There was a little resurgence of Westerns during the early 1990s. It Always seems comes in waves, with Eastwood’s Unforgiven coming out the next year and decimating the genre of quality probably until Deadwood in 2004. This one has some big stars attached, big story, big character of Wyatt Earp. Does pretty good with it, at least for looks and and fightin bits. Some nice quotable lines, even to this day. But the forlorn love melodrama wedged in? Doesn’t do the film any favors. Fortunately there’s a lot of other showdowns and violences to overcome that sappy horsestank!
1879, the Civil War be Over, and the Marshall of Dodge City Wyatt Earp has done thrown in his badge, off to the Arizona to try and cash in on the big Silver Rush, make a new life for him and his wife, even his two brothers meet up with him to go. But the town of Tombstone is a little rough still, despite the influx of “culture.” A lot of those “Cowboys” gang members with their fancy red sashes have their sway over the town. Earp and his brothers aren’t fans of the lawlessness. Things take their eventual inevitable Hell’s Comin With Me kinda path, and yes, the blood does floweth.
This ain’t exactly the most down n dirty Western out there, a lot of liberties taken with the storytellins and dramas and such, prettifyin it up a bit. But it has a nice doomy reckoning to it. Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday make it more decent-er than it shoulda been. Lotsa recognizable actors in it, too long to list, but Michael Biehn as Johnny Ringo, Sam Elliott’s mustache, Michael Rooker with hair, a husky Billy Bob Thornton and of course actor extroardinaire...you thought I was gonna say Nicolas Fkn Cage, didn’t you? Nope. In this rare case, yes, Frank Stallone. All have some nice roles.
