Wild Wild West

1999 Action/Adventure

Yet another TV series is revived for the big screen, as Will Smith and Kevin Kline join forces as James T. West and Artemus Gordon, the most sophisticated government agents of the 1860's, in the film adaptation of The Wild Wild West. West and Gordon represent two opposite ends of the personality scale: West is a smooth-talking charmer and man of action who prefers to shoot first and ask questions much, much later; while Gordon is intensely methodical and cerebral, with a genius for gadgets and mechanical innovations. They're brought together by no less an authority than the President of the United States to track down an evil genius named Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh). Loveless was once an honored military leader and inventor until one of his schemes went awry and left him paralyzed from the waist down. Driven mad by the experience, Loveless is determined to get revenge on the United States by assassinating the President, using a 60-foot tall mechanical spider. Assisting Loveless is a team of beautiful female criminals, Miss East (Bai Ling), Amazonia (Frederique Van Der Wal), Munitia (Musetta Vander) and Miss Lippenreider (Sofia Eng). As the initially suspicious West and Gordon learn to work together, they also find themselves helped by an attractive woman, Rita Escobar (Salma Hayek), who has her own bone to pick with Loveless. Wild Wild West reunites star Will Smith with director Barry Sonnenfeld, who previously worked together on the hit Men In Black (1997). Wild Wild West features a hip-hop theme song from one-time Fresh Prince Smith, along with a more traditional Western score from composer Elmer Bernstein. more..

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Starring: Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Salma Hayek,Kenneth Branagh, M. Emmet Walsh

Reviews

  • A sly variation on the buddy movie.

    Bob Graham - The San Francisco Chronicle

    11 May 2013

  • A wild, wanton and wasteful western farce that's so overblown and underwritten it almost makes you cringe to watch it.

    Michael Wilmington - The Chicago Tribune

    11 May 2013

  • The quintessential cotton candy movie: It's pleasant, brightly colored and the minute it's done it's as though it were never there.

    Maitland McDonagh - TV Guide

    11 May 2013

  • The fusion of cheekiness and deliberately overscaled fantasy never jells.

    Owen Gleiberman - Entertainment Weekly

    11 May 2013

  • The script by S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock (Ghost Dad) is so jumbled and the direction so chaotic that it's often hard to tell what's going on -- where, when, and why.

    Marc Savlov - Austin Chronicle

    11 May 2013

Awards

  • Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film

    ALMA Awards (2000)

     
  • Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures

    ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards (2000)

  • Favorite Supporting Actress - Action

    Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (2000)

  • Bogey Awards, Germany (1999)

  • Favorite Song from a Movie

    Kids' Choice Awards (2000)