Regie:
Lawrence KasdanKamera:
Owen RoizmanMusik:
James Newton HowardBesetzung:
Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, David Andrews, Linden Ashby, Jeff Fahey, Joanna Going, Mark Harmon, Michael Madsen, Catherine O'Hara (mehr)Inhalte(1)
Geht es nach dem Willen seines Vaters Nicholas (Gene Hackman), soll Wyatt Earp (Kevin Costner) eines Tages in seine Fußstapfen treten und Friedensrichter in Arkansas werden. Wyatt versucht auch den Ansprüchen seines strengen Vaters gerecht zu werden und beginnt seine Karriere als Polizeibeamter. Als er seine langjährige Freundin Urilla heiratet, ist für Wyatt das Glück perfekt. Doch dann stirbt Urilla unerwartet an einer Krankheit. Ein schwerer Schicksalsschlag für Wyatt, der kurz darauf zum Landstreicher wird. Als Pferdedieb verurteilt, kann ihn sein Vater gerade noch vor der Hinrichtung bewahren. Aber Wyatt findet weiterhin keinen Halt im Leben. Den Unterhalt verdient er sich als Büffeljäger und Glücksspieler. Wyatts Geschick im Umgang mit Revolver und Gewehr verschafft ihm schließlich die Stelle als Sheriff von Dodge City. Wyatt erweist sich als gnadenloser Gesetzeshüter, was die Bürger der kleinen Grenzstadt gegen ihn aufbringt. Er muss Dodge City verlassen, sein Freund Ed wird zum neuen Sheriff ernannt. Wenig später lernt Wyatt den schießwütigen Abenteurer Doc Holliday (Dennis Quaid) kennen. Nachdem er erfährt, dass Ed ermordet wurde, schwört Wyatt, sich an den Tätern zu rächen. (ServusTV)
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Bis auf die langwierige letzte halbe Stunde ist Wyatt Earp - Das Leben einer Legende ein sehr solider Western mit allem, was dieses Genre haben soll. Kevin Costner ist als Earp gut, die melodramatische Ebene von Earps Gefühlen wird dezent mit den dramatischen Schicksalen seiner Sheriff-Karriere kombiniert. Warum hatte der Film keinen kommerziellen Erfolg? Weil es kein Popcorn-Film wie Tombstone ist?
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An epic western that doesn't lack any of the attributes needed for this genre, but is very tedious in places. The big surprise for me is the infirm and emaciated gunslinger in a riveting performance by Denis Quaid. Costner with a wig as a young man looks a bit out of place, but otherwise he's pretty OK. It wasn’t a second Dances with Wolves, Wyatt Erp was a commercial flop, but I think it's undeserved.
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Too simple of a film considering its runnng time, focusing too much on the main character at the expense of everything and everyone else. The story revolves around him, with the other characters just floating about and occasionally adding something. The action is fairly decent, but there's not enough of it, and it sometimes felt like it was forcefully inserted just to wake up the audience, who most likely can't help but doze off. Interesting cast, a well-developed main character (emotions, losses, successes), and solid atmospheric music. There really isn't much else to it.
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Wyatt Earp reminded me of one of the stories by my favorite Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock - "The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones". Poor Melpomenus was a well-mannered and likable young man who had the flaw of being influenced by his surroundings and being too truthful. He couldn't explain to his hosts that he had to leave, and unfortunately, he took their hypocritical pleas for him to stay too seriously, until he eventually collapsed and died during his endless stay with acquaintances. Lawrence Kasdan may have also been too influenced by his surroundings, and whenever he started thinking about ending the film, the actors and the entire crew persuaded him not to cut off the promising project when everyone was getting paid and having a good time. Unfortunately, the one who is not having a good time is the viewer who has to consume over 3 hours of runtime. The film's storytelling is lacking and, despite my best efforts, I can't find a reason why the film shouldn't be significantly shorter. Even worse, when I imagine the film having a reasonable runtime of 90-100 minutes, I still wouldn't feel the need to give it more than 3 stars, even though it would be a very solid 3 stars. In its current form, however, I have to rate it even lower. Most of all, the film can be described as tedious. Wyatt Earp is neither a classic adventure film full of predictable genre clichés nor a serious biopic. It is something in between and, honestly, in my opinion, it doesn't satisfy any part of the audience. The relatively solid rating it has is more due to the fact that Kasdan, no matter how we view his megalomania, maintained a solid level of craftsmanship - the film is simply not bad and tempts reviewers to overrate in that they don't want to bring it down. The mixed reviews of the film marked the beginning of the end of Kevin Costner's star period, which was propelled upwards primarily by the phenomenal success of Dances with Wolves. Overall impression: 45%.
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