“From now on I see a red sash, I kill the man wearing it. So run you cur. And tell the other curs the law is coming. You tell ’em I’m coming! And Hell’s coming with me you hear! Hell’s coming with me!” -Wyatt Earp, TombstoneThere is some sad news to report today. George P. Cosmatos, the director of Rambo: First Blood part II, Cobra and of course Tombstone, has died at the age of 64 from Lung Cancer… I think it’s safe to say that Tombstone is a favourite around here and that it stands up as one of the most enjoyable western movies ever made. Not due in small part to George P. Cosmatos, whose style was perfectly suited to tell the story of Wyatt Earp and his brothers.From CNN.com –“VICTORIA, British Columbia (AP) — Director George P. Cosmatos, best known for box-office hits “Rambo” and “Tombstone,” died last week. He was 64.Cosmatos had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, his friend and fellow director Richard Donner said Saturday.
“George was just a wonderful, bigger-than-life character,” Donner said. “You never forgot his entrance and hoped there would never be an exit.”Known for an ability to fix troubled projects and create blockbuster films, he delivered what many consider his finest achievement in 1993 — “Tombstone,” the film about legendary American lawman Wyatt Earp starring Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell.Cosmatos dismissed criticism of violence in “Rambo,” the 1985 film about a U.S. combat veteran who returns to Vietnam on a one-man mission to rescue soldiers missing-in-action.”What’s with these prejudiced people? They’re for censorship, not a free society,” Cosmatos said. “It’s a psychological release for people to have a hero who can do the fighting and dirty work while we eat our popcorn.”Born in Florence, Italy and raised in Egypt and Cyprus, Cosmatos spoke six languages and was an avid bibliophile with a passion for cigars and film restoration.”
