Why So Blu?

Tombstone (4K UHD Blu-ray Steelbook Review)

The beauty of Westerns is that you always know what you’re going to get.  There’s just something about them.  Gunslingers, horses, dusty towns that are usually about one street deep.  It’s a simple setup but one that usually sets up for some seriously good cinema. When Tombstone was initially released in 1993, Disney had no idea how to market the film.  For some reason, even though Unforgiven had just wowed audiences and won Oscars, Tombstone was very quietly released.  Critics couldn’t get advanced screenings, and it was a mess.  Thankfully, word of mouth prevailed, and those critics went and saw the film itself.  Now, the masterpiece we know is an icon in the genre.  We’ve been waiting a long time for Tombstone to arrive on the 4K format. Now we’ve got a handsome Steelbook! Was it worth the wait? Read more on that, plus more about the film and a little something about Mr. Val Kilmer too… Forever our Huckleberry.

Film

Tombstone begins in 1879. As the retired peace officer Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) arrives in Tucson, Arizona, a group of outlaws known as “The Cowboys” are wreaking havoc in nearby Tombstone.  Tombstone is the very town that Earp and his brothers Virgil (Sam Elliot) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) hope to settle down in with their wives. When the brothers finally arrive there, they witness a lawlessness that is grossly deviant. A police massacre has just occurred and there is no local law enforcement in place.

Choosing to stay out of it, Wyatt and his brothers decide they would like to open a gambling den in town. There, they encounter their first confrontation with “The Cowboys”. This is also the time where Wyatt reunites with old friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer).  A southern gentleman and notorious gunslinger, Holliday is currently a shadow of himself, slowly dying from tuberculosis. But, sick or not, Holliday handles his weapon, his liquor and his woman very well.

As things worsen in Tombstone, Wyatt Earp is begged to help the Marshall dispatch the outlaws. He refuses, until “The Cowboys”, hopped up on opium murder the Marshall.  This sends Wyatt into lawman mode, and he takes the antagonistic Curly Bill (Powers Boothe) into custody.  This sets off “The Cowboys” and begins the drama for the Earp brothers.  Virgil becomes the Marshall after Wyatt refuses, and a weapons ban brings even more anger and chaos to Tombstone and its townspeople.

During the criminal catastrophe and the struggle do either be the law or break it, Wyatt Earp is also conflicted in his love for his common-law wife Mattie, and a travelling singer named Josephine (Dana Delaney). Josephine lives the kind of adventurous life Wyatt dreams of.  When Wyatt asks Mattie if she’d like to travel the world and live off room service, she scoffs and downs a bottle of liquid medicine spiked with opium instead.  She’d rather squander her life in a haze than really live. This makes Josephine seem even more tempting for Wyatt.

After some more conflicts, The Earps and “The Cowboys” meet at the OK Corral, a firefight leaves several of “The Cowboys” dead and Virgil and Morgan wounded, Curly Bill and Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) hatch a plan of revenge to rid Tombstone of the Earps and to take over everything for themselves. This includes attacking Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil’s wives.  When one of the brothers ends up dead, Wyatt goes over the edge, and it becomes a western war.  Even the sickly Doc Holliday must get involved.

Tombstone came seemingly out of nowhere way back in 1993. Plagued by a troublesome production in which screenwriter Kevin Jarre was the initial director, the filming started off rough.  Not sure how to shoot the film, and with the budget and schedule flying off the rails, Jarre was fired.  Kurt Russell then stepped in to help figure out the issues with the film’s producer James Jacks and with his suggestions, story points were dropped and the relationship between Earp and Holliday was emphasized.

Another new element was suggested by Kurt Russell, too.  George P. Cosmatos was called in to direct.  The director behind Sylvester Stallone films Rambo: First Blood Part II and Cobra as well as Leviathan, Cosmatos was known more for doing as Stallone suggested when he himself couldn’t be behind the camera.  It’s often rumored that Kurt Russell did the same thing with Tombstone. This isn’t a shocking revelation and save for a few shots left over from Jarre’s time as director, the film was completely reshot with Cosmatos at the helm.

As it stands, the film had it been shot as originally scripted would’ve been a sprawling epic, nearing 4 hours.  The many subplots would’ve been a lot to bear, and I doubt the film would be as lean, mean and vehemently entertaining as it is.  Being completely fair, despite my top mark rating, Tombstone does rush at the end to wrap the action up and there are some loose ends left untied as the credits roll and Robert Mitchum’s last moment of narration ends. That’s a minor shortcoming when you think of the scale of the picture though.

Tombstone has an excellent authenticity.  There is a fabulous value to the production that’s budget is on the lower side.  It’s also a film absolutely packed with movie stars.  From end to end even in small roles, there are people anyone who watches film or TV would recognize.  It’s exciting to see so many recognizable faces on screen and to know that so many of these actors want to be on screen because of such a good script is a testament to the material.  Even with the issues that the production had and the big fixes that had to be made, there is still something so very special in these 130 minutes.

Performances here from Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton are some of their career best and we get amazing work from Sam Elliot, Michael Biehn, Powers Boothe, Dana Delaney, Stephen Lang, Jon Tenney, and so many others.  There’s even a tiny moment for Billy Bob Thornton to show up and work some magic.

And I saved the best for last.  Val Kilmer.  Val Kilmer is an exceptional Doc Holliday.  He appears sickly and piqued the entire film. His pale, sweaty face still shows every emotion.  He has an insanely sexy drawl and carries himself much like a gangster might have in the 30’s.  He isn’t afraid of a thing.  His fearlessness only adds to how interesting he is.  There is a reason why this performance was always singled out, even if the critic or the viewer didn’t care for the film.  Val Kilmer in Tombstone is a revelation.

Tombstone is a definitive western.  After the 70’s, westerns were few and far between.  When they did come, they were either halfway decent or throwaways and either way never made any money.  Unforgiven ushered in a renaissance for westerns in the 90’s that then gave way for Tombstone. The $70+ million the film made does not do justice for the audience the film has found outside of the theater.  The VHS and Laserdiscs sold huge of course in the 90’s with the DVD and Blu-ray also making waves for home video collectors.  Now, over 30 years and a ton of requests and wishes for a 4K releases later, this gorgeous new 4K steelbook of Tombstone is here for us to savor. What a time for collectors and lovers of the film!

And once more, for Val Kilmer… Whether it’s here in Tombstone, or as Iceman in Top Gun, Chris Knight in Real Genius, Batman, Jim Morrison, Elvis, Chris Shiherlis in Heat or any of your favorite Kilmer roles, he embodied that role.  Val Kilmer never felt inauthentic in any of his roles, and he remained the most unsung leading man of his generation. There were often reports of Kilmer being difficult to work with, and that’s an unfortunate footnote.

In 2021, the documentary Val shed some light on the real-life Val Kilmer, dealing with his throat cancer and chronicling his career. In it, even as he was battling cancer, he seemed so down to earth, funny and very loving.  I doubt that his passion as an actor and artist would made him difficult so much as passionate.  From his first role to his last, a somber reprisal of his Iceman in Top Gun: Maverick, Val Kilmer lived his life on film.  I for one was shocked to hear he’d passed.  Despite his illness, Val Kilmer was very much alive.

I will miss Val Kilmer’s sensitive masculinity and commanding presence on screen.  There won’t be another like Kilmer, and that’s a shame.  We lost a bright star who will truly be missed.

Video

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 2160p

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

HDR: Dolby Vision

Layers: BD-66

Clarity/Detail: Tombstone is said to have gone through a meticulous restoration for this new 4K UHD Blu-ray release.  Compared to the now ancient Blu-ray release, the new disc is miles and miles away from that release.  The new image is clean and refined with striking detail on the authentic looking set pieces and costuming with beautiful emphasis on the Arizona location shooting too.  Sunrise and sunset footage is extremely pretty, too.  Grain is complimentary and not noisy in any way.

Depth: Lensing for the film is capably reproduced in 4K.  Movement is fluid and clean without any blurring or lost information as the camera pans.  Zooms and focus are also lovely here, with nothing lost in translation.  The foreground and background in each scene looks great with revelations in set design coming through with added resolution.

Black Levels: Black levels dig deep without giving way to crush!

Color Reproduction: Colors are rich and deep.  Reds, oranges, browns, greens and blues look stunning here.  Outdoor scenes are especially fetching with natural hues really popping.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are faithfully reproduced, looking natural throughout.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit). French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1. Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1. Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0. German: DTS-HD HR 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0, Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish

Dynamics: The 5.1 Lossless mix on this new 4K disc is the same 5.1 mix that accompanied Tombstone on Blu-ray.  This was a great mix in 2010 and remains so.  The film has decidedly 90’s sound effects and no amount of height movement will change that.  Dialogue is priority along with Bruce Broughton’s exciting score and the surround experience is decidedly 90’s too, sounding great in its fixed 5.1 configuration.

Height: N/A

Low Frequency Extension: Bass is saved mostly for dramatic music cues, a train coming or going, a carriage pulling away and the odd heavy gunfire.  This isn’t the biggest, baddest mix for bass, but this isn’t a surprise.

Surround Sound Presentation: Surround channels carry Tombstone ambience, casino and performance hall echo, thunderstorm sounds, and all the action sounds you’d expect from big, bold gunfights.  These channels are busiest in those gunfight moments.

Dialogue: Dialogue sounds fantastic and is prioritized mostly front and center.

Extras

Extras for Tombstone are the very same ones that accompanied the 2010 Blu-ray.  These come on the included Blu-ray, itself having the 2024 remaster in HD, and there is also a digital code.  Those expecting additional Vista Series extras will want to keep their DVD sets.  The Steelbook that accompanies this release is a nice looking one, with those now ubiquitous floating heads.  The layout is nice with the principals on the front, a marshall’s badge on the back and a nice shot of the good guys inside.  It’s handsome!

Bonus Features:

• The Making of Tombstone (SD; 27;19)
• Director’s Original Storyboards: O.K. Corral Sequence (SD; 4:00)
• Trailers and TV Spots (SD; 7:29)

Summary

Tombstone is undeniably a standout in the western genre and a highlight in the resurgence of the western in the 90’s.  The film is entertaining and begs to be revisited.  Even better is the cast full of incredible actors.  Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer make the film worth a watch alone.  The look and feel of the film make it stand up to other classics from the past such as The Searchers or The Man Who Shot Liberty Vance, and despite the hard road the film traveled to make it onto the screen, the result is nothing short of outstanding.  This new 4K edition is excellent too, and while one wishes there were more features, including a last-minute tribute to Mr. Val Kilmer, this is a release that is a must buy for 4K enthusiasts, western fans and Val fans too! Don’t miss this one, no matter what the price!

Get your copy of Tombstone 4K Steelbook HERE