Chili Palmer

For those who are interested www.digitalbits.composted their review. Can't wait!

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews2/tombstone.html

chsidwel

I've been looking forward to this for years!!! On the LD, the director mentioned having the first cut total 3 hours. I see that we get an additional 4 minutes of footage, but is there any mention of the rest of the material? Has anyone listened to the commentary? I only have to wait one more week

Geofferson

Awesome! Can't wait till Tuesday.

uteotw

I was at Blockbuster over lunch to pick up a rental (Seven Samurai: CC) and lo & behold there was Tombstone: The Director's Cut, Vista Series for sale 4 days early! Yes, it was $24.99 (five bucks more than Best Buy's next Tuesday price), but it was worth it to have it for the weekend (plus I know I have a weakness).
I went home and watched a few chapters, and it is AMAZING. The picture is great, and the DTS sound quality is crystal clear and amazing. True, as stated in the above review, there is not as much rear-channel action as I would have expected, but they're still used quite nicely (as in Se7en).
The packaging is clearly up there with Fight Club and Seven, and it includes a reproduction of a map of the OK Corral "as illustrated in Wyatt Earp's own hand."
There's another insert with some miscellaneous notes and comments, including one by the director that says "I hope you enjoy this special edition of Tombstone as much as I enjoyed preparing it for you." And I believe that I will...!

P.S. I watched some of the commentary as well, and there is one of the strangest things I've ever seen on this DVD: When you go to turn the commentary on, after you select "on," before the movie begins/picks back up, a disclaimer screen comes up that says something like: "The comments expressed here are those of the director only and do not necessarily reflect the views of Hollywood Pictures," etc... WHY is this here? Maybe other DVDs have this, but none I have ever watched. Very strange, I thought. Again with the sue-happy society or what? Anyway, other than that, GREAT DVD and really decent commentary. The supplements on Disc 2 are also good, though there's a "Tombstone Timeline" that's very interesting to read, but is also read aloud by a guy with a very annoying voice. (Don't get me wrong--I LOVE this DVD set and it's WELL worth a purchase, but I'm just trying to give the full picture.)

RavenTwo

Thanks for your comments, I will be getting this one!!

Deadpool

Justice is coming...

I can't wait to pick this up.

uteotw

All in all it was pretty good. You can tell the guy LOVES this film, and he has some cool insights. There's a little too much basic scene description ("Yes, and here is Val Kilmer walking into the room"), but he points out a lot of little details--and how carefully he tried to pay attention to historically-accurate details--that I'd never consciously noticed before. I also liked things pointed out that he ALMOST did in certain places, and why he didn't and chose to go with what he did.
I never had the LD, so I can't compare it to that, but the added scenes clearly stood out to me (having seen the theatrical version many times), and I'm not sure if they add a lot or not. They do fill in some noticeable gaps, which I guess was nice.
As far as the edge enhancement, maybe I just don't have the keenest eye or the best TV on earth, but I didn't notice it much at all. The picture was crystal clear, and the DTS sound made it sound like there was a heard of horses galloping through my living room.

uteotw

Just thought I'd ask one more time to see if anyone knows why the weird screen appears before the commentary can begin stating that "The views expressed in this commentary are those of only the director and don't necessarily reflect those of Disney, Vista, or any of its employees or their children, pets, etc."
WHY??? And has anyone ever seen this on any other DVD?

ipkevin

I don't know why nor have I heard the commentary. However, I know this was quite a troubled production initially. The original director (an unknown) was fired after some shooting had taken place. I've read some rather discourteous remarks about him from the actors. Maybe they were worried about libel suits.

Robert

The imdb says Kevin Jarre directed most of Charlton Hestons scenes. So maybe it was Kevin Jarre who was fired.

davcole

As for the DVD itself it's a good presentation, not spectacular. I thought the colors weren't as bold as I expected and some of the darker scenes lacked clarity otherwise sharpness was there. As a matter of fact one could say too much sharpness as there is A LOT of edge enhancement!

I heard a lot of people talk about this phenomonom before but this is the first disc that I've bought were I've noticed it on my 46" projection set.

As for the audio it certainly doesn't sound like a today's release but I can't complain as it's a good surround track with some split surround effects. The DTS does seem a bit fuller though!

I must express disappointment in the extras. The certainly don't justify a second disc and frankly I'm disappointed that all the featurettes were from old EPK material. You have thought they'd produce some new material for this disc! Honestly the only new item is the commentary!

David

munedaddy

Yeah they could have had some newer features. But watching this yesterday brought back what a great western this is. Got to be top five. Tooooo many great scenes. The little wink by Doc speaks volumes then Billy's look then kurt with "oh no" What a scene!

JimRochester

Great movie and great disc. I thought the colors were a little off. It seemed awful orange in many parts. For a 2 disc set I anticipated more extras but it was a really good set and a good price. I got it for $16.99 with the $3 coupon in Pearl Harbor.