Macrovision: No
Disc Format: DVD 9
Price: £15.99
Extras : Scene index, trailer, 'making of' featurette.
Director:
(Cobra, Leviathan, Shadow Conspiracy )
Producer:
James Jacks, Sean Daniel and Bob Misiodowski
Screenplay:
Music:
Cast:
Wyatt Earp: Kurt Russell (Backdraft, Big Trouble in Little China, Breakdown, Escape From L.A., Escape From New York, Executive Decision, Overboard, Soldier, Stargate, Tango and Cash, Tequila Sunrise, The Thing, Unlawful Entry )
Doc Holliday: Val Kilmer (Batman Forever, The Ghost and the Darkness, Heat, The Island of Dr Moreau, The Saint, Top Gun, Top Secret, True Romance )
Curly Bill: Powers Boothe (Blue Sky, Nixon, Sudden Death, U-Turn )
Johnny Ringo: Michael Biehn (Aliens, Crash (1995), Jade, K2, The Rock, Timebomb )
Josephine Marcus: Dana Delany (Dead Man's Curve, Fly Away Home, Housesitter )
Tombstone Kurt Russell ) arrives in town looking to settle down with his family,
but he finds himself returning to his lawman roots as a group of bandits roll into town,
led by Curly Bill (Powers Boothe , who always manages to turn in a devilish performance,
for example in U-Turn and Sudden Death ) and his second-in-command, Johnny
Ringo (Michael Biehn ).
It's not long before an old friend drifts back into Earp's life, Doc Holliday (Val
Kilmer ), who is slowly but surely dying of tuberculosis. The film goes about its
own way, following the lives and loves of everyone in the town, as it meanders towards
its conclusion with Earp setting out to clean up the town, stopping off part-way through
for a gunfight at the OK Corral, not to mention his attraction to a 19th Century 'It girl'
equivalent, Josephine Marcus (Dana Delaney ).
The rest of the cast includes Bill Paxton and Sam Elliot as Wyatt's brothers,
Morgan and Virgil, respectively, with back-up and cameos from Charlton Heston, Jason
Priestly, Stephen Lang, Michael Rooker, Billy Zane, Frank Stallone, Billy Bob Thornton
and the late Robert Mitchum , uncredited as the narrator.
The picture quality is mostly clear of artifacts, but like a lot of Entertainment in Video
titles released, it may be in the correct widescreen ratio, this time being 2.35:1, but
it isn't anamorphically-enhanced for widescreen TVs. There is some grain present in
some scenes, but less often than not and also a brief moment of ghosting it to be found
within the transfer at exactly 1:06:23 as Sam Elliot turns round. It affects both him and
Bill Paxton for one camera cut, making it look like there's a piece of glass in front of
them making a reflection. It looks very bizarre.
The average bitrate is a very good 7.53Mb/s, occasionally peaking at 9Mb/s.
The sound quality is fine and, like the American Region 1 release, it also contains
a Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround) soundtrack. It has its moments when there's gunfire,
but the rest of it won't have the neighbours banging on your walls. There is a nice moment
at the start though, as the opening monologue, starts off in mono, but a gunshot brings
the opening theme into surround-land.
Extras :
Chapters & Trailer :
Languages & Subtitles :
'Making of' featurette :
Menu :
The menu is static and silent with a picture of the three Earp brothers and Doc standing
side by side.
If you're a die-hard fan of westerns, then Tombstone might be your bag, but I
found it moves too slowly with not a lot of any consequence happening for too long.
However, there's not a lot to choose between this and the American release, apart from
twice the number of chapters, but it's a shame that an anamorphic print could not be
sourced.
N.B. : If you are playing this title on a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player,
it will lock up the player when fast-forwarding the trailer, the 'making of'
featurette and the final chapter, so you have to close the player down and
start it up again. This problem also affects
Last Man Standing Long Kiss Goodnight
FILM : **
PICTURE QUALITY : ***½
SOUND QUALITY : ***
EXTRAS : *½
-------------------------------
OVERALL : **½
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.
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DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
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