Wild Wild West (BD) [Blu-ray]

OK, so this is a silly movie. It's more steampunk than western, and it certainly turned a few tropes on their head here and there. But, bear with me -It's Will Smith in his prime. It's Kevin Kline in his prime. Their on-screen chemistry is a bit shaky at first, but they grow into comrades. R Emmett Walsh! Kevin Branaugh chews every scene he is in, with delightful nonchalance. The puns are terribly...funny. Boobage galore, AND Salma Hayek's bum to boot!What's not to like? It shares the name of the tv series, but that is about it. It's a wild romp with explosions, a decent enough story and if you disconnect your brain a tad, it's wonderfully fun!There really should have been several sequels. I wish they had diverted the money from the MIB sequels to make some for this fine, fine film.

Entertaining movie, keeps you going and interested. Enjoy watching this about once a year.

A classic Will Smith movie that I watch every opportunity I can!

Great movie. Played without issue

I loved the TV series as a kid and couldn't wait to see this version in the movie theaters. While it was a fairly far deviation from the TV series, i enjoyed it. I guess I can understand why it was critically panned but maybe the expectation just needed to be adjusted. I mean, movies like this are supposed to be an escape from reality and i remember thinking the TV show always seemed a little far -fetched given its supposed time frame (e.g. Arty's inventions) so I was ok with this movie taking on the same tone with the ridiculousness of the "mechanical" creations.Another place I think the movie was criticized for was the confusion as to whether it was supposed to be a comedy or not. I did just re -watch it and I think some of the humor, especially the racist/ sexist references, is similar to stuff you would see in spoofs today like Key&Peele or even SNL sketches - irreverent and ironic, but maybe want as acceptable as in the 90's. I found myself LOL at the leggless jokes and the scene where Will Smith is trying to talk his way out of being lynched. Watching the movie today(2017), I thought i could see this becoming a "cult classic" because of that type of irreverant humor, the use of 007-like gadgetry(anachronistic as they were), and the over the top acting. Overall, it's worth watching to escape reality for a while.

Love this movie

Note: this is my third disc; the first two were DVDs and each eventually halted toward the end, presumably at the layer change. Hopefully the BD will avoid doing that.This film captures the spirit of the TV show (as I remember it from long ago) quite well. It also navigates a nation still divided over the recent war and the end of slavery quite well.If you haven't seen it, do so. If you have, see it again.

This movie gets a lot of grief, and it's easy to see why. A TV show from the childhoods an entire generation (it was made in the 1960s and syndicated as a rerun in the 1970s) is made into a movie at a time when the show is not fresh in anyone's minds nor readily available on home video. The generation remembers adventure in the Old West with a James Bond twist, great production values and characters who were super cool. Yes, that generation is right, but in the years that have passed, they forgot (like the makers of some of the recent James Bond movies) what made the show so much fun. It never took itself quite seriously.With The Wild Wild West available on DVD now, it's still cool to hate the movie and love the TV series even if you've never watched it or haven't since the 70s. Well, I'm not going to comment on the collective's ability to dismiss what is a perfectly fun movie as trash while having no recent memory of the show the movie is based on. What I am going to say is that Wild Wild West actually does a great job of bringing the spirit of the 1960s TV show to a modern audience. If there hadn't been so much belly-aching when it came out, it could have started a new generation loving the old show. Of course, Robert Conrad's outspoken criticism of the movie didn't help.I am a big (read: freaking huge) fan of The Wild Wild West. It combined the adventure of the Old West with the intrigue and suspense of James Bond. The main attraction, of course, is the playful relationship between Jim West and Artemus Gordon (or, if you're a woman with simple tastes, Robert Conrad's sculpted behind in tight pants). Each episode had a similar structure - Jim and Artie have to protect someone or something, that someone or something is stolen or kidnapped, they track down the culprit who turns out to be a lunatic with some strange idea of taking over the country or the world, Jim goes in with guns blazing and gets captured, Artie goes in with a disguise and breaks Jim out, then they both get captured and put in an elaborate death trap from which they escape using their genius and Artie's gadgetry, and, in the end, Jim gets the girl while Artie is left to make the coffee on the Wanderer (their train). Each episode had its own take on that format, but that was sort of the standard plot.Artie's gadgets on the show were usually simple - buttons that burned through wood, a derringer on a rail in Jim's sleeve, glasses that allow one to see certain chemicals. The villains had more elaborate displays - a bubbling machine that runs on the brains of geniuses, a giant flamethrower cannon, and various death traps that used lightning or solar energy. The king lunatic of their enemies was the resourceful Dr. Loveless, played by the absolutely irreplaceable Michael Dunn.While there was no way a movie without Robert Conrad, Ross Martin, and Michael Dunn could entirely capture the spirit of the original show, the writers made an honest attempt. In fact, besides the obvious story arc similarities, there were numerous references to the TV show including Selma Hayek's story which matches a first-season episode in which the main woman (Chinese rather than Mexican) turns out to be married. Some of the gadgetry from the show appears in the film. Dr. Loveless is probably the strangest deviation from the original show with his exaggerated southern accent and missing bottom half of his body rather than simply short stature. The main criticisms most people have of the film are that it had too many one-liners and a lot of over-the-top machines. As for the one-liners... the original show is full of them! Jim and Artie make bad puns constantly, and Jim delivers one-liners with the gusto of the worst of James Bond (but still retains his awesome dignity because he's freaking Robert Conrad). The machines were simply a product of modern movie-making. The gadgetry of the original show would seem incredibly tame to modern audiences because it was stuff that could be built easily and quickly (and cheaply) for many episodes in one season. In a movie, you can make a lot of big stuff or animate a lot of big stuff, so they did. And all of the gadgets are pretty darn cool-looking, even the bemoaned giant spider. It's funny, but at the time the movie came out, another movie came out called Atlantis: The Lost Empire. This Disney vehicle was also criticized for being strange. Yet, today people have realized that it was actually a neat movie because that steampunk aesthetic caught on.Sadly, no one will accept that over-the-top steampunk look in Wild Wild West because they're too busy comparing it to their finest memories of the Wild Wild West TV show, and that's too bad because it's a fun movie. Hey, whatever floats your boat, but don't go telling me that I shouldn't be having fun watching something I like.