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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:

George P. Cosmatos

Cobra, Leviathan, Shadow Conspiracy

Producer:

James Jacks, Sean Daniel and Bob Misiodowski

Screenplay:

Kevin Jarre

Music:

Bruce Broughton

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 is the name of the boom town set in 1879 after the Civil War ends and not only is life returning to normal, but even luxuries such as Paris fashions are being sold there. Wyatt Earp (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 :

While some films have plenty of chapters, others have a meagre number. This one contains 12, in comparison to the Region 1's 25. There's also a curious attempt to list the time at which each chapter kicks in, but this has only been listed for 9 of these and every single one is anything between 60 and 63 minutes fast !?! The original theatrical trailer is also included.

Languages & Subtitles :

Just one language for this disc - English in Dolby Surround - but no subtitles.

'Making of' featurette :

A five-minute 'making of', which behaves more like an extended trailer. If it makes your DVD-ROM player lock up, then it will also appear to stutter.

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 and Long Kiss Goodnight, the latter only winning over the fact that it doesn't lock up the player when fast-forwarding the final chapter.

FILM	 		: **
PICTURE QUALITY 	: ***½
SOUND QUALITY		: ***
EXTRAS			: *½
-------------------------------
OVERALL			: **½

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.

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