Did You Know?
The shot of the puppy looking into General "Bloodbath" McGrath's hearing aid is a visual reference to 'His Master's Voice', a painting by Francis Barraud. The image of Nipper the dog listening to a gramophone was used for decades as the logo of RCA Victor (and still is, in North America); in Europe it's known more recently as the logo for HMV media stores.
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At an official $150 million (unofficial $180 million) it stands as the most expensive movie produced by Warner Bros. and the most expensive movie released in 1999.
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George Clooney was attached to play Artemus Gordon, but turned it down reportedly because it was a supporting part.
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When this film swept the 20th Annual Razzie Awards, "winning" 5 statuettes including Worst Picture, Robert Conrad, who played James West in the original 1960s TV series, accepted three of the awards in person as his way of expressing his low opinion of what had been done with his source material.
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The film underwent costly re-shoots in an attempt to inject some humor after it was found that test audiences weren't sure if it was supposed to be a comedy.
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Robert Conrad was initially approached by Barry Sonnenfeld to make a cameo appearance as President Ulysses Simpson Grant. He turned down the offer after reading the script due to what he felt was its poor quality and lack of respect for the original series it was based on.
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When Kenneth Branagh was in an articulated metal platform as Dr. Loveless, he actually was seated in the device in a kneeling position. He would have to get up every few minutes and walk around to get the circulation back in his legs, as they would continually go numb from being in that position for an extended period.
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The sequences on both Artemus Gordon's and Dr. Loveless' trains interiors were shot on sets at Warner Bros. The train exteriors were shot in Idaho.
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The flying sequence with Will Smith and Kevin Kline was shot with blue screens with the background later added digitally.
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The scene where Dr. Loveless' train is raised on four girders outside of the train tunnel was all done digitally. A real train was used when it was finally back on it's tracks and the girders going back inside the train, which was also done digitally.
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Kevin Smith has said that the giant spider was producer 'Jon Peters''s idea for the later-abandoned "Superman Reborn" project with Nicolas Cage and Tim Burton.
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The Reno train featured in the film is on display at the Old Tucson Studios in Tucson Arizona.
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Although the opening credits are styled after the opening of the 1960s series, the decision was made to use a generic piece of music instead of the original Wild Wild West theme. The original theme, however, is heard on the soundtrack near the climax of the film.
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In the scene where Jim West and Artemus Gordon ride away on their horses in the desert from the train off to avenge Loveless again, the original musical score from the T.V. series plays.
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An exploding tower bears an advertisement for a product named Kasdan, evidently a reference to Lawrence Kasdan who has worked with star Kevin Kline on several occasions. Furthermore, the name of the town destroyed by the tarantula is Silverado, a western on which they had both worked together.
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The characters of "Spike Guy" and "Knife Guy" were added to the movie and inserted into the climax after test audiences found the heroes fighting only Loveless' beauties to be very odd.
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Will Smith turned down the lead role in The Matrix to star in this movie, being a fan of the television series. He later said this was the worst decision he made in his career.
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The locomotive in the film (#25 William Mason) was previously used in The Great Locomotive Chase.
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Artemus Gordon's Nitro Cycle is in the collection of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Leeds, Alabama, just east of Birmingham, Alabama. It is above the entrance to the gift shop near the entrance to the museum.
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Mel Gibson was set to star as James West and Richard Donner was set to direct back when Warner Bros announced the plans to make the movie in 1992, however they both dropped out and Donner and Gibson went on to do Maverick.
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Will Smith said that he knew the movie wasn't any good and he was embarrassed when it earned almost $50 million in its opening weekend. Years later, Smith apologized publicly to 'Robert Conrad' (star of the original TV series) and said now that he was older and more experienced, he understood Conrad's anger and criticism of the film version, as well as Conrad's refusal to make a cameo appearance in it.
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Dr. Loveless demands the "immediate and unconditional surrender of the United States" from President Grant. Ulysses S. Grant's nickname during the Civil War was "Unconditional Surrender", which made use of his initials.
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