User Reviews

Even as I'm still going through this one I'm sold. Of course although the Kurt Russell "Tombstone" is the epic fictional treatment, this "documentary" fills in the story, the surrounding events both here and abroad, and the fallout through years later.

Many of the minute details of what happened initially in Tombstone are either copied from the movie, or - if independently sourced (I don't know which) - confirm the movie's details. Specifically the gunfight as it was staged and how it unfolded. A nice ironic touch is that the actor who plays Wyatt bears a slight resemblance - around the eyes - to Michael Biehn, who was Johnny Ringo in the movie.

Our family has a been a part of Tombstone for 7 decades. As many times as we've walked the boardwalk of Allen street, dozens of visits to the OK Corral, the recreations, visiting the Tombstone Epitaph...we thought we knew the story.

After watching this beautifully produced and narrated series, we really know the story. The context, connections to the globe.

JP Morgan, trans-Atlantic telegraph, the Prince of Wales, Rothschild, Civil war debt, President Garfield, Silver Certificates, TB, advancements in Dental and Surgical practices - all are masterfully woven together. Stunning imagery and masterful filming.

I cannot thank the producers enough to doing this story about justice such a great treatment.

Kind of weird, but somehow this series is haunting my thoughts. I'll be going about my business and all of a sudden I'll start thinking about Arizona and Wyatt and what life was back in those days. So bizarre to think that Wyatt Earp lived to see the Roaring 20s, Prohibition, Women's Right to Vote, Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Amazing how he dodged bullet after bullet, too.

When I saw this docudrama listed on Netflix, I thought it was only a series, not some documentary. "Oh. This has been done so many times. Probably nothing new," was my initial reaction. Boy, was I wrong. I learned so much about Earp and Doc Holliday. Things I never ever heard of before. Enlightening, to say the least.

Tim Fellingham and Edward Franklin were awesome in this. And to think ----- as soon as I heard Ed Harris narrating this, I nearly turned it off. I love Harris, but didn't want to watch a documentary. So glad I stuck with it.

Everything about the production is top notch. I recommend this series highly.

I've taken something of a keen interest in the history of Wyatt Earp and the Gunfight at the O. K. Corral for quite some time and have seen quite a few documentaries and movies made concerning the Earps, Doc Holiday and the infamous gunfight. This series by far has a level of detail unparalleled when it comes to events leading up to and following the infamous event, along with a historical perspective regarding some of the events happening in the rest of the country and the world at the time. In particular, I found it fascinating how industrialist J. P. Morgan was woven into the story with his plan to consolidate the railroad system in the country. There's even coverage of President Chester A. Arthur's role in intervening in the aftermath of the Cowboy War that erupted in Tombstone between that faction and the Earps.

Even so, there were discrepancies from the historical narrative that someone familiar with the history of it would find questionable. As detailed as most of the series was, I couldn't help noticing that the name of Billy Claiborne wasn't mentioned as one of the participants in the gunfight on the side of Ike Clanton's cowboy faction. In fact, when the showdown is first examined in Episode #2, there were six participants on the cowboy side when there were only five historically. Along with Ike Clanton, you had his younger brother Billy, Frank and Tom McLaury, and young Billy Claiborne. Later in the same episode, when Ike Clanton (Jack Gordon) relates the event to Sheriff Johnny Behan (Alex Price), the scenario depicted only five men including Clanton against the Earps. That's the way it was also depicted in Episode #3 during Ike's testimony in court as to what happened.

Another thing I found questionable was how specific the narrative was in Episode #2 as to the arrangement of shots fired by the participants. This one had a nervous Billy Clanton firing first to start the gunfight. The 'Deadly Shootouts' TV series stated that Wyatt took the first shot, while the 'Legends and Lies' episode featuring Doc Holiday, perhaps because he was the principal character, had him as the first shooter. Personally, I don't know how anyone could have possibly pinned it down unless they were right there at the time, and it's pretty doubtful that Tombstone's citizens would have been hanging around to see these two factions square off against each other with bullets flying. What I find consistent among most of the treatments of the showdown is that there were approximately thirty shots fired in a span of thirty seconds by both sides. The sequence of who shot who and when in this story is no more likely than a best guess.

On the other hand, I've never come across another documentary to offer the name of the doctor who treated the wounded Virgil and Morgan Earp and Doc Holiday, or the names of the lawyers who represented Wyatt and Ike Clanton in the court trial accusing Wyatt of murder. Virtually every episode details how duplicitous and conniving Ike Clanton was in turning the tide of opinion against the Earps in Tombstone, portraying them as murderers and government men intent on stepping on the rights of ordinary citizens. The emotions of the town seemed to seesaw their way back and forth between respect and hatred for the Earps depending on who was telling the story. In actuality, the Earps did tread a fine line regarding the law in Tombstone, operating almost like a protection racket while overseeing their interests in the town's saloons and prostitution trade.

Overall though, this is probably the best researched coverage of the Gunfight at the O. K. Corral and its aftermath that you'll be able to find, given my few reservations mentioned earlier. I liked actor Tim Fellingham in the role of Wyatt Earp. He reminded me of Timothy Olyphant in the HBO series "Deadwood". Jack Gordon was a perfectly despicable Ike Clanton, while the rest of the cast did a serviceable job. Somewhat humorously, one of the locales selected for the filming of the Tombstone area included a wide expanse of the Monument Vally in Utah, prominent in a bunch of director John Ford's Westerns. Because I was there as recently as last year, I recognized West Mitten Butte, Mitten Butte, and Merrick Butte all visible in more than one scene. Still, those minor distractions shouldn't affect your overall enjoyment of the series.

Hollywood and TV hace told this syory endlessly and always a cleaned up version that never matched the gritty old West of history. This sort of documentary sets the record straight and is far more interesting than anything before. I just wonder about one thing. Wyatt has a long barrell colt known as a Buntline special in this version. Did he really have that ? Some say that gun was never made. Well if you are old enough you remenber the TV series , "Wyatt Earp' . The theme song went "Wyatt Earp,Wyatt Earp, brave coureagous and bold etc.". After seeing this series, After many years, I can finally put that out of mind.

While I found this very entertaining, the timelines sometimes can't be correct. He says that 3 days after the gunfight, Wyatt is arrested for the murders. Now bear in mind, that during this time, (remember, 3 days), Ike Clanton talks to reporters, articles are printed in newspapers around the country. Then the news makes it to England and J. P Morgan sends a telegram to the President of the United States, who in turn wires the governor of Arizona, who then wires Sheriff Behan and wants him to investigate thoroughly. Behan then talks to Ike, then Virgil and comes to a conclusion, then when he finds out about the affair, arrests Wyatt and Doc. All this in 3 days, I don't think so. Again this series is entertaining, and most likely accurate, but certain things don't add up.