Tombstone (1993) - Movie Reaction!!! (PATREON REQUEST)

Tombstone- Thank you very much for another marvelous movie reaction from you, Mangual! I really love this movie, and before I saw it for the first time, I never would have thought I would enjoy watching westerns. And yet... this movie encouraged me to watch other westerns as well, including Wyatt Earp... another movie based on the life of Wyatt, his brothers, and Doc Holliday starring Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid. And I've loved watching westerns ever since. I would highly recommend you watch Wyatt Earp too. If you would be interested, I can request you watch it for another movie reaction in an upcoming month. It's a really fantastic movie too! I love that this movie is based on the true story behind Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and Doc Holliday, and how Wyatt, Doc, and their friends wiped out the Cowboy Gang when they couldn't stand their lawlessness any longer. The Cowboys were among the first of organized crime long before Al Capone, and other infamous mobsters and gangsters. And Wyatt Earp, with Doc Holliday at his side was famous for wiping them out once and for all. Doc Holliday is my favorite character, played by Val Kilmer, who is absolutely phenomenal in this movie. It's funny that you first thought he was played by Johnny Depp, but I can see why you would think so. Val Kilmer plays him much like Johnny Depp probably would have, and they do somewhat look similar, at least with Val Kilmer in the role of Doc Holliday. I've also enjoyed reading and learning about the true history behind the real Doc Holliday over the years too. He was a fascinating man, which is another reason I enjoy his character in Tombstone so much. Plus... Val Kilmer is a brilliant actor I love in a number of his movies from back in the 90s. I absolutely love Doc Holliday for his ferocity and coolness under pressure. I also love seeing his friendship with Wyatt and his brothers. As well as for his skills with his guns. Doc was known for being one of the greatest gunfighters within western times. Sadly... Doc died from Tuberculosis at a very young age of only 36, after he caught this disease from his mother while caring for her until she had died from it some years earlier. Doc smoked and drank in order to help cope with the pain he suffered from the very painful and deadly disease. But before meeting Wyatt, Doc had been a dentist until he was diagnosed with Tuberculosis not too long afterwards. Val Kilmer is just really fantastic in this movie, and as far as I know... he's everyone's favorite character within this movie. Kilmer's role as Doc Holliday is iconic, and rightly so. Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp, Sam Elliot as Virgil Earp, and Bill Paxton as Morgan Earp are all really great too. As is actress... Dana Delany as Josephine Marcus. Fun fact... After signing on to play their roles, before they started filming, Kurt Russell, Sam Elliot, Bill Paxton, and Val Kilmer all made a wager to see which of them could grow the biggest mustache. Sam Elliot won. And yes... all of these actors' mustaches are real. In regards to Wyatt and his relationship with Mattie... Wyatt and Mattie were never actually married. However, they were together for so many years, that they both considered themselves to be so. And they cared about one another, but they never loved each other. However, upon their family's move to Tombstone, Mattie's addiction to laudanum, or opium worsened and grew, and once she moved away with Virgil, his wife, and Morgan's widow after Morgan's death, she died from an overdose not long afterwards. Wyatt did have an affair with Josephine, which only made Mattie drink more and more, but upon leaving town, Mattie left him too, which freed Wyatt to be with Josephine for the rest of their lives. And they were happily married for as long as they were together. For about forty to fifty years, or so. Like I mentioned above... one of my favorite aspects of this movie is the friendship between Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. And you can see how truly loyal Doc was to Wyatt. Like Doc tells one of their other comrades... he didn't have many friends. In fact... Doc considered Wyatt to be his only friend, and believed Wyatt was the only one to ever truly consider him a friend in return. And it meant a lot to Doc that Wyatt considered him as such. So he remained loyal to Wyatt. One of my favorite scenes within this movie, is when Doc Holliday takes Wyatt's place in the pistol duel against Johnny Ringo after pretending to be more sick than he really was, or so he claimed to be. I suspect Doc was probably just as sick as he appeared, if not more so. And yet his loyalty to protecting Wyatt gave him the strength to leave his bed so he could kill Ringo for Wyatt, knowing that Ringo would have killed Wyatt because Ringo was almost as good as Doc was with his guns. And while Wyatt Earp was a good shot and fighter, he wasn't as good as Ringo was. I love the moment Doc kills Ringo, then stands the moment Wyatt appears and looks on at him with admiration upon seeing what Doc had done for him. And one of my favorite quotes from this movie comes from this moment Wyatt says for them to finish what they've started with killing off the remainder of the Cowboys, to which Doc states... "Indeed, Sir. The last charge of Wyatt Earp and his immortals." Their last charge indeed. :) Now... Doc Holliday has always been believed to have been the one to kill Johnny Ringo like he does in this movie, to protect Wyatt. Doc and Ringo had a history of hatred for one another. However, in real life... no one ever knew the true whereabouts of Doc Holliday when Johnny Ringo was actually killed, and no one witnessed Ringo's death either. Therefore... no one ever truly knew how Ringo was killed. Only that he had been gunned down by someone. I've always found this fact to be pretty interesting. And another of my favorite scenes in this movie... is also between Doc and Wyatt, when Wyatt says goodbye to Doc as he lies dying inside the sanitorium. I love that for the first and only time in the movie, that we see real emotions coming from Doc, when he pleads with his friend to leave him alone to die so that Wyatt won't have to witness his death. Such a sad, yet beautiful moment between them. And I love that Wyatt then thanks Doc for always being there fore him before leaving him like is asked of him, and that we see Doc lift up the book given to him from Wyatt and sees that Wyatt had written about him as his friend. Such a beautiful and powerful moment, and this is probably the best acted scene throughout the entire movie. Sadly, Morgan was really killed by the Cowboys, and Virgil does lose the use of his arm after his attack. I admire Virgil upon hearing that he really wound up becoming the sheriff of a new town even without the use of his other arm. Both Sam Elliot and Bill Paxton are great in these roles as well, and yes... Sam Elliot has the perfect look of a cowboy from the days of the Wild West. Overall... I really love this movie. The action, the music, the acting, and the inclusion of true historical events and figures. The gunfight at the O.K. Corral, where the Earps and Doc Holliday battle for the first time against a number of the Cowboys is an iconic battle within the history of the wild west... extremely dangerous and lawless times. Quite an amazing fight. Thank you once again, Mangual! I really loved watching your reaction, and I am so happy you enjoyed this movie! Let me know if you would have an interest in watching Wyatt Earp some time soon as well. Until your next movie reaction, for May, my friend... Thank you! Sincerely, Heidi

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum