First of all, I would like to know why so many people are comparing Wyatt Earp to Tombstone. Yes...both films were made within a year apart, but their objectives are completely different. The titles pretty much say it. Tombstone is about the events that transpired in Tombstone...Wyatt Earp is about the man Wyatt Earp. Therefore, they do not have the same goal in mind and are telling two very different stories. I enjoyed both films for different reasons and allow them to stand on their own merits. Tombstone was more entertaining and action-packed, however, the story was not as historically accurate and the characters were a little over the top. Whereas Wyatt Earp had more of a personal, in-depth examination of the life, but not the legend, of Wyatt Earp.
Now, lets get to the intention of this film. Wyatt Earp is suppose to be a story about the lawman, with the convictions and tribulations that shape him as a young boy up to old age. Unlike, Tombstone, which focuses on an array of characters with the plot leading up to a single event, quite historically incorrect, I might add. Yes...Wyatt Earp is cold, unforgiving, bitter, reserved, etc. However, he was not always that way, as his early life traveling with his family to California and marriage to Urella Sutherland, a woman he deeply loved, demonstrates. The turning point in the story is when Wyatt's beloved wife dies along with their unborn child. Wyatt lashes out and loses all reason to live. He becomes extremely self-destructive and sets about roaming the West with no real purpose at all except to die. His father slaps some sense into him and tells him to move on with his life. Eventually, he becomes a lawman and that is when we meet the mysterious and quiet Wyatt Earp that nobody likes. So...okay...Wyatt becomes reserved, quiet, and cruel, but it is not as if we do not know why. He was a man trying to survive in a harsh, brutal land and being a lawman did not make it any easier because he was always a target. He was plagued by external demons as well as internal demons, such as the bottle and a strong yearning, undying love for his dead wife. He was very human and this movie manifests that. Tombstone is fine for those of you that do not care for Wyatt Earp beyond the infamous fight at the OK Carroll or the lawman legend. However, if you can stand a more accurate, in depth character exploration of Wyatt Earp, without any pretensions, than this is a movie worth seeing.
Now, lets get to the intention of this film. Wyatt Earp is suppose to be a story about the lawman, with the convictions and tribulations that shape him as a young boy up to old age. Unlike, Tombstone, which focuses on an array of characters with the plot leading up to a single event, quite historically incorrect, I might add. Yes...Wyatt Earp is cold, unforgiving, bitter, reserved, etc. However, he was not always that way, as his early life traveling with his family to California and marriage to Urella Sutherland, a woman he deeply loved, demonstrates. The turning point in the story is when Wyatt's beloved wife dies along with their unborn child. Wyatt lashes out and loses all reason to live. He becomes extremely self-destructive and sets about roaming the West with no real purpose at all except to die. His father slaps some sense into him and tells him to move on with his life. Eventually, he becomes a lawman and that is when we meet the mysterious and quiet Wyatt Earp that nobody likes. So...okay...Wyatt becomes reserved, quiet, and cruel, but it is not as if we do not know why. He was a man trying to survive in a harsh, brutal land and being a lawman did not make it any easier because he was always a target. He was plagued by external demons as well as internal demons, such as the bottle and a strong yearning, undying love for his dead wife. He was very human and this movie manifests that. Tombstone is fine for those of you that do not care for Wyatt Earp beyond the infamous fight at the OK Carroll or the lawman legend. However, if you can stand a more accurate, in depth character exploration of Wyatt Earp, without any pretensions, than this is a movie worth seeing.