Wyatt Earp (Single Disc Edition)

First off, I'm a nut for movies about Wyatt Earp. From John Ford's My Darling Clementine to two John Sturges' films Gunfight at the O.K. Corral & Hour of the Gun to even George Cosmatos' Tombstone. It's interesting to see how each film tackles the western legend of honor and vengence. It's also interesting to note that no matter how closer to depicting the actual events the later films, including this one, has gotten, one thing never changes. The Earps are always shown as the good guys and the Clanton/McLaury "gang" as the outlaws. In truth, the events in Tombstone Arizona in the early 1880's was mostly a turf war. Both sides wanted control of Tombstone for the purpose of making money and both sides were unwilling to compromise. Both groups had the "law" on their side with the Earps as town Marshalls and Cochise County Sheriff John Behan joining the Clanton/McLaury side.

What makes Costner's "Wyatt Earp" unique to all the other films is for the first time we see the early life of Wyatt. We see him as a happy-go-lucky young man in awe of all that is around him. We get to see the tragedy of the death of his first wife and how it effected him. And we see him turn into the cold, stubborn person he became. Costner does a good job in his portrayal of Earp and the filming of the movie is outstanding. And for one of the first times that I know of, we see the character of Jame Earp portrayed. In most, if not all, other films it's mostly Wyatt, Virgil & Morgan, although "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" did have a small part of a younger Earp (Warren?) who ends up getting killed early on.

On the character of Doc Holiday, it's my opinion that Dennis Quaid here has done the best job at portaying and sick, surly, and almost suicidal drunkard & killer that Holiday is know to have been. His one redeeming quality is his loyalty to Wyatt. A close second is Victor Mature in the mostly fictional "My Darling Clementine."

Some of the downsides to this movie: It's long, too long. I understand it's an epic but there are times when certain scenes have a filler feel to them, just not necessary. The music is pretty forgettable. And the character of Josie, played by Joanna Going, is not very compelling. The actress does a decent job but in comparing her to, say, Dana Delany in Tombstone, she's just not the force that you can imagine grabbing Wyatt's affection after all the years of hiding behind his sorrow.

All-in-All, a decent film, worth watching. I would recommend it to any western fan and any Costner fan. Maybe not as good as his western Open Range but believe me, much better that most of his other offerings.

After reading previous reviews on Costner's "Wyatt Earp" I have to say that most people miss the point of this movie. Rather than trying to be an entertaining "Indiana Jones cliff-hanger" I feel the film's producers and director wanted more of a biography of the Earp family that is more historically accurate, as opposed to a "rock 'em sock 'em" adventure. This is why the film runs so long, it needs to tell a long story. The Earp's time in Tombstone and the famous OK Corral gunfight was only a fraction of the Earp's existence. It has been made into, via Hollywood and endless story-telling throughout the years, much more than it really was -- a feud between rival factions that was common in America's move West during the 19th century.

In my opinion, if the makers of the film made any blunders in the story-line and plot in regards to making an interesting big-budget western epic, they dwell too much on the old Hollywood formula of making the famous gunfight the "excitement fulcrum," thus forcing the early part of the film to spend lots of time leading up to it. This forces the rest of the film's story of the "vengeance ride" -- a part of Wyatt Earp's and Doc Holliday's lives that was by itself exciting, with enough material for its own separate film -- seem anti-climatic. In other words, the film tries to tell too much.

That being said, I highly recommend watching this film, not for its lack of being exciting (it does has its moments however), but as a wonderful western bio-epic that captures the spirit of the old West. Dennis Quaid puts on a stellar performance as Doc Holliday (much better than Val Kilmer's more-or-less comedic approach in "Tombstone"), and it is beautifully shot, with scenes constantly augmented with a soaring soundtrack. Kevin Costner in the lead Wyatt Earp role doesn't try to make something out of nothing by over-acting. He allows the story of the Earps tell itself -- something you don't see much from actors. The strength and appeal of this movie lies in its sum and essence, not its "excitement factor."

As far as the lengthy edit goes, set aside 3 hours of your time, settle back, and get yourself an extra bowl of popcorn. You're in for a treat.

This version of Wyatt Earp's life is not just long, but it's so commercially crafted that I have to ask if every line was written and performed to be a media quote. I'm sure the trailers were very compelling, but.... give me a break! Who's running Hollywood, the Marketing Departments? Perhaps, in another age, this might have been regarded as melodramatic. In this age, two thumbs down.
There are some fine actors here. Unfortunately, they have been written to be and directed to be characters less than the capability of their talent. This movie is not simply a gritty western, nor is it a great romance, nor is it an ambitious biography, but it tries to be all of these without finally defining itself. I want to assume that most of the "facts" of the movie are fairly true, or "Hollywood true," which compelled me to watch it to the end, but the dialogue is patterned and scripted (well, duh!) and predictable. I'm not talking about everyday speech, but the plethora of those one liners that we just know that they must have said.
Foreshadowing is one thing, but orchestrated, TV-level plot revelations are not just an insult to an intelligent viewer, but, alas, boring. To even compare this (as some previous reviewers have) to The Unforgiven is an affront to the Western as a genre. Over-managed, predictable, but of some historical/biographical interest, this version is lamentable not just for the waste of talent we must endure to see it through to the end, but for the offense to the profession of dramatic portrayal. I'm not surprised that the pros panned it.

My wife and I enjoy Westerns. We believe this movie to be one of the all-time best. Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid and Bill Pullman all do some fine turns at acting in this here movin' picture show.

We purchased the two disc special edition set as some "onery varmint" went and stole our VHS tapes. Probably did us a favor, I reckon.

Excellent entertainment value. Good story line and acting with plenty of action and emotion.Silverado