Wyatt Earp (1994)

Wyatt Earp Movie #2

Synopsis: It’s Kevin Costner’s finest performance since 3000 Miles to Graceland!

Blurb From the DVD Jacket: [No blurb!]

What Did I Learn?: The most effective policing method is to...um...beat the living shit out of disorderly drunks.

You Might Like This Movie If: You far prefer Costner’s acting to his singing.

Really?: 1) Gene Hackman gets third billing, and yet he’s in this movie for what...ten minutes? 2) How does Earp’s dad get to Arkansas so quickly, when it’s obvious the family has re-settled to California?

Rating: It might not be entirely fair to compare Wyatt Earp with Tombstone, but they were released around the same time, and they cover many of the same events. Generally speaking, Wyatt Earp is a grander, and more powerful movie, and I preferred Costner’s cold-hearted Earp to Kurt Russell’s, although Tombstone has a much tighter plot, and a better idea of what it wishes to accomplish. That said, I have two major complaints about this film: a) at 190 minutes(!), Wyatt Earp is far too long, and b) we never get a chance to know any of the villains (Ike Clanton, Johnny Ringo, Curly Bill, etc...), so their deaths don’t mean anything. Let’s just say this film could have been a lot better had most of the early years footage been cut. 7/10 stars.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111756/