Alicia I love this movie so much

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Rick Minnich I loved watching "The Wild Wild West" while growing up in California, and I'm loving watching the DVD box set with my kids thirty years later in Germany. "The Wild Wild West" is timeless: Terrific acting, fantastic gadgets, fun villains, gorgeous women, and beautiful colors and costumes. Plus the humor and irony are impeccable. The title music and animation are also a real treat.As a boy, I wanted nothing more than to be James West and to cruise around the country in his amazing train. As a middle-aged man, my dream is as vivid as ever, enjoyed all over again through the eyes of my kids.I can highly recommend this series to fans of James Bond, The Avengers, and Westerns. It's a wonderful blend of them all, and definitely very stylish.

John T. Ryan THE EMERGENCE OF Ian Fleming's JAMES BOND as an eminently successful series of movies put the film genre of the Secret Agent on he front burners of all of the Hollywood movie & Television production companies. Within a few years, we witnessed a procession of Spy Epics such as THAT MAN IN IATANBUL (with Horst Bucholz), OUR MAN LIKE FLINT & IN LIKE FLINT (with James Coburn) and Mel Brooks & Buck Henry's TV spoof, GET MART (with Don Adams & Barbara Feldon).BUT SOMEWHERE ALONG the way, the notion of producing a sort of hybrid series; being a cross breed between the red-hot Spy Story, with the perennially popular Western. The series would have to have a Lead who had the physical make-up to do the action and Martial Arts Combat scenes in a very convincing manner; while still being able to deliver some very clever serio-comic dialog-much in the same manner (though not to the same degree) as Adam West's BATMAN would do, about a quarter of a year later.IN CHOOSING THE Lead in Robert Conrad's "James West", the production team couldn't have done a better job. Mr. Conrad's physique packs on plenty of muscle on a basically average sized frame & height; adding plenty of speed, agility and athletic ability to boot. Screen & TV veteran Conrad was undoubtedly at time viewed as one of those many "James Dean Types".* AS A SORT OF intellectual counter balance, they presented us with an experienced actor; who could portray the cerebral member of the team in a sort of eccentric, yet complimentary manner to the Action Hero's physical prowess. (This is not to say that the brains & brawn elements are or should be mutually exclusive to either Team Member!) CASTING THE ROLE of "Artemus Gordon" with Ross Martin gave th stories a certain range that may not have been reached with actors. He had a versatility range that was truly long and wide. Drama, Tragedy, Comedy or Farce were all well within his range and he often displayed many of these in a single episode.** IN MUCH THE same manner as we would view an adaptation of a Jules Verne SCi Fi epic, the production opted for what can only be described as "Retro Futuristic" in its looks and its on screen representation of technology yet to come. It's at once a before and after view of what would have been then considered to be "fantastic." In essence, we're looking 'forward' from the late 1860's during the Administration of Ulyses S. Grant. Get what we mean?THERE WAS A CONSCIOUS effort to use 'futuristic' (for the times) technology and inventions/weapons. Also, Agents West and Gordon had many useful 'weapons' in their belts, shoes, coats, hats, underwear, etc,; much like Bond/007 and Batman's Utility Belt. THE SERIES WAS laden with many Guest Stars (in much the same way as the ABC 20th Century-Fox BATMAN Series did); and both the series and the appearing stars benefited from riding the crest of popularity that it rode during its 4 seasons on the tube.ONE OTHER FACTOR THAT should be mentioned is that of the outstanding dialog that was written for Mr. Robert Conrad and Mr. Ross Martin. It contributed to the fun sand success in no small way!NOTE: * Like everything else in Hollywood, success breeds copycat entries. Other members of this "type" include Nick Adams.NOTE ** As testament to Mr. Martin's versatility, just screen EXPERIMENT IN TERROR to see him as a most creepy and scary villain. His talent for varied dialects was put to good use on a short lived adaptation of the Quality Comocs' feature, BLACKHAWK; in which Martin did the voices of 7 different characters of 6 different ethnicities!

ShadeGrenade It is 1965, and James Bond mania is sweeping the world. 'Goldfinger' had been released the previous year, and 'Thunderball' was waiting in the wings for take-off. Wisecracking spies armed with dandy gadgets became the new heroes of the day. Television got in on the act too. In the wake of 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.', there was 'Mission: Impossible', 'Honey West', 'Amos Burke Secret Agent', 'I Spy', the sitcom 'Get Smart' and, of course, this. Created by Michael Garrison, 'The Wild Wild West' focused on two U.S. government agents - James West ( Robert Conrad ) and Artemus Gordon ( Ross Martin ) who operated in the Wild West of the 1880's. Answerable only to President Ulysses S.Grant, they regularly saved America from all manner of evil doers, among them the diminutive genius Dr.Migelito Loveless ( Michael Dunn ). West and Gordon were like Solo and Kuryakin in that the former was a man of action while the latter a master of disguise. They travelled everywhere in a special train - 'The Wanderer' - fitted out with gadgets.The show cleverly combined Bond-style espionage with the more traditional Western. Some of the plot lines were outlandish enough to give 'The Avengers' and 'Batman' a run for their money - in 'The Night Of The Raven', Dr.Loveless plans to shrink the Human Race so that he can become its ruler, 'The Night Of The Flying Pie Plate' has three beautiful women posing as green skinned Venusians, and 'The Night Of The Burning Diamond' had a villain melting down diamonds to create an elixir to make him invisible! Time travel figured in 'The Night Of The Lord Of Limbo' while in 'The Night Of The Surreal McCoy' Dr.Loveless finds a way to plant murderers inside forged paintings, and then release them to kill world leaders! 'West' was marvellous, campy fun. Conrad did most of his own stunts, and even by today's standards the fights are convincing and exciting. He clicked with co-star Martin, the plots and gadgets were outrageous, beautiful girls of the calibre of Jean Hale and Antoinette Bower abounded, and it had one of the best theme tunes ever. The impressive list of guest stars included Boris Karloff, Richard Pryor, and 'Rat Packers' Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis Junior!Four seasons were made. An attempt was made in its third year to move it towards a more traditional Western format yet it never sank quite as low as 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' did in its third season. There were a few problems though - Conrad was injured so badly in one episode the season had to be curtailed, and when Martin had a heart attack a different actor took his place ( as another character ) until he recovered.In 1979, West and Gordon were reunited for 'The Wild Wild West Revisited' and then 'More Wild Wild West' ( both directed by Burt Kennedy ), but these failed to capture the flavour of the original, coming across more as half-baked spoofs. Then in 1999, Barry Sonnenfeld's movie version starred Will Smith and Kevin Kline, with Kenneth Branagh as 'Loveless'. Smith and Branagh were badly miscast, and, despite having many good points ( such as Salma Hayek's backside and that giant mechanical spider ), it bombed.The now-defunct 'Bravo' channel on Sky Television repeated the last three seasons in the mid-'90's ( shame on them for missing out the first ) and the entire series is available on D.V.D. in the States.Even if you do not like Westerns, 'West' is well worth seeking out.

neosildrake This is probably one of the best TV-Shows of all times. The actors are brilliant, the stories range from petty crime to world domination schemes and every episode you ask yourself: "What have they come up with this time?" No matter how trivial the plot seems to be, even a simple murder-chase turns into a story filled with hidden deathtraps and very unique methods of killing people. This show has something for everyone and I never ever met a person who didn't like the show... after he/she decided to watch it despite it being from the 60s and not featuring CGI-monsters or tons of blood or sex.They don't make things like this anymore, which is a shame. Not that todays shows are boring but... they can hardly be called unique anymore. I think there's no show out there that can be compared to The Wild Wild West, simply because it has spread its plot-wings so wide. And they actually pulled off the impossible - uniting several genres like western, action, crime, sci-fi, comedy, mystery and supernatural. Never again did it get this wild in the west and it probably never will.The chemistry between the actors was a major factor in the success as were the various villains. I think Michael Dunn and Victor Buono were mentioned by nearly everyone who reviewed and they are right. While you root for Jim and Artie, you cannot help and at least slightly cheer for the eccentric Count Manzappi and especially the genius Dr. Miguelito Loveless too. While you do not want to meet them in a dark alley, you still kinda like them.The movie with Will Smith was terrible. Every character was so... un-WildWildWest-ish. A great disappointment for those who actually knew the series beforehand.To all out there who still haven't seen this: You missed out great TV history. get the DVDs and watch it!