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Wild Wild West

Wild Wild West
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Barry Sonnenfeld
Screenplay by	S.S. Wilson Brent Maddock Jeffrey Price Peter S. Seaman
Story by	Jim Thomas John Thomas
Based on	The Wild Wild West byMichael Garrison
Produced by	Jon Peters Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring	Will Smith Kevin Kline Kenneth Branagh Salma Hayek Ted Levine
Cinematography	Michael Ballhaus
Edited by	Jim Miller
Music by	Elmer Bernstein
Production companies	Peters Entertainment Sonnenfeld-Josephson Worldwide Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	June 30, 1999 (1999-06-30) (United States)
Running time	106 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$170 million[2]
Box office	$222.1 million[2]

Wild Wild West is a 1999 American steampunk Western film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock alongside Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, based on a story conceived by Jim and John Thomas. Loosely adapted from The Wild Wild West, a 1960s television series created by Michael Garrison, it is the only production since the television film More Wild Wild West (1980) to feature the characters from the original series.

The film stars Will Smith (who previously collaborated with Sonnenfeld on Men in Black two years earlier in 1997) and Kevin Kline as two U.S. Secret Service agents who work together to protect U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant (Kline in a dual role) and the United States from all manner of dangerous threats during the American Old West. The film features a supporting cast consisting of Kenneth Branagh, Salma Hayek, Ted Levine, and M. Emmet Walsh, as well as an orchestral film scorebyWestern film score veteran Elmer Bernstein and extensive visual effects courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic.

Released theatrically in the United States on June 30, 1999 by Warner Bros. and produced on a $170 million budget (making it one of the most expensive films ever made when adjusting for inflation at the time of its release),^[3][4] Wild Wild West was a commercial failure, grossing only $113.8 million domestically and $108.3 million overseas for a worldwide total of $222.1 million. Receiving largely negative reviews from critics, the film was nominated for eight Razzies and won five at the 20th Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture and Worst Original Song (for the song "Wild Wild West" by Smith).

Plot[edit]

Four years after the end of the American Civil War in 1869, U.S. Army Captain James T. "Jim" West and U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon cross paths with each other in their hunt for ex-Confederate General "Bloodbath" McGrath, seemingly responsible for a massacre in New Liberty where West's parents were killed. U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant informs them about the disappearances of America's key scientists and a treasonous plot by McGrath, giving them the task of finding the scientists.

Aboard their train The Wanderer, West and Gordon examine the severed head of scientist Thaddeus Morton, finding a clue that leads them to Dr. Arliss Loveless, a legless ex-Confederate officer and engineering genius. Infiltrating Loveless' plantation during a party, the duo rescues a woman named Rita Escobar, who asks for their help in rescuing her father Guillermo Escobar, who is one of the kidnapped scientists.

Loveless holds a demonstration of his newest weapon, a steam-powered prototype tank, and uses McGrath's soldiers for target practice. Accusing McGrath of "betrayal" for surrendering at Appomattox Court House, Loveless shoots and leaves him for dead. Gordon, West, and Rita find McGrath, who reveals Loveless framed him for the massacre before dying. Upon catching up with Loveless on The Wanderer, a panicked Rita accidentally releases sleeping gas during a brief fight, knocking out West, Gordon, and herself.

West and Gordon wake up as Loveless pulls away in The Wanderer, taking Rita hostage. Announcing his intention to capture Grant at the golden spike ceremony, he leaves the duo in a deadly trap in a cornfield. After narrowly escaping, West and Gordon stumble across Loveless' private railroad, leading to his secret industrial complex at Spider Canyon. There, they witness Loveless' ultimate weapon, a giant mechanical spider armed with nitroglycerin cannons that he uses to capture Grant and Gordon at the ceremony, while West gets shot and left for dead by one of Loveless' henchwomen upon being caught sneaking in the spider.

At his complex, Loveless announces his plan to dissolve the United States, dividing the territory among Great Britain, France, Spain, Mexico, the Native American people and Loveless himself. When Grant refuses to surrender, Loveless orders Gordon to be executed, but West, having survived, disguises himself as a belly dancer and distracts Loveless, allowing Gordon to free the captives.

Loveless escapes on his spider, taking Grant with him. As Loveless once again demands that Grant surrender, he refuses and Loveless responds by destroying a small town. Using a flying machine, Gordon and West catch up to the spider, where West battles Loveless' henchmen before confronting Loveless himself, now on mechanical legs. After freeing Grant, Gordon shoots one of Loveless' legs, allowing West to gain the upper hand. As the mechanical spider approaches a cliff, Loveless shoots at West with the concealed gun he used to kill McGrath, but instead hits the spider's machinery, halting it abruptly at the canyon's edge. Both West and Loveless fall from the spider, but West survives by catching a chain dangling from the machinery.

Grant promotes Gordon and West as the first agents of his new United States Secret Service. As Grant departs on The Wanderer, West and Gordon reunite with Rita and attempt to court her, only for Rita to reveal that Professor Escobar is actually her husband. Gordon and West ride into the sunset on the spider.

Cast[edit]

• Will SmithasU.S. Army Captain James T. "Jim" West
• Kevin KlineasU.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon / U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant
• Kenneth Branagh as Dr. Arliss Loveless
• Salma Hayek as Rita Escobar
• Ted Levine as General "Bloodbath" McGrath
• M. Emmet Walsh as US Marshal Coleman
• Bai Ling as Miss Mae Lee East
• Rodney A. Grant as Hudson
• Garcelle Beauvais as Belle
• Musetta Vander as Munitia
• Sofia Eng as Miss Lippenreider
• Frederique van der Wal as Amazonia
• Gary Carlos Cervantes as Professor Escobar
• Michael Sims as Professor Thaddeus Morton
• Jerry Potter as Plantation Owner George Washington at Gala
• Ian Abercrombie as British Dignitary
• Ismael 'East' Carlo as Mexican Dignitary
• Orestes Matacena as Spanish Dignitary
• Christian Aubert as French Dignitary
• E.J. Callahan as Allan Pinkerton
• Debra Christofferson as Dora Lookalike
• Scott Sandler as Young Joe Finnegan (uncredited)
• Derek Mears as "Metal Head" (uncredited)
• David Lea as Thug With Knife (uncredited)

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

Variety first reported in January 1992 that Warner Bros. had optioned the film rightstoMichael Garrison's television show The Wild Wild West, and hired Richard Donner to direct a film adaptation written by Shane Black, with Mel Gibson in the role of Jim West (Donner coincidentally directed three episodes of the original series). However, Donner and Gibson left the project to work on a film adaptation of Maverick (another film based on a Western TV series) in 1994. Despite this, the project continued in the development stage, with Tom Cruise rumored for the lead in 1995. Cruise instead starred in a film adaptation of Mission: Impossible the following year.^[5]

Discussions with Will Smith and Barry Sonnenfeld began in February 1997 after the two had wrapped up production on Men in Black for Columbia Pictures the same year.^[6] Warner Bros. pursued George Clooney to co-star with Smith as Artemus Gordon, with Kevin Kline, Matthew McConaughey and Johnny Depp also in contention for the role while screenwriters S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock (best known for writing the Short Circuit and Tremors films) were hired by the studio to script the film between April and May 1997.^[7] Clooney signed on the following August after dropping out of Jack Frost, while the Wilson-Maddock script was rewritten by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman (best known for writing the films Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Doc Hollywood).^[8] However in December 1997, Clooney was replaced by Kline after an agreement with Sonnenfeld: "Ultimately, we all decided that rather than damage this project trying to retrofit the role for me, it was better to step aside and let them get someone else."^[9]

Writing[edit]

The film featured several significant changes from the television series. For instance, Dr. Loveless, as portrayed by Kenneth Branagh in the film, went from a dwarf to a man without legs who uses a steam-powered wheelchair (similar to that employed by the villain in the episode "The Night of the Brain"); his first name was also changed from Miguelito to Arliss and was given the motive of a Southerner who sought the defeat of the North after the Civil War. Kevin Kline plays Artemus Gordon in the film, whose character is similar to the show's version of him portrayed by Ross Martin, except that he is much more egotistical than Jim West. The film depicted Kline's Gordon creating more ridiculous, humorous, and implausible inventions than those created by Martin's Gordon in the original series, as well as having an aggressive rivalry with West, unlike in the television series where he and West had a very close friendship and trusted each other with their lives. While Gordon did indeed impersonate Grant in three episodes of the series ("The Night of the Steel Assassin", "The Night of the Colonel's Ghost" and "The Night of the Big Blackmail"), they were not played by the same actor. Additionally, West was originally portrayed by Robert Conrad, a Caucasian rather than an African American, which serves a critical plot point as West's parents were among the victims of Loveless's massacre at New Liberty.

Jon Peters produced the film alongside director Sonnenfeld. In a 2002 Q&A event that appears on An Evening with Kevin Smith, filmmaker Kevin Smith talked about working as a screenwriter for Peters on a fifth potential Superman film in 1997. He revealed that Peters demanded, among other things, that Superman fight a giant spider in the third act.^[10] After Batman director Tim Burton came onboard, Smith's script was scrapped and the film was never produced due to further complications. A year later, he noted that Wild Wild West, with Peters on board as producer, was released with the inclusion of a giant mechanical spider in the final act.^[11] Neil Gaiman also revealed that Peters insisted that a giant mechanical spider be included in a proposed film adaptation of The Sandman.^[12]

Filming[edit]

Principal photography was set to begin in January 1998, but was pushed three months later to April 22, 1998.^[13] The interior sequences on the trains of both Artemus Gordon and Dr. Loveless were shot on sets at Warner Bros. Burbank Studios, 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, while the exterior sequences were shot in Idaho on the Camas Prairie Railroad. The Wanderer in the film is portrayed by the Baltimore & Ohio 4–4–0 No. 25, one of the oldest operating steam locomotives in the U.S. Built in 1856 at the Mason Machine WorksinTaunton, Massachusetts, it was later renamed The William Mason in honor of its manufacturer.^[14] During preproduction, the engine was sent to the steam shops at the Strasburg Rail Road for restoration and repainting.^[14] The locomotive is brought out for the B&O Train Museum in Baltimore's "Steam Days". The William Mason and the Inyo (which was the locomotive used in the original television series) both appeared in the 1956 Disney film The Great Locomotive Chase.

Much of the Wild West footage was shot around Santa Fe, New Mexico, particularly at the western town film set at the Cook Movie Ranch (now Cerro Pelon Ranch). During the shooting of a sequence involving stunts and pyrotechnics, a planned building fire grew out of control and quickly overwhelmed the local fire crews that were standing by. Much of the town was destroyed before the fire was contained.^[15]

Music[edit]

The orchestral film score, including its main theme, was composed and conducted by Elmer Bernstein, a veteran of many Western film scores such as The Magnificent Seven. The score mainly follows the Western genre's symphonic tradition, while at times also acknowledging the film's anachronistic playfulness by employing a more contemporary music style with notable rock percussion and electronic organ. The score also briefly incorporates Richard Markowitz's theme from the original television series in one cue (uncredited in the film and not included on the album); ironically, this was one of the film's few elements that were faithful to the series, which also did not credit Markowitz for the theme. Additional parts of the score were composed by Bernstein's son Peter, while his daughter Emilie served as one of the orchestrators and producers.

Like most of his films during this period, Will Smith recorded a hip hop song based on the film's plot, also titled "Wild Wild West". "Wild Wild West" was a number-one hit on the U.S. pop charts, though it also won a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song. It was produced by Rob Fusari, who lifted a sample from Stevie Wonder's 1976 hit "I Wish". The song also features guest vocals from R&B group Dru Hill, and was a star-making vehicle for Dru Hill lead singer Sisqó. Old-school rapper Kool Moe Dee had previously recorded a "Wild Wild West" single of his own in 1987, to which he re-performs the chorus from his old "Wild Wild West" as the chorus of this new "Wild Wild West". A performance of the song by Smith, Dee, Dru Hill, and Sisqo at the 1999 MTV Movie Awards also included Wonder performing a reprise of the chorus on piano.^[16]

Score[edit]

Score Deluxe Edition[edit]

Release[edit]

Upon release on June 30, 1999, alongside Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros.' R-rated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, several news reports arose stating that adolescent moviegoers purchased tickets into seeing the PG-13-rated Wild Wild West in theaters, but instead went to see the South Park film.^[17] This was a result of a film industry crackdown that made sneaking into R-rated films tougher for children, as proposed by U.S. President Bill Clinton at the time in response to the moral panic generated by the Columbine High School massacre, which had occurred two months before the release of both films.^[18]

Marketing[edit]

Warner Bros. heavily promoted Wild Wild West as an anticipated summer blockbuster instead of Brad Bird's animated film The Iron Giant, which was released two months after Wild Wild West. This sparked controversy as The Iron Giant was becoming more critically successful than the critically-panned Wild Wild West upon release, despite eventually underperforming at the box office due to the studio deciding to spend their money on marketing for Wild Wild West among other films.^[19][20]

Home media[edit]

Warner Home Video released Wild Wild WestonVHS and DVD on November 30, 1999, on LaserDisc on December 28, 1999,^[21] and on Blu-ray on May 29, 2011.^[22]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

Wild Wild West grossed $27,687,484 during its opening weekend, with a total of $40,957,789 for the Independence Day weekend and ranking first at the North American box office.^[23] It dropped into second place below American Pie in its second weekend, making $16.8 million.^[24] The film ended its theatrical run on October 10, 1999 after five months, having grossed $113,804,681 domestically and $108,300,000 overseas for a worldwide total of $222,104,681 against a production budget of $170 million, making it commercially unsuccessful.^[2]

Critical response[edit]

Wild Wild West was met with generally negative reviews from film critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 16% based on reviews from 131 critics, with an average rating of 4.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Bombastic, manic, and largely laugh-free, Wild Wild West is a bizarre misfire in which greater care was lavished upon the special effects than on the script."^[25]OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 38 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[26] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.^[27]

Roger EbertofThe Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one star out of four, writing that "Wild Wild West is a comedy dead zone. You stare in disbelief as scenes flop and die. The movie is all concept and no content; the elaborate special effects are like watching money burn on the screen."^[28] Janet MaslinofThe New York Times gave the film a negative review, saying that the film "leaves reality so far behind that its storytelling would be arbitrary even by comic-book standards, and its characters share no common ground or emotional connection."^[29]

Accolades[edit]

Wild Wild West later ranked in the listed bottom 20 of the Stinkers' "100 Years, 100 Stinkers" list (which noted the 100 worst films of the 20th century) at #2, but lost to Battlefield Earth.^[31][32]

Soundtrack[edit]

A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on June 15, 1999, by Interscope Records and Overbrook Music. It peaked at number four on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Video game[edit]

Anaction-adventure video game titled Wild Wild West: The Steel Assassin was developed and released by SouthPeak Interactive on December 7, 1999, almost six months following the film's release.

Lawsuit[edit]

In 1997, writer Gilbert Ralston sued Warner Bros. over the upcoming feature film based on the series. Ralston helped create the original television series The Wild Wild West and scripted the pilot episode "The Night of the Inferno". In a deposition, Ralston explained that in 1964, he had been approached by producer Michael Garrison, who "said he had an idea for a series, good commercial idea, and wanted to know if I could glue the idea of a Western hero and a James Bond type together in the same show".^[33] Ralston said he then created the Civil War characters, the format, the story outline and nine drafts of the script that were the basis for the television series. It was his idea, for example, to have a secret agent named Jim West who would perform secret missions for a bumbling President Grant.

Ralston's experience brought to light a common Hollywood practice of the 1950s and 1960s when television writers who helped create popular series allowed producers or studios to take credit for a show, thus cheating the writers out of millions of dollars in royalties. However, Ralston died in 1999 before his suit was settled, resulting in Warner Bros. paying his family between $600,000 and $1.5 million.^[34]

See also[edit]

• List of Western films of the 1990s
• List of steampunk works

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Wild Wild West.

• Wild Wild WestatIMDb
• Wild Wild WestatAllMovie
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