Wild Wild West

Rating:
Summary: Has got to be one of the worst films I have ever seen...
Review: Once again I say, "Wild Wild West" has got to be on of the worst films I have ever seen. I myself have never seen the original TV series starring Robert Conrad but the movie "Wild Wild West" was pretty awful. And the thing which really gets me is, it could have been such a terrific movie!

Two U.S. Marshals, Capt. James 'Jim' West (Will Smith) and Artemus 'Artie' Gordon (Kevin Kline) are assigned to discover why most of the country's leading scientists have been kidnapped. An old enemy of West's, General 'Bloodbath' McGrath (Ted Levine) lead them to the mastermind, a waist-high madman Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh). Dr. Loveless' plan? To take over the United States government!

The plot is nothing new, a madman threatens to take over the government with the help of a super machine created by kidnapped scientists. The only people who can save everyone are the two main characters. You've heard it before, huh? "Wild Wild West" was extremely interesting in the way they thought up of a way to combine lots of cool inventions and gadgets into a story of the 'wild west'. But it has its many downfalls. One being that the story seemed to lull at some points, like it's just something to fill in the time. There should have been more twists and turns, captures and escapes, or something!

The acting wasn't all that bad, though I must say I much more enjoy watching Will Smith in the "Men in Black" movies. He seems to have the exact same attitude, cockiness, and humor as he does in the movies I mentioned, except he lacks some smarts. He has a tendency to 'shoot first, shoot later, shoot some more and then when everybody's dead try to ask a question or two.' Unfortunately in this movie there really isn't given any chance for ANY of the characters to fully develop, let alone make you like and cheer for them. Kevin Kline for me was the best actor in the movie, him getting a chance to play two roles, one as Artemis Gordon and another as President Ulysses S. Grant. He was extremely charming and likable, a bit smarter and more sophisticated than his new partner. The bad guy played by Kenneth Branagh was nothing new, just your usual crazy madman. And though Salma Hayek is credited along with the main actors as Rita Escobar, you have no chance to see her much and for some reason was a very unlikable character. Though there was some attempt for Will Smith and Kevin Kline to vie for her affections, there is exactly 0% romance in this movie.

And the reason for the 0% romance is because of blatant sexual jokes and innuendos put into "Wild Wild West". For a PG-13 movie, I found it a bit too much, even resulting for me to fast forward and skip some parts. And I believe this is one of the main reasons for the downfall of this movie. There were some moments where there was some good, clean, and fun humor, but the movie seems to mostly rely on innuendos and dirty jokes to make the audience laugh. And I assure you that I did not laugh much. "Wild Wild West" should have had some romance. Even most of the best action and adventure movies have romance, including such hits like "Matrix", "Top Gun", and much more.

But I must give "Wild Wild West" the minimum of two stars for the action and special effects. Some of the action is pretty intense and exciting, especially the end. And the oh so super gadgets are VERY cool! I especially love the President's 'not-so-normal' train. Dr. Loveless's gigantic spider is dynamic, too. And Artie's numerous disguises are ingenious!

To sum it up, "Wild Wild West" had some potential to become a fantastic movie. But because of the empty characterizations, somewhat empty plot, and terrible and sick jokes succeeds in making "Wild Wild West" a flop for me. If you're thinking about watching "Wild Wild West", rent it if you're really serious about seeing it. But here are two other recommendations, "Men in Black" stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones who fight extra-terrestrial and "Silverado" stars Kevin Kline as a gunfighter who saves the town of Silverado.

Here an interesting bit of trivia for "Wild Wild West":
The movie 'won' 5 statuettes at the 20th Annuel Razzie Awards, including Worst Picture. Robert Conrad, who played the original James West in the 1960s TV series, accepted 3 of the awards in person as his way of expressing his low opinion of what had been done with his source material. :)

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!

Rating:
Summary: Bashful's DVD Summary #012
Review: Best:

1) The villian is riotously played by Kenneth Branagh using an over-the-top southern accent. He wants to undo the south's surrender in the U.S. Civil War by taking over all of America and dissolving the union. The way he chooses to do it is simply outrageous.
2) The 80 foot, coal-powered mechanical tarantula was downright cool to watch and the sound effects made it seem real.
3) There's a large array of James Bond type gizmos used all throughout the movie (by the good and bad guys alike) that are extremely imaginative.
4) Parts of the film were absolutely hilarious (like the guy with the horn stuck in his ear) and the humor blended well with the action.
5) You get to see the butts of both Salma Hayek and Bai Ling (ha).
6) There's a ton of special features - everything you could want.

Worst:

1) As much as I like Will Smith, the choice of him for the lead role of was just - weird. A slick-dressing, gun-slinging, smug-acting black man walking around freely so soon after the ending of slavery was pretty unlikely in that time period (but then, so is an 80 foot mechanical tarantula, I suppose). He did, however, create that really catchy theme song - hmm.

Recommendation:

The movie is delightful, the DVD is loaded with special features and the price is right. Get it and watch without any offbeat expectations - it'll grow on you.

Rating:
Summary: bad
Review: This movie was hyped up so much that it just had to fail. The script was predictable, and even the acting was bad from every actor. I hate that wasted money on this movie. Guess it just shows you to: DON"T BELIEVE THE HYPE!

Rating:
Summary: A miscast of a movie
Review: First off, I like Will Smith but he had no business being cast as James West (originally played by Robert Conrad in the 60's series).
Now on the other hand Kevin Kline being cast as Artemus Gordon (master of disguise) is a little more accurate and to the mark.
What I'm saying is if I was a film director remaking something from
another's work,I would try to make it as close to their work as possible. However Mr.Sonnenfield mis-directed this movie,it's an ok film but if your expectations were as high as mine don't bother with this . Actually the only redeeming quality of this movie is Salma Hayek. Oh yeah Sonnenfield also missed the mark with the Dr.Loveless character which originally was played by a dwarf in the original series. Hell give me the project, the dollars and the actors of my choosing and I'll make a movie people would enjoy
Apologies for such a scathing revue. I hope Barry reads this!

Rating:
Summary: It's really not all that bad
Review: I can remember seeing Wild Wild West opening weekend back in the summe of 1997. I was so excited to see it after hearing the theme song and knowing my boy Will Smith was going to be in it. I thought the moive was kind of stupid, but I really enjoy this moive.

James West(Smith) is one of the top U.S. Secret Service Agents. President Grant is worried about a man Dr. Arliss Loveless(Branagh). He has been kidnapping different scientists who are the tops of their respective fields. West is teamed with one of the top U.S. marshalls Artemus Gordon(Kline). The two are hot on the trail and find a beautiful woman named Rita(Hayek) who is after Loveless as well because he kidnapped her father. Now are two agents must stop Loveless in time, before he can release his horrible creations upon the U.S.

Will Smith wasn't really the right choice for James West. The complaint is legit that a black man shouldn't have been this big agent right after slaverly had just ended. It's ridiculous saying segregation took place up to the sixties. However, if you look past that flaw, then Smith really works. He is Will Smith and he has that Will Smith charm. He's a good action star and he excels in the action parts of the movie.

Kevin Kline is also really good in the movie. I never watched the tv show, so I don't know how these two compare. Kline is good in the role and he runs with it. He's funny as the crafty inventor and he's just Kevin Kline.

Salma Hayek is gorgeous in the moive. The was the first one I ever saw her in and she had me from the first time I saw her. Her acting isn't all that great in the movie, she's just there to simply look at for an hour and half, and it works.

The special effects are really good in the film. Once again I wouldn't expect anything less from a moive with Will Smith in it. They aren't the best ones from his movies that he's been in, but they are good. The tarantula looked kind of cool and there is plenty of stuff blowing up in it.

This was a summer blockbuser movie. The acting is terrible and so is the plot, but it's fun. The acting is fun, the special effects are great and it's a nice escape for two hours. This movie is easy to find cheap so pick it up for a cheap good time.

Rating:
Summary: So it's not Shakespeare...
Review: So I was perusing the reviews for this movie before getting a copy and I must say that in regards to this movie, people came to the table with far too high expectations for this movie and had them in completely different areas in which this movie really shone. The particularly vitriolic reviewers here should have known beforehand that a vehicle piloted by Will Smith with Kevin Kline riding shotgun would *not* be the next "Citizen Kane." I knew this the first time I saw the commericals for this movie, but went to see it anyway. I'm proud to be one of the thirty five people in America to have paid $7.50 for this movie and plan to shell out about twenty more for the DVD. It was not a waste to me. I do not regret seeing this movie at all in theaters. "T3" and "Matrix: Reloaded" however....

I suppose my particular attraction to Wild Wild West was summed up quite well by a former reviewer who described it as "enjoyable" but not "good." You must have this attitude to enjoy this movie, otherwise you cringe at what should elicit a throaty chuckle. Of course the movie is miscast, even though Branaugh's and Kline's performances taken at face value are enjoyable. Of course there couldn't be "big metal spiders", etc. back then. This still doesn't keep this movie from being a fun, campy joyride that will probably engender a cult following in years to come. Wild Wild West is the Plan 9 of the 90's.

My recommendation: watch it on TV first. Yes, they still show it. They also show the TV movies made from the original TV show. Believe me, they aren't much better, despite what the WWW purists may say. If you like the free experience, then by all means get the DVD. But the Wild Wild West experience is not for the casual buyer.

Rating:
Summary: Not wild enough
Review: Where did "Wild Wild West" go so wrong? It teams "Men in Black" director Barry Sonnenfield with Will Smith, Kenneth Branagh and Salma Hayek, and the only question afterwards is: Were any of them fully awake when they signed on to this royal stinkbomb?

Someone is kidnapping top scientists, and two US marshals are being sent to find out who and stop them from ... well, doing whatever it is he's kidnapping the scientists for. Capt. James 'Jim' West (Will Smith) and Artemus 'Artie' Gordon (Kevin Kline) soon find out who it is -- the evil Dr. Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh), a freaky genius with no legs. (Seriously, he has no legs) His intention: Take over the USA.

Are our heroes going to stop him? You betcha. Especially when they learn that President Grant (also played by Kline) is a target for assassination, because Loveless wants to restart the Civil War. (Yeah, whatever) So West and Gordon accompany the beautiful Rita Escobar (Salma Hayek) to Utah, where they hope to stop Loveless once and for all.

Like "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," "Wild Wild West" has lots of high-glitz anachronisms. The big difference is that LXG's anachronisms actually made a tiny amount of sense. "West"'s anachronisms just seem like cheap draws to draw in the action fans -- the big droopy metal spider being among them, and the extremely intricate train (complete with whirling pool table). Unfortunately, that sort of stuff is only fun the first time.

When Sonnenfield is good, he's very very good. Here, he is not good. The level of stupid jokes and idiotic slapstick is mind-boggling, and the few attempts at character development (like West talking about his past) fall flat on their faces. Not to mention the scantily clad women, who crop up constantly wearing little more than dominatrix-lite lingerie.

Smith and Kline seem to be giving it their darndest, but they're up Bad Script And Chemistry Creek without a paddle; they really don't seem to know what they're doing. Kenneth Branagh is apparently supposed to be joyously hamming it, but he seems more like he's giddy after a few whiffs of pot. Salma Hayek is reduced to walking around in pajamas that display her butt. She really has nothing more to do.

"Wild Wild West" is one of the movies you look back on and wince about. It wasted the director, the lead actors, and the audience's money. Only suitable for "Lousy Movie Nights," so you and your friends can sit and mock it.

Rating:
Summary: the worst movie ever made
Review: i hated this movie. no more to say.

Rating:
Summary: Wow... way to destroy a classic.
Review: I've always felt that there are certain television shows which could never translate well to the big screen. However, the "Wild Wild West" was one of the few shows I thought would be perfect for a major motion picture.

The concept was solid... two Secret Service men from the old west, battling plots against the president of the United States. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that this concept could have resulted in a popular movie franchise which could have rivaled the James Bond and Jack Ryan films.

However, someone REALLY dropped the ball here. I may be one of the few people who isn't bothered by a movie not being completely true to its television or book predecesor, but this... This is just ridiculous. A perfectly good concept was completely destroyed when the creators of this movie decided to write it as a Comedy/Rap Musical. Really... what were they thinking? Granted, Will Smith was a hot commodity at the time, but it takes more than big stars to make a quality film.

First of all, you need to cast the film correctly. I have no problem with Smith as a talent, but he's no "James West". Someone like Matthew McConaughey would have been a perfect fit here.

Second... cut the Comedy. This isn't "Blazing Saddles"!!! The Wild Wild West was not a Comedy! It was an Action show. Sure, you can have a few comedic moments, but if you're going to use the show as a basis for you movie, you atleast have to use some of the elements that made it a successful show in the first place.

Third... spend a little time on the script. Rather than spending all your money on the cast and special effects, how about investing in some good writing. Give the audience a reason to care about the film!

I hope some day, some movie producer is brave enough to revitalize the "Wild Wild West" show into a quality film. I fear, however, that the damage has been done.