MovieChat Forums > Wild Wild West (1999) Discussion > Why Remake the TV Show If...

Why Remake the TV Show If...

posted 9 years ago by Eric266
12 replies | jump to latest

...you're going to butcher the entire basis of the original show? I watched the original TV show as a kid and I did not always fully grasp the plots, but loved the action and gadgets. The chemistry between Robert Conrad and Ross Martin was undeniable.

Flash forward to this dreck. The casting of Will Smith started a serious downhill journey. I like Smith, I just detested him in this role. A black secret service agent in the Deep South just after the Civil War? Seriously? No one saw the absurdity of that? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? The way the character speaks to people, they would have shot him dead.

Kevin Kline (another actor I like) totally got Gordon wrong. He played him as an absent minded professor instead of a calculating genius. I know the idea was to capitalize on the name of the show as well as getting Smith into any movie while he was a hot commodity, no matter how stupid the premise. Still, this movie was a misfire on all fronts. A huge mechanical spider? Are you kidding me? Even in Men in Black, this stupid plot device would have seemed out of place, but the 1870s West? *beep*

The less said about Kenneth Branagh (yet another Hollywood talent I love) the better. His Dr. Loveless was a joke and needed to be in another movie. I also hated how they made all the villains and Southerners seem like stupid caricatures. In the original show, the villains and antagonists were not played for gags. These updated antagonists look like leftovers from the old Batman TV show. I fully expected to see big cartoonish "POW" and "WHAMMO" flash on the screen. Now that I think about it, this seemed like a remake of the old Batman series than the Wild Wild West series.

Had they just made an anachronistic western and not claimed it to be a remake of the TV show, it might have done better. As it is, its a horror and Smith has deservedly blasted it. He could have been freaking Neo for pete's sake.

My memory foam pillow says it can't remember my face. I can tell its lying.

[–] justanicknamed 9 years ago

I only saw the original in re-runs when I was a kid, so I couldn't tell you the nuances of the show. So, for me and anyone not really familiar with the show, the changes weren't any kind of issue.

What was an issue for me was when they started making racial jokes. Once you start with that, then you have to address the elephant in the room - most white people in the north didn't like blacks and didn't accept even well educated blacks as being equal.

So, similar to what you said, they wouldn't have responded to him they way they did in the movie.

The other thing that made me hate this movie was using the candle to project through the guy's eyes the last thing he ever saw. Hello??? Just because that wasn't proven to be wrong until many years later doesn't mean it was right back then.

And then there was the flying, magnetic saws......

[–] nerevar59 9 years ago

The miscasting is horrendous. Why does Hollywood remake classics with the lead as a black man? I,Robot,I am Legend, The Wild,Wild West,to name a few. Nick Fury? Johnny Storm?

[–] justanicknamed 9 years ago

I'm not bothered by it mostly when it doesn't affect the movie. I think in WWW they could have gotten away with it, but then they had to start making racist jokes. Because of that, they have to address the elephant in the room and admit that few people would have had the type of respect for Jim West in this movie as they showed.

As far as "I,Robot" & "I am Legend" goes, I don't see where either of those movies depend upon the race of the main actor.

Johnny Storm bothers me even though he's just supposed to be adopted. IMO, it is just a way to get more black people to watch the movies. Maybe try having better movies and more of all people will watch?

With regards to Nick Fury, years ago, Marvel Comics redid Fury SPECIFICALLY in Sam Jackson's image. He gave them permission, so it made sense when they put him on the screen they cast Jackson.

[–] nerevar59 9 years ago

Why appease a minority of the population? 13.7% !

[–] justanicknamed 9 years ago

Because, done correctly, you can increase revenues.

I seem to recall Men In Black was based upon a comic. I have no idea if either of the leads in the comics were black, but casting Will Smith helped with ticket sales. Nothing about Will's character was "black" per se, so only ignorant racists would have had a problem with him being in the movie.

What they lost in sales to them, they more than gained in black people ONLY going to see the movie because it had a popular, black actor in the lead.

[–] mmw_rocket 9 years ago

Will Smith was wildly popular in the 1990's. Smith was a huge box office draw and only getting someone like Tom Cruise would be more of a draw. It's not like he only brought in "black people". It's about money.

Race in "Wild Wild West" didn't work for various reasons mentioned but I Robot and I am Legend do not have to be white characters. Isaac Asimov was certainly no racist and had all sorts of "races" in his books with most of his characters, unless specified, could be any race. I Robot had a lot of things wrong with it (like basically everything) so for you to complain about the "race" (a made up concept invented to control you and make money) of the character that doesn't even exist in the book shows you have a giant chip on your shoulder. Looking at your board history many of your complaints are racial. For only being 13% of the population you seem to think about black people all of the time (and LOL on your comment about Afro French). Just because race is not mentioned of a character does not mean the character is necessarily white. I doubt you complained about the "white washing" in Starship Troopers, Edge of Tomorrow, or Legend of Earthsea.

If you can't deal with the fact that black people exist in the U.S. you can go move to Russia which is essentially a 100% white country and see how well that works out. Have fun repairing vacuums, playing x box and fapping off as a middle aged man.

[–] RugGuy 9 years ago

Like you I grew up with the show. The only disagreement I have with your post is the casting of Will Smith and (possibly setting it in the South). If the producers/director/writers/cast had gone with the elements of the show, Smith would have worked because he has the charm of William Conrad.

[–] manipool 9 years ago

Robert Conrad. William Conrad did the TV show "Cannon". I know who you meant though.

[–] Soodinum 9 years ago

Heard of "re-imagining"?

[–] Darwinskid 9 years ago

John Peters. Beginning and end of story. Watch An Evening With Kevin Smith and you'll get your answer as to how this movie became the trainwreck that it was. You know the giant mechanical spider? Originally was Peters' idea to have it in the Superman movie he was prepping with Smith writing and Tim Burton directing.

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

...you're going to butcher the entire basis of the original show?

It is a quite bizarre re-imagining of the show and I don't blame Robert Conrad for turning his back on the project. His ability to smell a rat in the works is only second to that of myself.🐭

[–] TMC-4 8 years ago

The original Wild Wild West w/ Robert Conrad was basically James Bond if it were a Western. Here, it seemed like the filmmakers were making a remake of Blazing Saddles.