Who Played Western Icon Wyatt Earp Best?

In 1993-1994, popular Hollywood movie stars Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner portrayed versions of real-life lawman Wyatt Earp six months apart from each other. Russell did so in the acclaimed ensemble Western movie Tombstone, while Costner played the title character in Lawrence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp. Commercially and critically speaking, Tombstone left Wyatt Earp in the dust, with the former earning $56 million worldwide and the latter grossing $25 million (via Box Office Mojo).

While Tombstone also received better critical marks (73% vs 31% on Rotten Tomatoes), the real question is whether Russell or Costner excelled more in their portrayal of Wyatt Earp. After all, Val Kilmer’s performance as Doc Holiday in Tombstone steals thunder from Russell’s compelling turn. Meanwhile, Costner dominates nearly every frame in the second half as the title character in Wyatt Earp. While not quite a 1:1 comparison, a closer comparison between Russell and Costner’s versions of Wyatt Earp will clarify which actor better brought the notorious lawman to life.

Who Is Wyatt Earp?

Before comparing the two actors’ portrayals of Wyatt Earp, an introduction to the real-life lawman is in order. Born in Illinois in 1848, Wyatt Earp headed out west and built a reputation as a gambling law enforcer in Dodge City, Kansas, Deadwood, South Dakota, and Tombstone, Arizona. Known for his involvement in the infamous Shootout at the O.K. Corral in 1881, Earp’s legend grew under the shadow of his brother, Virgil Earp, who served as a Deputy U.S. Marshall and Tombstone City Marshall.

While pursuing an outlaw in Texas in 1878, Earp met John “Doc” Holiday, a gunslinging gambler who became Earp’s closest friend. Although Holiday famously contracted tuberculosis, Earp claims that Holiday saved his life shortly after meeting in Texas. Their relationship is explored in Tombstone and Wyatt Earp, although the former has been hailed as more historically accurate. Earp’s siblings are also included in both films, as is Earp’s longstanding rival with the Clanton and McLaury brothers. Yet, while both movies cover similar territory, only one actor reigns supreme as Wyatt Earp.

What Is Tombstone About?

Wasting little time, the Tombstone story begins in 1879 in Mexico. A criminal “Cowboy” named Curly Bill (Powers Booth) leads a wedding massacre of several police officers. Wyatt Earp (Russell), a retired lawman, joins his brothers Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) and settles in Tombstone, Arizona. In town, Wyatt reunites with his old pal Doc Holliday (Kilmer), whose tuberculosis symptoms have worsened.

Wyatt’s common-law wife, Mattie Blaylock (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson), has become addicted to opium, causing him great dismay. Meanwhile, Wyatt and his brothers earn money by claiming a stake in the local saloon and gambling hall. Fred White (Harry Carey Jr.) is killed by Curly Bill, leaving Tombstone without a Marshall. Wyatt arrests Bill for the crime, prompting a vengeful response from notorious outlaws Ike Clanton (Stephen Lang), Billy Clanton (Thomas Haden Church), and the other Cowboys. When Curly Bill is acquitted in court due to a lack of witnesses, Virgil appoints himself as the new Marshall and installs a weapons ban.

The weapons ban incites the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which serves as the primary climactic action set piece in Tombstone. It allows Russell to act with heroic bravery as he excels in the gunfight. It also enables Russell to emote with heartfelt pathos when Morgan is murdered and Virgil is gravely wounded. Before detailing Russell’s most effective moments as Wyatt Earp in Tombstone, looking at Costner in Wyatt Earp will help differentiate the two performances.

What Is Wyatt Earp About?

Written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, Wyatt Earp is more of a cradle-to-grave biopic that encompasses the title character’s entire life. Ian Bohen plays the teenage version of the character during the movie’s Civil War years, with Costner playing the adult version in the Western epic. Whereas Tombstone throws viewers into the intense action in Arizona and demonstrates how great Wyatt Earp is as a gunfighting lawman, Wyatt Earp is more of an origin story that meanders through the character’s life with an unfocused, over-stuffed runtime.

It would be one thing if Costner played the parts of Earp’s story that were not included in Tombstone. Yet, when comparing the two performances, Wyatt Earp feels like a bloated rehash of Tombstone‘s best and most exhilarating moments. For instance, Costner’s performance as Earp doesn’t pick up steam until he meets Mattie Blaylock (Mare Winningham), encounters Doc Holliday (Dennis Quaid), chases Dave Rudabaugh through Texas, incites the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and fights against the Clantons (Jeff Fahey and Gabriel Folse) and McLaurys (Rex Linn and Adam Baldwin), events handled with much more dramatic intensity in Tombstone.

Even the supporting Earp siblings, James (David Andrews), Morgan (Linden Ashby), and Virgil (Michael Madsen) feel repetitive compared to Tombstone, with Costner’s passable performance unable to elevate the material. Not even the great Gene Hackman as Earp’s father, Nicholas Earp, can rescue what feels like a long and laborious chore to sit through. Leading American film critic Roger Ebert recognized this in 1994, writing in his Wyatt Earp review:

“Wyatt Earp
plays as if they took
Tombstone
and pumped it full of hot air. It involves many of the same characters and much of the same story, but little of the tension and drama. It’s a rambling, unfocused biography of Wyatt Earp (Kevin Costner), starting when he’s a kid and following his development from an awkward would-be lawyer into a slick gunslinger. This is a long journey, in a three-hour film that needs better pacing.”

Yet, while the case for Tombstone as the superior movie has been made, Russell and Costner’s performance in each film bears closer scrutiny.

Who Played Wyatt Earp Better: Russell or Costner?

Although Val Kilmer has been praised the most for his showy turn in Tombstone, Kurt Russell is the heart and soul of the film. As the moral compass tasked with guiding viewers through a lawless morass of crime and violent bloodshed, there’s an underlying decency radiating from Russell’s performance. He not only conveys the upstanding virtues of a peace officer, but the torment he feels about his wife’s addiction and brother’s death is genuinely palpable. Moreover, with Tombstone being released six months before Wyatt Earp, the events depicted in both films feel fresher in the former, including Russell’s performance.

In terms of the intense action that the real-life Earp is known for, Russell is also given much more to do in Tombstone than Costner is in Wyatt Earp. Beyond the gallant heroism shown in O.K. Corral, the posse that Earp rounds up in Tombstone ahead of the final climax allows Russell more time to shine. After declaring himself the new Tombstone Marshall, Earp recruits a ragtag band of gunslingers but is soon ambushed by Curly Bill’s men. A harrowing shootout ensues, leading to Earp killing Curly Bill and avenging Morgan’s death. When Bill’s successor summons Earp to a last showdown, he pays a touching tribute to his friend Doc Holiday by heeding his relationship advice. Tough yet tender at once, Russell paints Earp with the full range of colors.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Kevin Costner. Due to the timing of Wyatt Earp‘s release and the repetitive material, Costner’s portrayal of Earp feels like a hollow mirror image of Russell’s. A mirage. Too much time is spent exploring Earp’s childhood and early days as a teenager and not enough is given to Costner’s adult portrayal. When Costner shines in his performance, it’s often in events already depicted in Tombstone, thereby weakening the effect. Moreover, despite playing a real-life figure from the Wild West, Costner’s version of Earp does not feel too dissimilar from his many Western movie performances, be it Kasdan’s Silverado, Dances with Wolves, Open Range, Hatfields & McCoys, Yellowstone, Horizon, etc.

By contrast, Russell’s performance as Earp in Tombstone could not be more different than his performances in Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist western The Hateful Eight and the horror western Bone Tomahawk, in which he also plays a powerful law enforcer. While that has little bearing on Tombstone or Wyatt Earp, Russell told GQ in 2024 that he deliberately approached Costner and Kasdan to discuss each actor appearing in the other’s Wyatt Earp movie. The idea was for Russell to kill Costner in Tombstone and Costner to kill Russell in Wyatt Earp. Russell became so upset when Kasdan callously dismissed the idea and declared: “I’m gonna take you on, full force, full-frontal nudity. Let’s go. You’re now going to run into Wyatt Earp.”

Instead, Wyatt Earp ran into Tombstone six months after its release and was comparatively clobbered critically and commercially. Superior films don’t always feature superior performances. Yet in the case of Tombstone, despite being an ensemble, Russell is more compelling and convincing as Wyatt Earp than Costner is as the main character in the titular biopic.

Stream Tombstone on Hulu and rent Wyatt Earp on Apple TV.