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)
Tombstone (1993)
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Directed by: George P. Cosmatos
Starring: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Bill Paxton, Charlton Heston, Sam Elliott, Michael Biehn, Powers Boothe, Dana Delany, Jason Priestley
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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.
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.
Johnny Ringo: My fight's not with you, Holliday.
Doc Holliday: I beg to differ, sir. We started a game we never got to finish. "Play for Blood," remember?
Johnny Ringo: Oh that. I was just foolin' about.
Doc Holliday: I wasn't.
Trivia: The expression "I'm your huckleberry" spoken by Doc means "I'm the perfect man for the job." It is not a reference to Mark Twain's Huck Finn, as that book was published in 1885 and this movie takes place in 1881.
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-Saƫns.
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