NETFLIX’S WYATT EARP AND THE COWBOY WAR GIVES YOU THE REAL STORY

“I’ll be your huckleberry.” … “You tell ’em I’m coming! And Hell’s coming with me!” … You know you’ve said it and thought you were super cool. Maybe you’ve said quotes from the hit 1993 movie Tombstone starring Kurt Russel and Val Kilmer when the situation called for it or just to be funny. Either way the movie is a pop culture fixture in the movie quote field. It’s a great film to just sit and watch because it’s based on real life events and the good and bad guys are clearly defied where you can watch it multiple times and it never seems to get old. The problem is that Hollywood took several liberties with the real story. In 1994 Kevin Costner had his more realistic version Wyatt Earp that never was as successful or embraced and I don’t know anyone quoting it. Maybe the truth isn’t as fun? If you want the REAL story about the gunfight that changed America, then Netflix’s Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War fills you in and more.

The documentary is narrated by Ed Harris and has a mix of recreations and a few expert interviews. It’s broken up into several episodes and covers the life of the Earp brothers and “Doc” Holiday and their time in and out of Tombstone. While you know some of the stories and names associated you will be surprised how people like Ike Clanton, who was basically made into a coward and sidekick to Curly Bill in Tombstone was actually the mastermind in real life. You’ll see that like in the movie that the “Gunfight At The O.K. Corral” was really as short as portrayed and the fight at the creek bed was not complete Hollywood fiction. You learn that there were more politics involved in the real story and that Wyatt Earp wasn’t always viewed as the hero in the tale and what he did caused ripples all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to England.

Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War is really worth the watch. My one concern with documentaries like this is that they get boring or don’t teach you anything new. Not the case here. You learn how much more twisted the entire story is and that it wasn’t all action and gunfights and romance. The recreations are done well, and the actors play their parts just as good. Sure, there’s a scene in the Earp family’s attorney’s office where you can see the security system control pads on the wall, but beyond that it is done well. They really clear up a lot of the myth surrounding “Doc” Holiday and his friendship with Wyatt and how the war ended. Again, while Hollywood kept some things true to the history you really see how much they have embellished for the sake of storytelling when maybe they didn’t need to. I do wish that they would have addressed more of the side characters we saw in the movie that were part of Wyatt’s posse and the Clanton gang. For instance, the credits show John {Johnny) Ringo was in the documentary, but he isn’t mentioned or given any focus in the documentary. He was one of the main characters in Tombstone and it’s odd he gets zero mention here. It would be nice to know who else was riding with Wyatt and Doc as well. While the previous films are great to watch this gives you the real story and it’s just as interesting if not as full of intrigue and gun fights. Basically, what I’m saying is …. be their huckleberry and watch.