Wild Wild West (1999)

The two best hired guns in the West must save President Grant from the clutches of a nineteenth century inventor-villain.

Director:

Barry Sonnenfeld

Writers:

Jim Thomas (story), John Thomas (story)

Stars:

Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh

16 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Will Smith	...	James West
Kevin Kline	...	Artemus Gordon / President Grant
Kenneth Branagh	...	Dr. Arliss Loveless
Salma Hayek	...	Rita Escobar
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Coleman
Ted Levine	...	General McGrath
Frederique Van Der Wal	...	Amazonia (as Frederique van der Wal)
Musetta Vander	...	Munitia
Sofia Eng	...	Miss Lippenrieder
Bai Ling	...	Miss East
Garcelle Beauvais	...	Girl In Water Tower
Mike H. McGaughy	...	Big Reb (as Mike McGaughy)
Jerry Wills	...	Other Reb
Rodney A. Grant	...	Hudson
Buck Taylor	...	Eye-Crossed Reb

Storyline

Jim West is a guns-a-blazing former Civil War hero. Artemus Gordon is an inventive U.S. Marshal who excels in disguise. When the United States is threatened by psychotic Confederate Arliss Loveless, President Ulysses S Grant teams the duo up to bring him to justice. On a hazard-packed train journey from Washington, D.C. to Utah, West and Gordon must combine their skills to best Loveless and his diabolical machines.

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Plot Keywords:

utah | buddy movie | steampunk | george washington character | ulysses s. grant character | 

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Taglines:

On July 2nd, it's a whole new west.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Sci-Fi | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for action violence, sex references and innuendo

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 June 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

As Loucas Aventuras de James West

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$170,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$49,705,055, 4 July 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$113,805,681

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$222,105,681

Company Credits

Production Co:

Peters Entertainment, Sonnenfeld Josephson Worldwide Entertainment, Todman, Simon, LeMasters Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though a box-office failure in the U.S. (it managed to turn a profit overseas), it's commonly joked that the only reason this movie earned any money at all is because unaccompanied minors would buy tickets to this movie, then use them to sneak into screenings of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) and American Pie (1999).

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Goofs

Initially, the horse cart filled with nitro is facing the saloon, horses on the near side, when West is dangling over the edge of a ridge. Later, when Loveless detaches the cart from the horses, it is shown as facing away from the saloon with the horses on the far side.

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Quotes

Capt. James West: Let's break it down into two words. First, red. Red is like, fire, passion. Neck is - I can't think of anything for neck right now.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Thank God It's Doomsday (2005)

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Soundtracks

Camptown Races
(uncredited)
Written by Stephen Foster

User Reviews

Not quite enjoyable...

I like Will Smith and his movies. I enjoyed ENEMY OF THE STATE, INDEPENDENCE DAY and even MEN IN BLACK. So I watched WILD WILD WEST for tradition's sake, I guess you can say. It was 1999's July 4 Will Smith hit. I am positive that this is the worst I have ever seen Will Smith in. I tried to enjoy this movie, and at parts I did, but most of it was lame and not very enjoyable, I'm sorry to say.

Dr. Arliss Loveless, (Kenneth Branagh) a confederate rich bad guy is trying to sell parts of the USA to the highest bidding countries, using his giant machines of destruction (walking mechanicals spiders and stuff) to take hostage of President Ulysses S. Grant (Kevin Kline). The two best agents the U.S. Government has, James West (Will Smith) and Artemus Gordon (also Kevin Kline) are sent to stop Loveless and save the president, as well as the country. West also has a personal score to settle with Loveless, since he was responsible for the death of his parents. The beautiful Rita Escobar (Salma Hayek) tags along to try and save her father, who is also being held hostage by Loveless. She attracts the eye of Gordan and West.

The acting jobs in this are fair, but the writing spoils it. The gorgeous Salma Hayek is underplayed, and her character is pretty much pointless except to have a good-looking girl in the movie. Both Will Smith and Kevin Kline do fairly good jobs acting, but the characters are too boring to enjoy. I'm not sure if Kenneth Branagh or the writing is responsible for the incredible stupid and annoying Dr. Loveless.

This movie is very similar to Men in Black, only less modern and on a smaller scale. (save the country, not the planet) Another big difference between the two was that Men in Black was more fun, cooler, and had better characters, villains and gadgets (not to mention Tommy Lee Jones). If you are in the movie for a Will Smith movie, go rent ENEMY OF THE STATE. If you're in the movie for a lighter Will Smith movie, go rent MEN IN BLACK. I'd try to avoid WILD WILD WEST, but give it a try if you like.