Western opening scene (Tombstone 1993)

Tombstone is a western film released in 1993 and directed by George P. Cosmatos and Kevin Jarre. It stars Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday, Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp, Sam Elliott as Virgil Earp and Bill Paxton as Morgan Earp.

This opening sequence starts with a group of cowboys on their way towards a village. when they arrive various people look worried and distressed from just looking at them. you see that they have turned up at the end of a wedding to surprise the groom. they suggest that he has killed two cowboys, highly likely from their group and turns into a massive gun fight and many people are shot. The end one person surrenders and then the Cowboys say that they have won. From what we have seen so far we can guess that the rest of the film made about the revenge of the Cowboys,
maybe about their future of being Cowboys.

The target audience for this will be for young adults to adults due to the mass amount of violence and adult topic of gun crime and crime in general. It would be inappropriate for a younger audience due to being too brutal and disturbing, however for adults it is an interesting insight to how cowboys may have been and exciting due to the action.

Instantly the genre for the film is established due to the mass amount of cowboys and horses galloping towards the audience. The location also adheres to the stereotype due to it being a dusty and deserted environment as this is used a lot in western films. Also the non diegetic soundtrack adheres to the stereotype, as well and builds tension, as you know something bad is about to happen, due the powerful and concerning soundtrack.

When the cowboys arrive you can instantly tell that they're are bad, this is due to all of the people in the village looking scared of them and see them coming from far away and also the tension building non diegetic soundtrack. It is strongly shown when the groom notices that they have turned up and instantly know he is about to get shot. his wife only notices that they are bad when she sees her husbands face of horror.

I personally think this a very effective opening scene due to it getting the audience ready for the rest of the film due to there being a lot of violence very early on.