Tombstone

I won't wax eloquent about the film itself. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed this movie enough to purchase it's first release on widescreen DVD in 1996, and was very much looking forward to this new Vista Series release. I suppose the commentary and documentary could justify the additional expense I put out for the Vista Series, but I am going to take this opportunity to elucidate some negative aspects of the new release. Since this new transfer is THX certified, I was expecting a very pristine presentation compared to the 1996 DVD release. My main complaint of the new transfer is that it's black level is set waaay too low. You will find yourself cranking up the brightness to see any shadow detail at all, and even then you can't dial it in just right. On the positive side, the color is much, much nicer on the new transfer, and the sharpness is a tad more detailed also. Just a few comments now on some of the "extras". The extra 4 minutes of added footage does nicely fill some gaps in the original version, and certainly does not ruin the experience, as one very opinionated viewer noted below. The commentary by George Cosmatos is entertaining and quite informative, even more so than the three-part "Making of" documentary. The "Tombstone Epitaph" looked very nice, until I actually tried to read it. One reviewer noted that the print was too small to see. I suppose that determination hinges on the size of one's screen and the quality of one's eyesight. All I can add to his comment is that on my 32" monitor the Epitaph print was clearly legible, albeit small. But my one reservation about the Epitaph hinges about how one must navigate to read the print. Imagine that a big picture was taken of the paper, and your screen zooms in on just a portion of it. To navigate up, down, left and right to see the whole thing, you use the arrow keys on the remote. Problem is, some of the columns in the newspaper are divided down the middle by the edge of the screen. So, you can read the left half of each column, or the right half. But to read each line you must constantly be pushing the arrow keys left, right, left, right endlessly. Ridiculous, and I gave up. They should have made one column of the paper fill up one screen's width. Also included as an extra is a map of the beginning of the gunfight at the O.K. corral as penned by Wyatt Earp in 1919. This is printed on very nice looking paper, but all of the small handwriting is illegible as presented. Nice thought, though. It is hard to believe that a Director's Cut Special Edition of a film does not include any cast bio's or filmographies. Sad. Finally, the new packaging is quite slick looking, with both the cover art and internal art having a very nice rustic look to it. Quite classy. The only reservation I have is of the durability of the package. I have not experienced good longevity of this type of packaging, with the plastic DVD trays hot-glued to a paper or plastic backing. They always seem to come unglued eventually with heavy use. Just thought I would cut through the hype and offer some meat-and-potatoes info on this new Vista release.

Thank-you to the seller of this DVD-Tombstone--it arrived so quickly--it is an awesome movie--we were in Tombstone a short while ago to view the actual town so it meant more after being there in person--
THANK-YOU again--
Donna V Burnham

If you like gunslingin' dusters you're sure to love this one. The sub plot of Earp's love affair with the actress is the only negative of this film but you can always fast forward through those bits. Chuck Heston makes a great guest appearance in the movie and I give Val Kilmar a 10 out of 10 for his performance as Doc Holiday. The DVD presents a very small picture on my 1080p Sony, so it would be great if you could nab a blue ray copy. I strongly recommend this product.