Tombstone's Opening Scene Secretly Gave Away The Ending With A Perfect Johnny Ringo Quote

Published Aug 21, 2026, 5:01 PM EDT Shawn S. Lealos is an entertainment writer who is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He has written for Screen Rant, CBR, ComicBook, The Direct, The Sportster, Chud, 411mania, Renegade Cinema, Yahoo Movies, and many more. Shawn has a bachelor's degree in professional writing and a minor in film studies from the University of Oklahoma. He also has won numerous awards, including several Columbia Gold Circle Awards and an SPJ honor. He also wrote Dollar Deal: The Story of the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers, the first official book about the Dollar Baby film program. Shawn is also currently writing his first fiction novel under a pen name, based in the fantasy genre. To learn more, visit his website at shawnlealos.net. Tombstone has stood the test of time as one of the Western genre's better later-era releases, arriving in the 1990s, when the genre was experiencing a resurgence in popularity. This movie arrived in 1993, one year after Unforgiven, a Western movie that won the Oscar for Best Picture. While Unforgiven is an unflinching revisionist Western about the harsh Wild West, Tombstone goes for pure throwback entertainment. Clint Eastwood's movie is about an outlaw who realizes how his life isn't what he believed it would become and eventually seeks revenge against a brutal sheriff as the world changes around both men. On the other hand, Tombstone, directed by George P. Cosmatos, is an old-school Western with giant gunfights and one-liners. Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday alone delivers some of the best quotes in film history. However, it isn't a Doc Holliday quote that opens Tombstone. Instead, there is a chilling quote by one of the antagonists that gives away the ending and reveals the themes of this story. The film opens with the evil Cowboys as they terrorize a small Mexican town. After murdering a local priest, Johnny Ringo delivered a quote about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Tombstone's Johnny Ringo Quote Has A Deeper, Chilling Meaning MoviestillsDB Tombstone opens when the Cowboys interrupt the wedding of a local law enforcement officer. They kill countless people there in revenge for two of their own being murdered, and as they sit to enjoy the wedding party's feast, a priest comes out and admonishes them before Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) kills him as well. This leads to Curly Bill (Powers Boothe) asking Ringo what the priest meant by a "sick horse," and Ringo explains the quote. Ringo explains that the quote's origin is from the Bible, saying, "He was quoting the Bible, Revelations. 'Behold the pale horse. The man who sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.'" Ringo seems to contemplate the quote, but Curly Bill laughs it off. However, this entire quote has a chilling meaning that foreshadows what happens in the movie. When broken down, this quote involves the Four Horsemen who arrive in the Book of Revelation and usher in the apocalypse, or the end of everything. Just as this quote happens, three former lawmen arrive in Tombstone, Arizona. Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, and Morgan Earp set up their new home there, and they reunite with an old friend, Doc Holliday, and they signify the Four Horsemen. The "Pale Horse" is Doc, who suffers from tuberculosis and is a pale, sickly man throughout the entire movie. Death is Wyatt Earp, especially when he seeks revenge after the Cowboys kill one of his brothers. Finally, Hell is where Wyatt and Doc send the Cowboys when they finally face off. Tombstone Perfectly Ties Back To Its Opening The climax of Tombstone also has one of the best quotes in the entire film. Wyatt Earp is hunting down Curly Bill, bringing Death to him. In fact, before this scene happens, Earp yells out at the train shootout, "You tell 'em I'm coming, and Hell's coming with me." That line shows that Earp is out for blood, and he is bringing Death with him, tying back into the original Ringo quote. However, there is also the argument that Doc Holliday is Death. When Earp says, "Hell's coming with me," he might not have meant it literally, but Doc comes with him, and he brings his own hell. It is Doc who meets up with Johnny Ringo, and he delivers the brilliant quote, "Why, Johnny Ringo, you look like somebody just walked over your grave." It is important that Ringo delivers this early quote about the Horsemen, the Pale Horse, and Death. He is the most educated man in the Cowboys, and he is the only one who understands the gravity of the situation. In the end, he realizes that Doc Holliday is going to kill him in this gunfight, and he stands his ground and dies. Of everyone in the film, Ringo knows how it will all work out, making him the true prophet in Tombstone. Release Date December 25, 1993 Runtime 130 minutes Director George P. Cosmatos Writers Kevin Jarre Producers Bob Misiorowski, James Jacks, Sean Daniel