Rating: 
Summary: Jab your eyes out!
Review: Paint a mustache on the Mona Lisa! It's a shame and sad that this movie was made cause it will never have the opportunity to be made right. The TV James West was the perfect wild west secret agent with the gadgets and brawls. Robert Conrad created a wonderful character only to be mocked in this vomitus, stick to the bottom of your shoe movie. Save your money on this and buy some of the real TV episodes. Find "The Night of the Falcon" with Robert Duvall as the foil to James West - perfect example of how this should have been made.Just Vin
Rating: 
Summary: Ambitious work
Review: While numbers continually dropped in the 19th century American frontier due to murder and disease, what truly conquered the "wild west" was technology. The rapid enumeration of product patents and their proliferation throughout the western territories: the laying of railroads, replacement of wooden structures with brick, the development of communications advances, and the personal automobile all transformed the place we know of as the Old West into its modern equivalent. Sonnenfeld here has cleverly respun this history in the form of a narrative story, sometimes metaphorically accurate, and sometimes hilariously inverted. When gunslinger Captain 'Jim' West (Smith) and master-of-disguise 'Artemus' Gordon (Kline) are paired up to defeat the psychotic Confederate and mad inventor Dr. Arliss Loveless (Branagh), it's an idealistic winner takes all in the battle between the traditional west and the technological Eastern invasion. Of course to throw things further off-kilter, Sonnenfeld has made our protagonist, West, a black Civil War hero. With 20th century concepts of individual vs. corporate control, sexual promiscuity and identity, and racial equality and acceptance, "Wild Wild West" recasts this unique historical period to its modern viewers.
Rating: 
Summary: Wild Wild Disappointment
Review: I was really excited about seeing this one. Will Smith never fails to give a blockbuster, Kevin Kline is witty and Kenneth Branaugh is one of my favorite actors. Even Salma Hayek proved herself in "Hunchback of Notre Dame" (NOT THE DISNEY VERSION - this one is the beautiful, yet depressing one made for cable). However, West really didn't know where to go - it's beginning was the worst part. I couldn't understand a thing at all. Then the movie lifted up, but not enough to make it excellent. The biggest letdown was Will Smith. Gone is the Fresh Prince we once knew. Smith is toally dead in his performance; he is not funny at all and spends his time talking about women's breasts and butts. It got really tired after a while. Kevin Kline turned in a good show, but not enough to save the picture. Kenneth Branaugh was reduced to a small pathetic "villian" character. And Salma? What the hell was she doing in this movie. MAJOR LETDOWN, but still not so bad. It has its moments, so give it a try but don't buy it. It's not really worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: Lighten up, Francis...
Review: Judging by the tone of some of these pompous reviews, one would think this flick was being offered as the latest adaptation of one of Bill Shakespeare's works. Geez, c'mon people. It's just what it appeared to be: A bit of summer fluff with buddies, sight-gags, wisecracks and a little cleavage. It wasn't meant to be "true" to the original series. I used to watch WWW religiously as a kid during the Spy Craze of the '60's but, really, would it translate well to today's jaded audiences? Boooorring. No, it was made to appeal to a wide demographic with just enough of the original stuff to tweak the memories of us older geezers and a hip quality thrown in to hook the younger folks. The jokes could have been a little more clever but Smith and Klein delivered adequate performances and Kenneth Branagh's over-the-top interpretation of Loveless was a scream and helped carry the weight. I can't believe people are actually picking apart the possibility of such technology as the Tarantula existing in the late nineteenth century or whether a black man would have the carte blanche that Smith's Jim West had during that time. It was an action-fantasy-comedy for chissake! Helloooo?! Anyway, I found it somewhat disappointing the first time I saw it but I've watched it a couple of times since then and it kind of grows on you. Not a movie I could watch over and over again like Star Wars or The Matrix but the DVD doesn't sink to coffeetable coaster status either. I'd call it moderately amusing and if you're a Smith, Klein or Branagh fan, definitely worth adding to your collection despite what the Rex reed wannabes say.
Rating:
Summary: Yee-haw...the South is gonna rise again!
Review: The quintessential cotton candy movie: it's pleasent, brightly colored and the minute it's done it's as though it were never there. Inspired by the '60s TV show starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin, a James Bond-ish Western with a kinky edge, this period sci-fi action comedy disguises its fundamental blandness under layers of juvenile vulgarity, furious action and whiz-bang gadgetry. The plot, as far as it goes, pits James West(Will Smith) and the eccentric Artemus Gordon (Kevin Kline) against mad genius Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh). A Southern aristocrat maimed in the Civil War--he's literally half the man he used to be--Loveless, surrounded by kidnapped scientists and bodacious woman in abbreviated costumes, has a diabolical plan to shatter the Union and bring the North to its knees, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha,ha! It involves an 80-foot, steam-driven, mechanical spider, fully loaded with state-of-the-art weaponry, the kind of thing Jules Verne night have asked Industrial Light & Magic to whip up for him if he'd had the opportunity. Branagh overacts wildly; Kline looks vaguely uneasy, as though he's never quite sure what he might have to do next; poor Salma Hayek flutters in her fancy clothes and Smith just moseys along being his charming self. Casting him as a secret service agent in the 1869 West was a leap of faith in his ability to transcend the historical unlikeliness of the situation: Sure, there were black cowboys and homesteaders and gunslingers, but a black man who can march into the White House--late--and talk turkey with the President? That's a tribute to Hollywood's blindness to any color that isn't green, and the movie's sense of history lies so slightly over its sight gags,[...] and timeless buddy banter that plausibility scarcly matters anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Who's West Was It?
Review: In the mid-60s there was a show called "Wild Wild West" that starred Robert Conrad as James "Jim" West, a western version of James Bond, and Ross Martin as his brainy sidekick Artemus Gordon. This show was creative and intelligent and yet full of action. The movie "Wild Wild West" starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline has nothing to do with that television show, unfortunately.
Will Smith is another Jim West and Kevin Kline is another Artemus Gordon in an alternate universe that never existed. In this universe the Wright brothers apparently were asleep as Artemus and Jim were tooling around a giant steam-powered iron spider that is unlikely to exist in any imaginable reality. Indeed, the only point of any vague historical accuracy is that there was a President Grant and there was a meeting of the railroads. After that, this movie is "The Twilight Zone" in the west.
In this fantasy movie Kenneth Branagh plays Dr. Loveless. Once again, forget the wonderful Michael Dunn as the original Dr. Loveless. Branagh has none of the charm and wit of the original. Dr. Loveless has decided to create his own empire based on the ability of his giant spider to trounce anyone who gets in his way. However, he seemed to have neglected to consider that an open cockpit is a sure way to eventually be shot. Along the way we see a number of other equally improbable devices that make for interesting special effects but continual disappointment with the movie.
I have yet to mention that not only is this west some bizarre fantasy version of the original west, but this version of Jim West has a continual string of one-liners that would have allowed him to do stand-up, but not in the alternate reality of this movie where no one seemed to understand his jokes, often including the audience. Kevin Kline also had a number of humorous lines, though his were more ironic and involved, and typically based on technology that exists only in the alternate reality of this world.
This movie does have its moments. If you like comedy and know little about the original "Wild Wild West," you may find the comedy overwhelms the total destruction of history and scientific feasibility; or perhaps you like stories of alternate realities. The special effects are wonderful. I admit that when I could overcome my disappointment that there was no attempt to remain within the vision of the original show I was fascinated by the gadgets. However, gadgetry alone does not overcome the unbelievable story.
Oh, and as if all the other flaws in the movie were not enough to disappoint a viewer, the DVD includes Will Smith doing a hip-hop song. Hip-hop in the west? Perhaps I watched this movie from the wrong perspective. Maybe if I had taken it for a farce, like "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," I would have liked the movie better. Then again, probably not.
Rating:
Summary: A Stinkfest Nearly Every Way You Look At It
Review: I'm pretty leery of remakes, especially remakes of films or TV shows that were pretty good the first time around. The television series that serves--barely--as the model for this overbudgeted, underdeveloped redux was one of the best fantasy concepts ever (007 meets "Bonanza"), a showcase for the dynamite team of supercool Robert Conrad and charming Ross Martin. Director Barry Sonnenfeld just doesn't seem to get it. His first mistake was casting one-trick-pony Will Smith in the Conrad role; reimagining James West as a "person of color" was a great idea (Conrad himself had suggested Jackie Chan), but Smith's lackluster presence and incessant mugging for the camera grow tiresome, as usual, after five minutes. Kevin Kline as master-of-disguise Artemus Gordon is more inspired but instead of letting him be a member of an elite team, the script makes him West's cranky rival for too long in the film. It's like watching Archie and Reggie in cowboy hats but without the action and suspense. While his Dr. Loveless lacks the winning combination of pathos and villainy that Michael Dunn brought to the TV role, Kenneth Brannagh, at least, seems to be having fun as the requisite egomaniacal genius. The plot is, by and large, a mess--something about gunrunning, Ulysses S. Grant, and giant, steam-powered spiders; somehow, in two hours, Sonnenfeld manages to convey a story with less flair, delight, and imagination than a single hour of the TV series. Cold and flat computer-generated effects are no match for the simpler but more atmospheric production values of the series and like most recent remakes, the production crew seems to have a shallow understanding of the source material. Even Elmer Bernstein's score is a hollow approximation of the TV series' excellent theme music.
Rating:
Summary: Jab your eyes out!
Review: Paint a mustache on the Mona Lisa! It's a shame and sad that this movie was made cause it will never have the opportunity to be made right. The TV James West was the perfect wild west secret agent with the gadgets and brawls. Robert Conrad created a wonderful character only to be mocked in this vomitus, stick to the bottom of your shoe movie. Save your money on this and buy some of the real TV episodes. Find "The Night of the Falcon" with Robert Duvall as the foil to James West - perfect example of how this should have been made. Just Vin
Rating:
Summary: funny
Review: Wild Wild West is one of those movies that make you wonder just what were they thinking when this movie was being made. One thing that is absolutely essential for enjoying a movie is the suspension of disbelief. That is, you have to be able to believe that what's on the screen could really happen the way that things on the screen are happening. The things that go on in this movie make that impossible. Example: there is a gigantic steam-powered spider. Even with today's advanced technology, such a contraption would be just about impossible to build and get to operate properly, let alone in 1869. Once again: What were they thinking?
Rating: 
Summary: "West, James West"
Review: I was a fan of the old TV series 'Wild, Wild West' - full of action, adventure, pretty women, weird plots and advanced super-weapons - what more could you want? How about Will Smith and Kevin Kline as James West and Artemus Gordon? How about Salma Hayek in a corset? How about Kenneth Branagh with 20th century weapons? Tanks, trains and airplanes!
This film is LOTS of fun and full of humor. For example, near the end of the film, The giant spider even blows up half the town of Silverado, which in fact is the set made for the movie "Silverado". So they saved money AND recycled.
The DVD has lots of extras, from the commentary by the director, to behind-the-scenes documentaries, to the music videos!
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