Tombstone or Wyatt Earp??
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Costner is a better actor but I think Russell does a good job as Wyatt Earp, and overall I feel like Tombstone has decent acting and a damn good cast. Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Bill Paxton, Sam Elliot, and Michael Biehn all at the height of their careers is pretty damn good. Every bit as good and arguably better than Wyatt Earp. And yes I know Hackman was in Wyatt Earp, but barely.
The casts of both films are pretty impressive but I agree, I would give the edge to Tombstone in terms of the actors. And Tombstone has Dana Delany (a personal favorite) although she looks way too innocent to have lived in Tombstone! I have to subtract a few points for talent in Tombstone because they have Jason Priestley (just kidding)!
Val Kilmer WAS the best part of Tombstone, which was inarguably the better movie - but I don't think I've seen anyone mention Stephen Lang as Ike Clanton, or Billy Zane as Mr. Fabian. They both ate scenery, and were great. (ETA - Billy Zane was mentioned as I was typing this.)
I've also only seen mention of Dana Delaney as just that she is a favorite - she did a great job in a movie where women were pretty marginal parts of the plot. Her character has some pretty dubious actions, and you still like her (for the most part).
I've also only seen mention of Dana Delaney as just that she is a favorite - she did a great job in a movie where women were pretty marginal parts of the plot. Her character has some pretty dubious actions, and you still like her (for the most part).
The Outlaw Josey Bejewelled is one of my favorites.
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I agree that Dana Delany played a great part in the success of Tombstone...but her character is really cleaned up in this film (as most probably are in this film). She was a woman that had many character "concerns" (if the stuff I have read about that era is accurate). Her character does admit to having some characteristics that wouldn't have been welcome in females in that era. But that is about as far as the film lets on about her more realistic history. In fact...I think I read that there isn't a playbill from that era that lists her as a performer? And she is probably more similar to the character of Doc Holiday's girlfriend than the person she portrayed in the film. That said...Dana Delany did put on a wonderful performance. As far as both films...I felt they both did a wonderful job of including the female cast in the main story...there were stories behind these tough guys (the Earps and Doc)!
I really liked Tombstone and it’s been so long since nice I’ve seen Wyatt Earp that I don’t remember it but these comments have me wanting to find it to watch.
This should be its own forum but I am curious which True Grit everyone likes best. I thought they were both very good.
This should be its own forum but I am curious which True Grit everyone likes best. I thought they were both very good.
Brandon Walsh is the best part of Tombstone though.
So funny...Jason Priestley by most accounts is a good dude! BUT...he just seems so out of place in that film! Nothing he did wrong but it doesn't feel right to see him in that role/era!
Being from Dyersville, but only a kid at the time, you've peaked my interest. Care to share any details in a DM?
You have to wonder what the casting decision was there. Was the part written specifically for him? Were they looking for a Jason Priestley-type? Or did they just think, "His four minutes of screen time will pull in the tweens?"
Dylan McKay was busy filming the Buffy movie so they got Brandon. The rest is cinema history.
This story has been done in movies many times through the years.
Years ago I read a really thorough article about how these two versions came to be made.
Costner controlled all of it at one point then it went round and round with various producers and money people and he lost it, got it back and it was essentially going to be the Tombstone version but with him.
Then it got all screwed up again and wasn’t going to happen at all, then it was a race for the two versions to get to the screen.
Years ago I read a really thorough article about how these two versions came to be made.
Costner controlled all of it at one point then it went round and round with various producers and money people and he lost it, got it back and it was essentially going to be the Tombstone version but with him.
Then it got all screwed up again and wasn’t going to happen at all, then it was a race for the two versions to get to the screen.
The story about Costner trying to tank Tombstone after he declined by buying/renting all of the Western costumes in the US, but Tombstone being creative and still beating Wyatt Earp financially is pretty awesome.
It happens even with contemporary pure fiction movies a lot too. A favorite of mine like this is The Prestige and The Illusionist coming out so close to each other, I enjoyed both but they are so similar and only 3 months apart.
People think of something like “The Matrix” as a unique groundbreaking thing but about five other films with a very similar theme came out in 1999 and 1998 that could not have possibly been pure copycats.
I work in licensed products and will get a look at movies 1-2 years before they release in production and often it’s clear the entire industry has themes, genres, music or aesthetics it’s trying to mine simultaneously. Something like “K-pop Demon Hunters” is a cultural phenomenon and then it’s a few years of everyone wanting to at least sprinkle a little flavor of that into their projects, sometimes projects that don’t even seem to have any similarity to the trendy thing.
