A.V. Opinions: Wyatt Earp feels like the extended director’s cut of Tombstone that we didn’t need.

My year continues with checking off movies I’ve never seen, and this time, I decided to pop in Wyatt Earp. The reason I never watched it before? Simple. I love Tombstone. I’m a huge fan of that movie, and for whatever reason, I never got around to Wyatt Earp. It wasn’t for a lack of interest in Kevin Costner; it just never happened. But as the years passed, my love for Tombstone grew to the point where I felt like if I ever watched Wyatt Earp, I’d spend the entire runtime wishing I was watching Tombstone instead. And, well, that’s exactly what happened.

If Tombstone is a fast, thrilling gunfight, Wyatt Earp is a three-hour, slow-burning campfire that never quite catches. It’s essentially the extended director’s cut of Tombstone but without the energy. I swear, I felt like I was aging in real time while watching it. The movie wants to be an epic saga, but all anyone really wanted was more shootouts and Val Kilmer levels of charisma. Instead, we get Kevin Costner in full frontier mode, trudging through a never-ending runtime.

Here’s the wild thing though. Wyatt Earp has some shots that are eerily similar to Tombstone. I’m convinced there was a mole in the studio system leaking info between productions because some of the visual overlap is uncanny. Now, of course, both films are pulling from real history, so some consistency is expected, but there are moments where it feels like somebody is copying somebody.

Now, Kevin Costner is fine as Wyatt, but I just prefer Kurt Russell. Probably just because Tombstone is a better movie. I love both actors, but Kurt Russell brings something to the role that Costner just doesn’t quite capture. And the supporting cast? Tombstone’s version of the Earp brothers is better across the board. Dennis Quaid as Doc Holliday is okay. In a vacuum, where Tombstone doesn’t exist, he’d probably be good. But he’s playing the role in a world where Val Kilmer already turned in one of the greatest supporting performances of all time. So instead of feeling like a great take on the character, Quaid’s Holliday just comes off as a diet, low-calorie version of the real deal.

Overall, the biggest issue with Wyatt Earp is that it’s just long. Not in a grand, sweeping way, but in a “Why am I still watching this?” way. It lacks the energy, charisma, and fun of Tombstone. What’s really interesting is that Kevin Costner ended up making the same mistakes again with Horizon, another overlong, self-serious epic that couldn’t match its concept.

At the end of the day, I’m glad I finally checked Wyatt Earp off my list, but I’ll never watch it again. The next time I get the urge for a Wyatt Earp story, I’ll do what I should have done in the first place. Pop in Tombstone, one of the best Westerns ever made.

-Brad McBoom