Why the Movie “Tombstone” Prevailed over “Wyatt Earp”
Wyatt Earp just had too much Costner.
In the early 90s, two large scale westerns were competing to get to movie theaters first. Both had similar subject matter. One was the Kurt Russell driven Tombstone while the other was a Kevin Costner vehicle called Wyatt Earp. I saw both movies on TV in the last while and it’s pretty easy to see why Tombstone is considered the better movie.
I’ve done a matchup of some of the major characters in the movies and given an opinion on which actor did the better job with the role. But just a few thoughts about the movies before going on to the head-to-head matchups.
The Earp wives make more of an impression in Wyatt Earp. but still don’t play a major role. And while the Earp wives are more prominent in Wyatt Earp, the members of the Cowboy gang are less so.
If Wyatt Earp was a basketball team, Kevin Costner would be described a s a ball hog. There was so much potential to develop other characters, but it didn’t happen. Tombstone was a much more balanced production.
Now, on to the matchups.
Wyatt Earp: Kurt Russell vs. Kevin Costner. And Russell is the easy winner. Costner just seems stilted in his performance. His character comes off as particularly cold. Possibly by design. It was easy to see…
