Director Lawrence Kasdan's three-hour plus journey to the notorious shoot-out at the OK Corral is a monumental western that works both as a serious history lesson and as a quietly understated drama. Many movies have been made about the life of Wyatt Earp and the events he engendered, but what makes this one so compelling is that it's the most accurate depiction and assessment of his character and deeds. Kasdan's beautifully filmed epic portrays the man not the legend, tracing Earp's move from boyhood innocence to knowing cynicism. It takes us from the 1860s to the turn of the century, as the Earp family move to Tombstone, Arizona, to take on the Clantons, who have been terrorising the town. On the surface, the infamous gunfight may have only been a 30-second battle between two hate-driven gangs, kicking off a series of vengeful killings in the process, but in Kasdan's assured hands the incident is legitimately transformed into a key moment in the history of the west. Kevin Costner has seldom been better as the older Earp, and his expert range suggests all the good, bad and ugly facets of the complex character - while Earp was an effective lawman, he was also a thief, an arsonist and a murderer. Yet, Costner still leaves plenty of room for Dennis Quaid to steal the show as the tuberculosis-ridden dentist Doc Holliday. There's also strong support from Gene Hackman as Earp's father and a well-chosen back-up cast led by JoBeth Williams and Bill Pullman. They all make telling contributions to Kasdan's compelling study of this complex man.

From Wichita to Dodge City, to the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Wyatt Earp is taught that nothing matters more than family and the law. Joined by his brothers and Doc Holliday, Earp wages war on the dreaded Clanton and McLaury gangs.