Hollywood is filled with underrated gems that only get better with time, and Val Kilmer’s 1993 Western, Tombstone, is one of them. It’s gritty, highly quotable, and somehow still manages to fly under the radar when people talk about great Westerns, despite the positive reviews. Directed by George P. Cosmatos, Tombstone is the kind of film that deserves every bit of praise it gets, and Tom Cruise seems to agree.
A full-blown cinematic phenomenon in himself, it is safe to say that Tom Cruise knows a thing or two about deserving films. After all, the man who gave us characters like Maverick and Jerry Maguire is someone whose opinion we hold in high regard. Here’s what he has said about Tombstone.
Tom Cruise’s favorite underrated movie is one of Val Kilmer’s best
All the way back in 2008, Tom Cruise appeared on CBC’s The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos to discuss his film Valkyrie, among others. During the conversation, the host-guest duo took part in a two-minute-long rapid-fire where Cruise laid his cinematic opinions bare.
When Stroumboulopoulos asked him to name the “Best underrated movie” ever, Cruise had a few options lined up – Seven Days in May (1964) and, of course, Tombstone.
The Mission: Impossible actor said,
Yeah, it’s hard to say best there has been so many…I think that…’Tombstone’, great film, very cool movie.
Tombstone is a badass, guns-blazing Western that follows the legendary Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell), whose plans for retirement are put on hold thanks to the town being terrorized by a bunch of outlaws – the Cowboys. He is joined by his ride-or-die, the endlessly cool and quotable Doc Holliday, played to perfection by Val Kilmer.
Val Kilmer almost didn’t play Doc Holliday
With a rocky production and confusion about its actual director, Tombstone eventually went on to be regarded as one of the best in the genre and the ultimate cult classic. We’d like to believe that Kilmer had a huge hand in the film’s success.
After watching the iconic performance, it is practically impossible for us to imagine another actor saying, “I’m your huckleberry”, but there was a time when Kilmer wasn’t a part of the hit ensemble.
Before the Batman Forever actor was cast in the role, it was actually Willem Dafoe who was supposed to bring Doc Holliday to life. That’s right. The man behind Green Goblin was the producers’ first choice, not Kilmer (via CBR).
So, what changed? Well, no studio was ready to say yes to the price tag that came with the film, except Buena Vista Pictures (now known as Walt Disney Studios), and they had their conditions. For starters, they wanted star power so strong that people would flock to the theaters and bring in some serious money. Unfortunately, Dafoe wasn’t the man for this yet.
By then, Dafoe had been in plenty of films, including Roadhouse 66 (1985) and White Sands (1992), but he apparently wasn’t a household name.
Moreover, Dafoe had starred in Martin Scorsese’s very controversial The Last Temptation of Christ just five years before, and Buena Vista wasn’t ready to sign up for more controversy by hiring Dafoe. Ultimately, Kilmer was chosen, and let’s just say that he was the right choice! His passing is a huge loss for the industry.
Tombstone is available to watch on Hulu.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
