Late this past April, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment re-issued the modern classic western flick, Tombstone on a new 4K restoration. Just one of so many movies receiving the 4K re-issue treatment, this latest presentation is a little bit of a mixed bag. Coming roughly 15 years after its then most recent release (on Blu-ray), the movie offers nothing new in its latest presentation. To that end, this latest presentation of Tombstone is more for those who do not already own the movie in its previous DVD and Blu-ray presentations. So, for said audiences, Tombstone is grounded in its story, which will be discussed shortly. The bonus content that accompanies the movie in its latest re-issue is the exact same content as that featured in the 2010 Blu-ray re-issue, again pointing back to it being more for those who do not already own the movie in some form. This will be addressed a little later. The playback quality (the sound and picture) round out the re-issue’s most important items and will also be examined later. Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of the new 4K re-issue of Tombstone. All things considered this exhibition is such that a very specific audience will appreciate the re-issue.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Hollywood Pictures’ recent 4K re-issue of the modern classic western, Tombstone, is a presentation that is meant for a very specific audience group. The audience in question is those viewers who do not already own the movie on its 2010 Blu-ray release. That presentation is its most recent re-issue. For said audiences, the movie is grounded in its story, which is not just another typical telling of Wyatt Earp and company’s shootout at the O.K. Corral with the Clanton brothers. Yes, that event is part of the movie, which runs just over two hours but there is much more. As is noted in one of the carryover bonus features, the story is more focused on Wyatt Earp (played here by Kurt Russell – Overboard, Stargate, The Thing). It portrays, as noted, the more human side of Earp as he and his brothers Virgil (Sam Elliot – Hulk, Contender, The Hero) and Morgan (Bill Paxton – Twister, Aliens, Apollo 13) come into Tombstone not as lawmen but as a group looking to just start a business and make money. Wyatt even makes that clear as a member of the outlaw group, The Cowboys, confronts him one night at the brothers’ saloon. It is not until the town’s head lawman, Marshal Fred White (Harry Carey, Jr. – Gremlins, The Exorcist III, The Searchers) is gunned down by one of The Cowboys, Curly Bill (Powers Boothe – Sin City, The Avengers, Frailty) that things start to change. What follows leads Virgil to make the change first and take over as a lawman. Wyatt and Morgan then follow, along with longtime friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer – Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick, The Doors).
Things escalate between the Earps and Holliday and the Cowboys (whose ranks here include some actors who would go on to be stars in their own right including Michael Rooker – Days of Thunder, Guardians of the Galaxy 1-2 – and Thomas Haden Church – Sideways, Spiderman 3, Wings) and reach a climax at the now infamous shootout at the O.K. Corral. Things do not end there, though, unlike in so many other movies focused on these events. The story of Holliday and the Earps’ feud with The Cowboys continues afterward and remains fully engaging. It has a little bit of a bittersweet ending. The full details herein will be left for the noted viewers to discover for themselves but is still fulfilling regardless. Needless to say, the Cowboys are wiped out and an epilogue ties up all of the loose ends. Overall, all of the familiar western flick fare is there; the gunfights, the bravado of the bad guys and good guys, the dusty streets and candlelit buildings, etc. The buildup to the exciting showdowns is there, too. Audiences get, in other words, plenty of what’s been done before throughout the story but at the same time they get something far lesser done with this story. Keeping that in mind, it gives reason enough to watch this movie at least once.
Building on the foundation formed by the story is the bonus content that accompanies the movie in its latest presentation. As noted already, the bonus materials featured this time out is just carryover from the movie’s previous 2010 Blu-ray presentation. In other words there is nothing new here so viewers who own that 2010 release have no reason to replace it with this presentation. The bonus content in question is composed of three features: “An Ensemble Cast,” “Making An Authentic Western,” and a storyboard to film comparison that runs only four minutes. The “Making An Authentic Western” feature runs just over six minutes. The “Ensemble cast” featurette is the longest of the extras.
“Making An Authentic Western” outlines the efforts undertaken to make this period piece look as authentic as possible. That included on-site filming and period accurate costumes and weapons. That such efforts were made to make the movie look so true is applause-worthy. At the same time, audiences also have to remember that this movie was released pre-CGI. So the only choices were (as Sam Elliot points out) either on-site filming or filming on a back lot. Keeping that in mind, yes, it is a good thing that the movie’s creative heads went to such extent but thankfully that was because options of going the lazy route (IE CG) did not exist.
The “Ensemble Cast” featurette allows the movie’s cast to shed light on the history of the conflict between the Earps, Holliday, and The Cowboys. That historical background alongside the movie helps create more appreciation for the approach taken here. It is one of those extras that clearly proves the importance of bonus content in a movie’s appeal. It helps to separate Tombstone from other westerns of that era, such as Young Guns and its sequel.
Again, for audiences who have not yet seen these features or the movie itself, all of this combined content is sure to make the presentation engaging and entertaining. For all others though, the Blu-ray copies owned are enough.
Moving on from there, there is still one more item to examine in this re-issue. That item is the movie’s playback quality (IE its picture and sound quality). Viewers will be happy to know that both the sound and picture in this re-issue are exemplary. The picture quality is clear and the sound quality – the gunshots and music score – are just as powerful if not more so than in the movie’s previous releases. Add in a sound bar and audiences get one heck of an audiovisual experience. When the positive of the movie’s playback quality is taken into consideration alongside the story and the movie’s bonus content, the whole therein makes this re-issue a presentation that western fans who do not already own this movie will appreciate.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Hollywood Pictures’ recent 4K re-issue of Tombstone is a presentation that will appeal to western fans who do not already own the movie. This is proven in part through its featured story, which takes the familiar story or Wyatt Earp and gives it a whole new depth. The bonus content that accompanies the movie, which are carried over from the previous Blu-ray re-issue add to the interest because of the background that they provide to the presentation. The quality of the footage in its restoration is impressive in its own right. It sounds as good as if not better than that of the movie’s previous releases. Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the movie’s re-issue. All things considered they make the 4K re-issue of Tombstone worth watching (and owning) among western fans who do not already own the movie in its previous releases.
Tombstone is available now on 4K UHD. More information on this and other titles from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is available at:
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