The classic 1990s Western Tombstone is rated R, but why did it get that rating, and how does it compare to older classic Westerns? There are plenty of examples of R-rated Westerns, and some of the best Western movies ever are rated-R. However, there are also quite a few Westerns, especially from the 1960s and earlier, that are nowhere near as violent or mature. Westerns can vary in their ratings and maturity levels just as much as any other genre, from kids movies like Rango to ultra-violent films like Django Unchained, so the reason Tombstone is rated-R isn’t immediately obvious.
Since Tombstone tells the true story of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, it had to include some of the real-life deaths that happened at the time. It also came after Westerns became unpopular in Hollywood, so there was some pressure to give the film more violence to convince viewers that the genre wasn’t outdated. There aren’t many moments in Tombstone that seem especially mature, though, and the movie doesn’t seem much more violent than other classic Westerns. Despite those facts, Tombstone earned an R-rating that seems somewhat out of place today.
Tombstone’s R-Rating Explained – Does It Earn It?
Tombstone Does Deserve An R-Rating, But Not By Today’s Standards
Simply put, Tombstone does deserve its R-rating, but that rating was partly due to the year it was released. Tombstone was released in 1993, but if it were released in 2024, it could have easily gotten a PG-13 rating by cutting out some expletives. There are several instances of violence, but most of the deaths in Tombstone depict a character simply falling over rather than featuring overt gore. Certain shots do highlight bloodshed, such as during Morgan Earp’s death, but actual wounds are only briefly shown. Aside from some pervasive swearing and alcohol and tobacco use, Tombstone is a rather tame R-rated movie.
How Tombstone’s R-Rating Compares To Classic Westerns
Tombstone Is Far More Violent Than The Golden Age Of Westerns
Though Tombstone is rather tame by modern standards, it is much more deserving of its R-rating than older classic Westerns. Despite being made in the 1990s, Tombstone is often considered a classic Western. However, Tombstone also differs from classic Westerns by showing more violence, swearing, and substance use. When compared to a film like High Noon or Rio Bravo, Tombstone’s violence is much more likely to show realistic blood, actual wounds, overt references to sex, and drunkenness. Many classic Westerns were made to adhere to the Hays Code from 1934 to 1968, and Tombstone would not have passed its strict moral guidelines.
Westerns did get more violent and gritty in the 1960s and early 1970s, mostly due to the rise in popularity of Spaghetti Westerns, Clint Eastwood, and Sergio Leone. Eastwood and Leone’s films often featured a more muddied version of morals than classic Westerns did, and there were far more killings in cold blood. There were also some instances of on-screen violence, such as when the Man With No Name was beat up in A Fistful of Dollars or when Harmonica’s brother was hanged in Once Upon a Time in the West, but Tombstone’s violence was still a bit more visceral than that.
Tombstone’s R-Rating Looks Very Different Today
Modern Westerns Have Taken Violence To A New Extreme
Another reason Tombstone feels like a very tame example of an R-rated movie is because newer R-rated Westerns are far more violent. Since 1993, films like The Revenant, Django Unchained, and especially Bone Tomahawk have brought Western violence to an extreme. While there’s certainly bloodshed and gore in Tombstone, it doesn’t even approach the gore and visceral killings those films feature. From scalpings to torture scenes and cannibalism, newer Westerns feature a much higher level of violence that Tombstone doesn’t come near, even with all of its deaths and injuries.
From scalpings to torture scenes and cannibalism, newer Westerns feature a much higher level of violence that Tombstone doesn’t come near, even with all of its deaths and injuries.
Given the way modern Westerns have gotten more experimental and liberal with their use of violence, Tombstone’s R-rating doesn’t seem very fitting anymore. However, it does serve as a halfway point between the puffs of smoke of classic Westerns and the high-tech, stylized violence of the modern day. In a way, if films like Tombstone or some of the other best Westerns of the 1990s hadn’t paved the way, the violence the genre is capable of now wouldn’t have been possible. Though Tombstone isn’t a terribly violent Western, it was fairly important to violence in Westerns.