Michael Biehn Talks “Tombstone”
Movieweb recently posted a nice little interview with Michael Biehn who spoke about the making of Tombstone. Biehn provides a wealth of behind-the-scenes information and more. Here are a few tidbits:
I think Unforgiven is the best Western ever made. That is my feeling. You can go back to films like Shane. That, to me, is a great Western. Maybe things like The Outlaw Josey Wales, and a few others. But for me, Unforgiven is the greatest film that was ever made. Our film was more pop oriented.
Tombstone was such a good movie because it had a great script by Kevin Jarre. It had great characters. And it had great actors to play them. Kurt was great. I don’t think Val has been better in any other movie. It’s his greatest performance. You have Sam Elliott, you have Bill Paxton, you have Powers Boothe, you have Thomas Haden Church. You’ve got Jason Priestley and Billy Zane. Billy Bob Thornton and Frank Stallone. Everywhere you look, there is a new face that pops up. They are a celebrity, but they fit into this world.
I give Kurt Russell a lot of credit for managing everybody’s egos. And making the right decisions on what needed to be cut and what didn’t need to be cut.
The interview covers a lot more ground including why the original director was fired, lost Tombstone footage, and why Biehn won’t work with Bill Paxton on a certain project. You can read the full interview right here.