Wyatt Earp is a 1994 Western film directed by Lawrence Kasdan, starring Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, David Andrews, Jim Caviezel, Linden Ashby, Jeff Fahey, Mark Harmon, Michael Madsen, Catherine O'Hara, Bill Pullman and Isabella Rossellini.
It is a Biopic about the life of Wyatt Earp (played by Costner), which features the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
This film provides examples of:
- Armor-Piercing Question: When Wyatt tries to run away to join the Army, he insists he's doing the right thing. His father says that if he thinks that's true, then why'd he wait until his father wasn't around to do it?
- Artistic License – History: Mostly averted, especially compared to other movies about Wyatt Earp and the O.K. Corral shootout. Even the minor details of extra Earp brothers - oldest brother James and youngest brother Warren - being present in Tombstone at the time but not taking part in the fighting are shown. The movie also attempts to set up the main historical grievance that led to the shootout - accusations from the Cowboys and Behan that Doc was involved in a stagecoach robbery - that other movies ignored until this one.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Virgil Earp returns from The American Civil War in a wagon, he says he brought his brother James back with him, then looks back at the bed of the wagon, as if to imply that James is dead and Vigil is bringing his body home. Then James sits up, having merely laid down to fall asleep while Virgil drove the wagon.
- Biopic: The film recounts the life of Wyatt Earp, from the time of the American Civil War to the Klondike Gold Rush.
- Dirty Business: Shotgun guard Dutch is upset about having to shoot the horse of a stage robber.
- Distant Finale: The epilogue is set years after the climax of the film. Wyatt and Josie are on a boat going to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush.
- Driven to Suicide: Mattie attempts to commit suicide several times because of Wyatt's relationship with Josie. She puts laudanum in her whisky.
- Drowning My Sorrows: After the death of his wife Urilla, Wyatt becomes an alcoholic and he steals to buy drinks.
- Education Papa: Mr. Earp is very optimistic about having Wyatt, Morgan, and Warren become lawyers.
- Embarrassing First Name: Bat Masterson is embarrassed when his brother reveals that his first name is Bartholomew.
- The Farmer and the Viper: A guy offers to buy a meal for Wyatt, who is an alcoholic tramp by that time. By way of thanks, Wyatt robs him and steals his horse.
- Friends with Benefits: Wyatt is not romantically involved with Mattie. She is just a sex partner for him. He is very clear about it, but Mattie is in love with him.
- Give Me a Sword: Subverted. A prisoner, faced with a lynch mob, screams at his jailer, Wyatt Earp, to give him a gun so he could defend himself. Wyatt tells him that if he doesn't shut up, he will give him over. Then he walks out and talks the mob down.
- Good Samaritan: The guy who offers to buy a meal for Wyatt, who is an alcoholic tramp by that time. By way of thanks, Wyatt robs him and steals his horse.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: Unlike other movies about the OK Corral, this movie does not attempt to paint the Earps and Doc in a heroic light. It shows Wyatt's early history of criminal behavior, warts and all. The movie also shows the Earps attempting to position themselves as both business and political forces in Tombstone, running for the sheriff's office against Behan and making political enemies while doing so. However, the Cowboys are not shown in any flattering light: they are portrayed as being more calculating and dirty-handed, while the Earps were more honest about upholding law and order.
- Guns Akimbo: Wyatt Earp's party is ambushed in a canyon by allies of the Clantons and McLauries. One mook draws down on Wyatt with two pistols and begins firing them with a cocky grin on his face. Wyatt calmly walks over to his horse, grabs a shotgun, approaches the mook, and blows him away at POINT BLANK RANGE. The look on the mook's face turns to abject horror as every one of his shots misses wide and Wyatt approaches with his boomstick. It's absolutely priceless.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Wyatt is an idealist in the beginning of his lawman career. He fights crime and progressively becomes a hardened vigilante. In the end, he goes on a murderous personal vendetta.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: The film depicts Curly Bill Brocious as deliberately murdering Marshal Fred White, when by all accounts (including Wyatt's) White's death was a drunken accident. While he is depicted as smug and sneering over it in the movie, the real Brocious was guilt-ridden and devastated over killing White, whom he had an adversarial but respectful relationship with.
- How We Got Here: The opening sequence shows Wyatt drinking coffee before the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The bulk of the film is a long flashback, which recounts his life up to that point.
- Immune to Bullets: Wyatt. Truth in Television as every eyewitness account of the gunfights he was in proved he walked away from each of them without a scratch. Highlighted in both the OK Corral itself as well as the infamous shootout at Iron Springs during his Vendetta Ride. Lampshaded by Mattie towards the end, who finds it funny and horrifying that Wyatt can't get shot, even as she pulls out a gun and shoots at him while she's under the influence of laudanum.
- In Medias Res: The opening sequence shows Wyatt drinking coffee before the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Then a long flashback recounts his life up to that point.
- Improvised Weapon: The first time Wyatt is challenged to a gunfight, he throws a pool ball at his challenger, knocking the wind out of him.
- Lawman Gone Bad: After the murder of Morgan, Wyatt, who is a town marshal, goes after the members of the "Cowboy" gang to kill them.
- Let the Past Burn: When his first wife dies, Wyatt burns their house and belongings due to his depression.
- Living Legend: Wyatt Earp has this status by the end of the film. In the boat to Alaska, a young man recognizes him and recounts one of his legendary feats.
- The Lost Lenore: Wyatt Earp's wife Urilla Sutherland dies from typhoid fever early in the film. It is very difficult for Wyatt to recover from that loss. Years later, it is still difficult for him to have a romantic relationship.
- Love Triangle: Wyatt has a sex relationship with Mattie and he falls in love with Josie. Mattie is very jealous of Josie.
- A Minor Kidroduction: The prologue shows Wyatt as a teenager dreaming of fighting for the Union Army.
- The Mourning After: Wyatt cannot get over the death of his wife Urilla. He cannot have any other romantic relationship. Finally Subverted when he meets Josie.
- Nice Guy: Ed Masterson, too nice to be in law enforcement in his friend Wyatt's opinion.
- Off the Wagon: Wyatt stops drinking alcohol after being bailed out of jail, but he orders a bottle of alcohol after Mattie attempts to commit suicide.
- Pistol Whip: Wyatt's preferred method of dealing with troublemakers while a deputy in Dodge City. While it seems harsh, the fact that 1) those he smacks are usually drunk, violent, and armed, and 2) he could just as easily shoot them if he really wanted to, makes him seem also reasonable.
- Protagonist Title: Wyatt Earp is the protagonist.
- Recovered Addict: Wyatt stops drinking alcohol after being bailed out of jail. He always orders coffee.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After the death of Morgan, Wyatt and Doc Holliday go after the cowboys to kill them.
- Shaming the Mob: Wyatt manages to stop the mob that wanted to lynch Tommy Behind-The-Deuce. He says that he will defend the prison, that he will probably be killed in the process, but not before having shot down several angry townspeople.
- The Sheriff: Sheriff Behan is depicted as a corrupt and sleazy guy (he does not want to fight the "Cowboy" gang and he makes fun of his girlfriend Josie).
- Showdown at High Noon: Subverted all to hell in an early scene. The first gunfight of the film is between two angry drunks, staggering around about ten feet from each other and firing wildly. Both men shoot each other at about the same time, and we (and young Wyatt) are treated to the sight of one of them bleeding out from a shot to the crotch while a horse that caught a stray bullet screams in pain until it's put down.
- Sibling Team: The Earp brothers fight crime together.
- Stress Vomit: The young Wyatt vomits when he sees a gunfight for the first time.
- Team Power Walk: The Earps and Doc Holliday heading to O.K. Corral to face the Cowboys. This is, by the by what really happened.
- Torches and Pitchforks: An angry mob wants to lynch Tommy Behind-The-Deuce and goes to the prison where he is jailed.
- Undying Loyalty: Sherman McMaster, who is portrayed as being a Tombstone deputy (which isn't accurate to real-life), remains loyal to the Earps even during the vendetta ride.
- Violence Really Is the Answer: While peacekeepers in Dodge City, Ed Masterson disapproves of Wyatt's preference to Pistol Whip people first and ask questions later, feeling that they could be more effective and civil if they just tried to talk people down first. When he tries to do just that, he's promptly shot and dies in his brother's arms, suggesting that Wyatt's more physical way of keeping the peace was right all along.
- The Western: Set in The Wild West in the late 19th century.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened to Mattie after Wyatt leaves her is not shown.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Wyatt gets this both from Mattie as their marriage deteriorates, and from Virgil's wife Allie who rips into Wyatt for leading the Earp family into a bad situation in Tombstone.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: In the end, captions inform us about the fate of the main characters after the events of the film.
- Young Gun: Wyatt Earp in the beginning: he dreams of becoming a soldier and fighting in the Union Army. Later, Morgan Earp, who looks up to Wyatt as a mentor figure. In the end, Warren Earp shows up in Tombstone and wants to fight the "Cowboy" gang.
