Question: In the opening sequence, a tiered waterfall is shown with water spouting from the top tier. Were there electricity or water pumps for these tiered waterfalls available then?
Question: What did Doc mean when he said "It's not revenge he's after. It's the reckoning"?
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.
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.
Question: What is the name of the theatrical song in the Faust play, and who is the original composer and symphony?
Answer: Danse macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns.
Question: Whatever happened to Morgan's wife and Kate? They are never mentioned by the narrator at the end of the movie.
Answer: Morgan's wife, Louisa "Lou" Earp accompanied Morgan to be buried in California. She remarried Gustav Peters in December of 1885 and died in 1894, at the age of 36, in Los Angeles. Kate "Big Nose Kate" Haroney is thought to have spent time with Doc Holliday during his time in Colorado until his death in 1887. Afterwards, she married a man and moved to a town near Tombstone until she left him for another man. She lived with the other man until his death in 1930 doing odd jobs in hotels and for the railroad. She died in the Pioneer's Home in Arizona in 1940 just a few days before her 90th birthday.
Question: When Doc and Ringo meet at the location by the trees, and have a showdown, Doc shoots Ringo then says to him, "Come on, come on!" What was that all about?
Chosen answer: It's a sadistic challenge to Ringo, because Holliday's shot was so precise and the fight was over too soon.
Answer: Doc already viewed himself as a dead man, with nothing left to lose and believed that he was destined to 'die with his boots on'. I believe this was a challenge to Ringo to come ahead and kill him.
Answer: Doc was encouraging Ringo to breathe in order to prolong the glory of his victory.
Answer: Ringo wanted the Earp's and Doc spitting blood...Doc was urging Ringo to do the same.
Answer: There was much speculation at the time that Ringo died from a self inflicted wound. That scene was staged to show how he could have been shot by Doc but still end up in a position that it might look like suicide to those to found him. The urging him to walk forward was part of that.
Question: I was wondering if anyone knows why the movie didn't follow the script? I read it and most of the lines are in the movie, but out of order. It seems if the movie followed the scripts it would have made much more sense.
Answer: Scripts generally have many, many versions before a final shooting script is produced, and even then, changes can be made during filming, and editing can also alter things.
Question: I have two questions. Firstly, who shot Virgil and Morgan. I'm guessing it was the Mexican speaking guy from the opening who we saw hiding during the whole scene, but I'm not sure. And secondly, why did Wyatt pick up McMasters' red sash? Was there a reason?
Answer: Since we never see the shooter's face, it is left open to speculation as to who shot them both. Wyatt picked up McMasters' red sash because he realized that McMasters was serious about leaving the cowboys.
Answer: When Wyatt picked up the red sash, it was then that he decided anyone who wears a red sash is marked; marked for a reckoning that would soon come.
Maybe that was also the moment that Wyatt realised that the "Cowboys" could actually be broken and ended permanently?
Question: Does anyone speak Latin? If so, can anyone translate what Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo were saying to each other at the Oriental?
Answer: A translation can be found here: https://web.archive.org/web/20100414083924/http://www.dacc.cc.il.us/~jeff/tombstone-latin.html.
Question: In the film, at the theater house, everyone was watching "Faust or the Devil's Bargain." What was the deal that Faust made with the devil?
Answer: 1. To serve Dr. Faustus for as long as he should live, 2. To provide Dr. Faustus with whatever information he might request, 3. Never to utter an untruth to Dr. Faustus. The Devil agreed to these particulars, on the condition that Dr. Faustus would promise that after twenty-four years to surrender his body and soul to the Devil, to confirm the pact with a signature written in his own blood, and to renounce his Christian faith.
Question: In the Vista Director's Cut version, inside the jacket where disc one goes, there is a picture of Josie and Wyatt at the creekside after their ride together, where Wyatt is on his knees hugging Josie's legs, while she is looking down on him and holding his shoulders. Where is this in the film? Or, what is the dialogue?
Chosen answer: It's not in the movie anywhere. Many times when a disc is released, there will be a photo shoot for the jacket and inserts. They will often dress in the clothes, however they are not stills from the movie itself.
Question: In the scenes when McMasters' body is dropped, the Cowboy says to meet Ringo at 7 o'clock. It was light out. Then they show Ringo and it is dark. Then when Wyatt talks to Doc at Hooker's ranch it appears the sun is rising. Then just before the showdown between Doc and Ringo it appears that the sun is up. It seems more than 12 hours passed. Did 7 o'clock mean 7am?
Answer: Yes, the showdown was meant to have taken place at 7am the next day.
Question: Why would Ike Clanton, who is cowardly when he's unarmed, outnumbered and/or has a gun pointed at him, be allowed to be in the cowboys? Considering the others are fearless even in the face of danger, they should never have let him in.
Answer: Anyone could join the Cowboys if they followed their code of conduct. Ike's brother was a member and there's no reason for him not to be. It's not like it was the Marines who require an ounce of common sense. The Cowboys were hooligans, Ike being one of the dumbest.
Question: What were Doc Holiday's last words?
Answer: "This is funny." It's rumored he said that when he saw his bare feet. He thought he would die with his boots on.
Question: If my memory is correct, when I first saw Tombstone on cinemax in 1997, Josephine (Dana Delaney) was nude in one scene with Kurt. Now in 2017 I bought a director's cut DVD, but that scene is gone. Also, I seem to recall Wyatt shooting people out to get his family on the train leaving Tombstone, but that is gone too from DVD. Why the difference? And how can I see these again?
Answer: I believe those scenes are in the Kevin Costner version of Wyatt Earp.
In the true to life account of Wyatt and Josie it is said that when the fight at OK Corral begins, Josie is actually having nude pictures (tin types) taken (or is taking them herself). In the movie she is depicted in a robe while taking a picture. She was quite risqué for the times. Probably why Wyatt found her so exciting.
Question: Did Kate ever genuinely care about Doc? While standing out on the balcony and listening to the doctor, she doesn't show much concern. But, when the doctor tells Doc that he should give up his gambling, drinking, and smoking, Kate looks upset.
Answer: She did, but she knew he was dying. Doc was surviving on sheer willpower to stay alive. The drinking and gambling are his reasons for getting out of bed.
Question: Who was the hooded person who shot at the women with the shotgun?
Answer: Florentino, the Mexican member of the Cowboys played by Paul Ben-Victor. Earlier a brief close up of him is seen as he is stalking the Earps and, though only seen briefly as he shoots at the women, his mustache is quite easily recognizable if you pause the movie.
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.
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