JAKARTA (JP): American frontier marshal, Wyatt Earp (1848- 1928) is the most famous lawman of the wild west. Until l970, there were some 10 feature films depicting his exploits that culminated in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Tombstone, Arizona, on Oct. 26, l881.
Hugh O'Brian played Earp in the long-running TV series. The most recent Wyatt Earp film, directed by George Pan Cosmatos (who directed Rambo: First Blood II) and titled Tombstone, stars Kurt Russell as the hero. Val Kilmer plays Wyatt's friend Doc Holliday.
Screenwriters Kevin Jarre and John Fusano have endeavored to recapture the detail and texture of life in the American wild west of the 19th century.
Among the interesting female characters are addicts and a Hungarian wildcat, Kate, played by Joanna Pacula, who is in love with Doc.
Dana Delany's Josephine Marcus, a 19th century stage actress with a 20th century mind, ran away from her wealthy family in San Francisco.
The men and women of Tombstone are fashionable, some of their costumes being imports from Europe.
Wyatt and Doc, as well as Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) Earp, are mustachioed and clad in black.
Kurt Russell's Wyatt is a no-nonsense lawman. Underneath the sharp blue eyes, there is a quaint mixture of sadness, loneliness and a thirst for adventure and romance.
Trying to remain loyal to his alcoholic wife Mattie (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson), Wyatt, at times, feels like wanting to succumb to the temptation set by the fiery Josephine.
The actress's raw sexuality shocks many as she makes no effort to conceal her true feelings for the married Wyatt.
Powers Boothe is Curly Bill Brocius, the ruthless chieftain of the Cowboys. At no time does the actor look as handsome, virile, and authoritative as he does here.
Michael Biehns's Johnny Ringo, while slightly over the edge, is a compelling figure.
A dentist and a poker player, Doc oddly moved to the other side of the law when he teamed up with the three Earp brothers at the most glorified and venerable of gunfights at the O.K. Corral.
Wyatt's tour de force occurs in a saloon when he subdues a burly armed thug with surprising ease, and the heated confrontation of courage and skill between Doc and Johnny Ringo prior to their duel are among the film's memorable points.
The consumptive Doc died at the age of 36. He was 32 when he joined the Earps in the Tombstone gunfight.
Veteran actor Charlton Heston is Henry Hooker, a rich rancher who joins forces with Wyatt and Doc to fight the cowboys.
As Tombstone sheds still more light on the legend of Wyatt, Doc, the people they love and hate, and l9th century Arizona, actor and director Kevin Costner is said to be planning another Wyatt Earp movie. - Tony Ryanto