Tombstone

Corrected entry: Opening scene at the train station the water tank shows elevation 2650 ft, written on it. Needless to say they had no idea of such thing back then.

Correction: Not "needless to say" at all. The height of Everest was calculated in 1856, accurate to 0.01%. The Greeks used basic trigonometry to measure the height of tall buildings.

Corrected entry: In one scene when Wyatt Earp is crying out in the middle of town and it's raining, around Wyatt, the street is soaked and puddled with pouring rain, a few feet further up the street is clearly still hard-packed dirt where the sprinklers stop - you can even see exactly where the "rain" ends.

Correction: This actually happens in Arizona. I was down in tombstone and it happened where you can see where rain stops and starts - it's pretty neat.

No that's just bad direction.

John Caiola

Correction: I've had it raining at my house and the neighbors is dry.

Steve Kozak

Corrected entry: At the beginning of the movie, when The Cowboys kill the bride and groom and groomsmen, they shoot and kill all of the groomsmen. If you look closely at one who has been shot at least twice, (he starts out on his side then gets kicked on to his back by one of the other actors a few seconds later) you can see him breathing.

Correction: Just because you are shot twice, you may not die instantly. He was mortally wounded and still breathing at the time. No mistake.

MovieFan612

Corrected entry: After Doc stabs Ed Bailey and he and Kate are exiting the saloon, he is holding his cigarette in his left hand down by his hip when he is moving through the doorway. Yet when the scene cuts to him stepping onto the boardwalk, he has the cigarette to his lips in his right hand.

MovieFan612

Correction: Not correct. In fact Doc has the cigarette in his right hand as he approaches the door to leave, turns and puts the cigarette in his mouth with his right hand collects the money from the table,puts the smoke in his mouth to tip his hat to them and then takes the cigarette out of his mouth with his right hand and walks through the door holding the smoke in his right hand which the camera picks up outside where he takes it out with his right hand to kiss his partner.

Corrected entry: During the gun fight that precedes Wyatt Earp killing Curly Bill in the river, one of the gun fighters is seen reloading his shotgun. The shells he pulls out are red plastic with brass collars. They didn't have plastic then, the shells were all brass.

Correction: Some shells back then were very thick paper on brass. They were cheaper and couldn't be reloaded.

Grumpy Scot

Corrected entry: Wyatt did not meet Josephine Marcus after she came to town for a show at the Birdcage Theater. It opened in December 1881, a few months after the gunfight at the OK corral, which occurred in an alley near the corral but not in it.

Correction: This is not a documentary. This is a movie based on the events that happened. Therefore since it's not a documentary, they can make any changes to events they want.

lartaker1975

Corrected entry: In the early scene where Wyatt slaps Johnny Tyler, in one shot, his entire bottom lip is drenched in blood. In the next shot, there are two small blood droplets on his bottom lip.

Rexxman

Correction: We see Tyler wipe his mouth on his handkerchief.

MovieFan612

Corrected entry: In the scene where the Earps are playing pool and the mayor is trying to get them involved, Virgil is wearing a sidearm. The following scene when he exits the billiard hall and cowboys are shooting up the street, he reaches to his hip for his gun but it's not there.

Correction: Virgil's pistol was on his left hip because he was playing pool with his right (dominant) arm. Outside he reaches instinctively for his gun which would usually be on his right hip, as a reflexive action when he hears gunfire. You will see when he picks up the boy that the gun is still on his left hip.

MovieFan612

Corrected entry: After Morgan is killed, the Earps leave Tombstone with Wyatt driving a flat wagon carrying Morgan's body and Virgil driving the covered wagon with the women. In the next scene, as they cross the prairie headed for the train station, only the covered wagon appears with a man (most likely Wyatt) riding a black horse in front of it. The other wagon is nowhere to be seen.

Correction: Morgan's body was taken by wagon to the nearest railhead (in Benson) and was sent to his parents in Colton, California, where he was buried. Virgil and his wife continued on to Tucson - this is where we see only the covered wagon and Wyatt.

MovieFan612

Corrected entry: When the Earps are in the Oriental discussing Curly Bill's acquittal, Wyatt relates that Judge Spicer said, "Without witnesses, you can't have a murder." But there were witnesses - Josie and Behan both were shown as eyewitnesses.

Brenda Elzin

Correction: If they were not willing to testify in court, then there would be no witnesses before the judge, and none according to the law.

Twotall

That shooting had zero witnesses. It took place behind a place off Allen street. Nobody would have seen it.

John Caiola

In real life, the shooting took place in an alley. In this movie, it is in the middle of the street, where Josie and Behan are present.

Twotall

Corrected entry: After Wyatt obtains his 25% stake from the Oriental, he is seen walking over to his brothers and putting his cigar in his mouth. The camera angle changes and he is now seen putting his arms around his brothers shoulder's and the cigar is now in his left hand. (00:21:40)

MCKD

Correction: With the cigar in his left hand, Wyatt takes a drag as he descends the steps of the Oriental and is approaching his brothers from behind. When he reaches them, the cigar is correctly in his left hand when he touches Morgan on his shoulder.

Brenda Elzin

Corrected entry: When Wyatt's younger brother tells Doc that they have a stake in the Oriental, he is seen putting his cigar in his mouth. The camera angle changes and the cigar is now seen back in his hands.

MCKD

Correction: Morgan actually tells Doc they've acquired a Faro game (he doesn't say where). Also, the cigar is unlit and it is common to put an unlit cigar in your teeth and remove it (which he does while the camera is focused on Doc), whether because he was simply chewing the end or whether he realized it was unlit.

Brenda Elzin

Corrected entry: During the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Ike Clanton is seen running into a store, grabbing the sheriff's gun, and then breaking the window and window frame so he could shoot at the Earp's and Doc Holliday. When the camera angle changes you see the window frame intact and when the camera angle changes again the frame is broken again. (01:15:35)

MCKD

Correction: The panes of glass (of which there are many) are broken throughout the fight and none of them are "restored" at any point in this sequence.

Brenda Elzin

Corrected entry: During the scene in which the boy pretends to shoot the Earps and Doc Holiday as they walk to the OK Corral, the first camera shot shows that the ground is completely dry. The shot changes and there is a large puddle of water close to Wyatt. (01:00:10)

Correction: There is no "large puddle of water". There is a patch of ground that is slightly more damp than the surrounding area.

Brenda Elzin

Corrected entry: After the shootout at the OK Corral, there's a shot of a bell tolling. But the sound of the tolls is out of sync with the movement of the bell.

Krista

Correction: If you've ever actually watched a large bell tolling, you would see that the sound resonates while the bell is swinging back the other way. So, there is no audio mistake here.

Brenda Elzin

Corrected entry: In the scene toward the end of the shootout at the O. K. Corral, Texas Jack and Creek Johnson are shown walking over a large video or sound dish used by the crew as they back into the street. Wyatt then joins Doc to walk away.

Correction: It's a hatbox, on its edge. It's not a piece of movie equipment.

Brenda Elzin

Corrected entry: During the end credits, we are shown the Earps and Holliday walking down the streets of Tombstone. They are all wearing coats in the long shot, but in the first close-up of Virgil his coat is missing. You can see the tip of his shoulder and he is wearing just a white shirt and a vest.

Twotall

Correction: It's sunlight, not a white shirt. The shadow from his hat only goes so wide. You're seeing the sunlight.

Brenda Elzin

Corrected entry: In the scene where Virgil Earp hits Ike Clanton on the head with his pistol (following Ike Clanton accusing Doc Holliday of cheating), Ike gets his guns from the barkeep. But earlier in the film when the brothers first become lawmen, they make the rule that no one can carry guns in town. They are supposed to turn their guns over to the marshal upon entering town, not the barkeep.

Correction: The Ordnance doesn't specifically limit surrendering the guns to the marshals. It was common practice to place guns in the custody of the bartenders, especially since the marshals were not usually in their office/jailhouse the majority of the time.

Brenda Elzin

Corrected entry: When Curly Bell shoots the marshal he is seen with his gun in his right hand, Wyatt is then seen hitting him over the head and as he falls to the ground the gun is nowhere to be seen.

MCKD

Correction: There is a gun at the Marshall's feet (the one Curly Bill held in his left hand) and Bill is still holding a pistol in his right hand when Wyatt cold-cocks him and he falls onto his right side. Then Behan steps in and crouches over the Marshall and obscures the gun from our sight.

Brenda Elzin

Corrected entry: In the scene where Curly Bill is outside shooting in the air, marshal Fred White goes outside to try to disarm him. Immediately after Curly Bill shoots Fred White, the wire triggering the blood to spurt out of his shirt is quite obvious coming out the lower portion of his left leg (you can see the wire and the pant leg stand out from his body).

Correction: No, there is no such wire. I've watched this in slow-motion and zoomed in on the actor's leg. The pant leg is wide, but there is no wire. The device is strapped to his chest, not his leg, and is operated by a remote control. There is no mistake here.

Brenda Elzin

Factual error: During the gunfight in the lot behind the OK Corral, Tom McLaury is firing a six shooter at Doc just before Doc fires his shotgun in the air to scare Tom's horse away. The mistake is that Tom McLaury wasn't armed during the actual gunfight. He was shot by Doc while he was reaching for the rifle he had stored in his saddle. (01:14:58)

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Suggested correction: The events have been intentionally adjusted by the filmmakers to create a coherent and entertaining movie. It is not a documentary. This film is loosely based on true events; it's not a day-to-day account of the events of 1880 through 1882. Artistic license does not constitute a movie mistake.

Brenda Elzin

Changing facts in historical material does constitute factual mistakes, whether anybody wants to call them that or not.

It really depends on the degree to which the film-maker alters the facts, and whether that alteration is glaring or changes the story line. For most, it doesn't. Tom got shot and Doc shot him. There is an implicit duty of the audience to "suspend disbelief" - an acknowledgment that it is impossible to get every small detail correct.

How does changing the facts make it a good movie? I guess it might entertain those who know nothing about the facts. But for those who have studied and read up on things, going way out of the story does little in making a good story. That is why I like "Wyatt Earp" MUCH more than "Tombstone." No, "Wyatt Earp" is not a documentary. It, too, has altered some facts. But, to me, it is much closer to the truth. Even some of the dialog is from the Tombstone Epitaphs reporting of the incident.

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Trivia: Val Kilmer is widely believed to be the most historically accurate portrayal of Doc Holliday. He is the same height, same build, and uses phrases used by Doc Holliday (eg "I'm your huckleberry" and "You're a daisy if you do").

Vin15Nets

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Suggested correction: But Hucleberry Finn appeared in Tom Sawyer in 1876 and was a bad influence on, or "made trouble' for Tom.

Not sure what this correction is trying to state, but "I'm you're Huckleberry" was slang in the late 1800's for "I'm your man" and didn't derive from Twain or Huck Finn. Twain uses the earlier slang meaning of huckleberry for Finn, meaning an inconsequential person, to establish Finn is a boy of lower extraction or degree than Tom Sawyer.

Bishop73

More trivia for Tombstone

Chosen answer: A reckoning is like a judgment day, exacting retribution for one's actions. Doc was very well educated and had a very large vocabulary. He was correctly pointing out the subtle difference between revenge (to make Wyatt feel better about losing Morgan and about Virgil's crippling injury) and the fact that Wyatt was bringing about a judgment day (or reckoning) for each of the men who hurt his family.

MovieFan612

Answer: I've spent a lot of time thinking about this very question, and here's what I've come up with. I think there are at least two differences between revenge and a reckoning. First, I think it has to do with the scale of the response to an offending action. Revenge, in my mind, is an eye for an eye, i.e, "You killed my brother and wounded another, so I will inflict the same action on your family (or group, gang, whatever). " A reckoning is less a measured response to an offending action and more of a full-scale punishment, i.e, "You killed my brother and wounded another, so I will now slaughter your entire family-including those who were not directly responsible for the offending action." Second, I think there is also a difference in motivation. Revenge tends to be a very personal response to something, whereas a reckoning tends to be more of a response fueled by a need for justice. In Wyatt's case, it was both. He was enraged by what happened to his family, but was also a lawman.

Franklin Vaughn

Thank you for this response! I've only seen Tombstone a million times and asked the same question every time. It's hard to separate the difference between the two but I believe you nailed it. Well done.

I'm thinking the opposite in terms. Revenge is "Reflexive" and is generally any means necessary (out of an abundance of pain or rage) to hurt the other party. "Revenge is a dish best served cold." If one is exacting justice there's no need to be cold hearted. Therefore, Reckoning is (to me) a fair balancing of the "scales" hence "an eye for an eye." Not only consequences of actions as it were but a corrective action to an incorrect circumstance. Just my understanding.

The problem with that theory is there is no difference in the end because the end result was the same...the killing. True reckoning could have only been achieved though the apprehension and punishment by trial and jury, anything other than that is simply revenge.

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