Wyatt Earp (1994)
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The film follows the life of lawman Wyatt Earp from his youth through his involvement in the historic O.K. Corral gunfight.
The story
During the American Civil War, teenaged Wyatt Earp lives on his family's farm in Pella, Iowa, while his older brothers serve with the Union Army. After his brothers return home at the war's end, the family moves west to start over. Years later, Wyatt works as a wagon driver and eventually becomes a lawman in Missouri. Following the tragic death of his wife, he becomes a drifter before eventually finding work as a buffalo hunter and later a deputy marshal in Kansas. His reputation grows as a man unafraid to enforce the law, eventually leading him to Dodge City and later to the volatile environment of Tombstone, Arizona.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
During the American Civil War, teenaged Wyatt Earp lives on his family's farm in Pella, Iowa, while his older brothers Virgil and James serve with the Union Army. After his brothers return home at the war's end, the family moves west to start over. Years later, Wyatt works as a wagon driver and eventually becomes a lawman in Missouri. Following the tragic death of his wife, he becomes a drifter before finding work as a buffalo hunter and later a deputy marshal in Wichita, Kansas. He is eventually recruited to work in Dodge City, where he becomes involved with a prostitute and partners with the Masterson brothers. After his partner Ed is killed, Wyatt moves to Tombstone, Arizona, where he becomes involved with Josie Marcus and faces off against the outlaw Cowboy gang. Following the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, where his brother Morgan is killed, Wyatt leads a posse to hunt the remaining Cowboys. The film ends years later with Wyatt and Josie mining for gold in Alaska, with an epilogue noting the deaths of Doc Holliday and the members of the Clanton gang.
- First release year
- 1994
- Runtime (minutes)
- 190
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Lawrence Kasdan
- Writers
- Dan Gordon · writer; Lawrence Kasdan · writer
- Cast and characters
- Kevin Costner · Earp; Gene Hackman; Mark Harmon; Michael Madsen; Catherine O'Hara; Bill Pullman; Dennis Quaid; Isabella Rossellini; Tom Sizemore; JoBeth Williams; Mare Winningham; Jeff Fahey
- Genres
- biographical; Western; drama
- Themes
- law and order; brotherhood; survival
- Tone and mood
- epic; serious
- Setting
- The American West during the 19th century, including Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, Arizona, and Alaska.
- Premise and plot tags
- biographical; western; historical
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances and direction but criticized the long runtime and compared it unfavorably to the film Tombstone. It was a box office failure.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 33% · review count: 88; Metacritic · score: 47 · scale: 100 · review count: 20
- Production trivia
- The film was developed in competition with the movie Tombstone.; The film was originally intended to be a six-hour miniseries.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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