Wyatt Earp

[David Meek]

I watched this DVD last night. At 190 minutes, this is the theatrical release of the life of the famous hero/lawman/outlaw. It's paced much slower and more deliberately than it's more well-known competitor Tombstone, but like the other has a memorable performance in the role of Doc Holliday - this time by Dennis Quaid. Quite a cast was assembled by director Lawrence Kasdan for this film including Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Jeff Fahey, Mark Harmon, Michael Madsen, Bill Pullman, Tom Sizemore, Isabella Rossellini, JoBeth Williams, Mare Winningham, James Gammon, Tea Leoni, Adam Baldwin and Jim Caviezel.

Framed at 2.35:1 and enhanced for 16:9 TVs, the picture is quite good but not great. There is some softness and lack of detail when compared to state-of-the-art DVDs. The audio is also good, but again not cutting-edge. Gunshots have decent authority and impact, surrounds are used to an extent. The dialog is very clean and understandable - I just wish KC didn't sound (at times) like he was reading his lines off the script. I wasn't able to watch the extras so I can't comment on them at this time.

Overall, it's a good western IMO, well worth watching, and if you are a fan of the genre, well worth owning. I'll rate Wyatt Earp :3: out of :5:.

[George Bellefontaine]

Yeah, I picked this up as soon as it was released. It replaces a laserdisc so there is some improvement in the PQ on the dvd, but as Tex says, not as good as some recent dvd transfers. The story line between Wyatt Earp and Tombstone is quite similar, and it is hard to pick a favorite between Quaid and Kilmer as Doc Halliday, but as much as I like Costner, I preferred Kurt Russel's version of Wyatt.

Still, I am a dyed in the wool western fan, so both Wyatt Earp and Tombstones are favorites of mine, along with Heny Fonda as Wyatt in My Darling Clementine, and Burt Lancaster as Wyatt in Gunfight At The OK Corral.

[Burke Strickland]

"Just a opinion here, but with Gene Hackman in it, it's probably a safe bet." :>)

Burke

[David Meek]

Where have I heard THAT before? :B

[George Bellefontaine]

That Burke ...

[John Holmes]

I've never watched this film. Just didn't think I'd enjoy it after loving Tombstone. But, you guys have got me curious now. So, I'll give it a watch.