Honestly, if you were around in the summer of 1999, you remember the hype. It was inescapable. Will Smith was the biggest movie star on the planet, fresh off Men in Black and Independence Day. He even turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix to make this. Let that sink in for a second. The Wild Wild West movie wasn't just a blockbuster; it was supposed to be the definitive cinematic event of the decade. Instead, we got a 170 million dollar steampunk western with a giant mechanical spider and some of the strangest tonal shifts in Hollywood history.
It’s easy to joke about it now. Everyone does. But looking back at it with fresh eyes, there’s something almost admirable about how weird it is. It’s a relic of a time when studios would hand over obscene amounts of money for original, risky visions, even if those visions involved Kevin Kline dressing up as a southern belle or Kenneth Branagh playing a legless villain named Dr. Arliss Loveless.
The Matrix Mistake and the 170 Million Dollar Gamble
Will Smith has been very vocal about this over the years. He’s admitted he wasn't happy with the final product. At the time, he was chasing the "biggest movie star" title so hard that he looked at the pitch for the Wild Wild West movie—a high-concept, gadget-filled action comedy—and saw a guaranteed hit. He passed on the Wachowskis. He passed on the red pill.
Why? Because the 1960s TV show it was based on had a cult following, and the director, Barry Sonnenfeld, had just struck gold with Smith in Men in Black. The logic was sound on paper. You take the "Buddy Cop" dynamic, move it to the 1860s, add some Jules Verne technology, and print money. But the production was plagued by expensive reshoots and a script that couldn't decide if it was a gritty western, a slapstick comedy, or a sci-fi epic.
By the time the film hit theaters, the budget had ballooned. 170 million dollars in 1999 was an astronomical sum. For context, that’s about 315 million in today’s money. You can see every penny on the screen, sure, but most of it went into that infamous 80-foot mechanical spider.
Jon Peters and the Giant Spider Obsession
You can't talk about the Wild Wild West movie without talking about producer Jon Peters. There is a legendary story told by screenwriter Kevin Smith about working with Peters on a failed Superman project. Peters apparently had three requirements for Superman: he shouldn't fly, he shouldn't wear the suit, and he had to fight a giant spider in the third act.
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When Superman Lives fell apart, Peters didn't let go of the spider. He just moved it.
A Strange Vision for the Frontier
The mechanical spider, known as the Tarantula, became the centerpiece of the film’s climax. It’s an impressive piece of practical and digital effects for the era, but it also highlights why the movie felt so "off" to audiences. One minute, Jim West is dealing with the very real, very dark history of the post-Civil War South, and the next, he’s dodging steam-powered buzzsaws launched from a wheelchair.
It’s jarring.
The chemistry between Will Smith’s James West and Kevin Kline’s Artemus Gordon is actually pretty decent when the script allows them to breathe. Kline plays Gordon as a brilliant, slightly arrogant tinkerer, a perfect foil to West’s impulsive man-of-action. But they’re often overshadowed by the production design. The film is cluttered. It's loud. It's busy.
What the Critics Got Right (and Wrong)
The reviews were, to put it lightly, brutal. Roger Ebert gave it one star, calling it a "precipitate plunge into the abyss." It won five Razzie Awards, including Worst Picture. People hated the sexual innuendo, which felt forced and occasionally creepy. They hated the villain’s cartoonish motivations.
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But was it really that bad?
If you watch it today, it’s actually a lot more fun than the "0% on Rotten Tomatoes" (actually 16%) reputation suggests. The costumes are incredible. The sets are massive. The "steampunk" aesthetic was way ahead of its time for a mainstream blockbuster. While The Mummy (released the same year) nailed the adventure-comedy balance much better, the Wild Wild West movie has a certain chaotic energy that you just don't see in the polished, formulaic Marvel movies of today.
Kenneth Branagh, a classically trained Shakespearean actor, is chewing so much scenery he probably didn't need a craft services table. He’s having a blast. His performance is ridiculous, but it’s committed. That’s the thing about this movie: nobody is phoning it in. They are all-in on this bizarre concept.
The Music Video Legacy
We also have to talk about the song. The "Wild Wild West" single featuring Sisqó and Dru Hill was a massive #1 hit. In a way, the music video—which cost 7 million dollars on its own—perfectly encapsulated the era’s "more is more" philosophy. It was the peak of the Will Smith "Theme Song" era. Even if people didn't like the movie, they were doing the line dance in the clubs for months.
Why We Still Talk About It
The Wild Wild West movie serves as a cautionary tale in Hollywood history. It marks the moment where the "Sonnenfeld Style"—characterized by wide-angle lenses and quirky, fast-paced dialogue—met its limit. It also signaled a shift in Will Smith’s career. After this, he began to pivot toward more serious fare like Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness, perhaps realizing that being a "franchise guy" required better script selection.
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It’s also a fascinating study in production design. The film utilized the expertise of Bo Welch, who worked on Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice. The "steampunk" elements—the nitro-cycles, the ear-trumpet hearing aids, the magnetic collars—are genuinely creative. If the story had been 20% more grounded, it might have started a whole new genre of Victorian sci-fi.
Factual Details You Might Have Forgotten
- The Budget: Officially 170 million, though some estimates suggest it pushed closer to 200 million with marketing.
- The Box Office: It grossed about 222 million worldwide. While that sounds like a lot, after the theaters took their cut, the movie was a significant financial loss for Warner Bros.
- The Cameos: Look closely and you'll see a young Sofia延ga (actually, it's not Sofia, it's Garcelle Beauvais and Frederique van der Wal) as part of Loveless's entourage.
- George Clooney: He was originally cast as Artemus Gordon but backed out because he didn't want to be a "sidekick."
Lessons from the Desert
What can we actually learn from this 1999 spectacle? First, that star power has limits. Even Will Smith at his peak couldn't save a script that lacked a cohesive soul. Second, that spectacle without stakes is just noise. You can build the coolest mechanical spider in the world, but if the audience doesn't care whether the heroes get squished by it, the tension evaporates.
However, the Wild Wild West movie is a great example of "maximalist" filmmaking. In an age where movies are often criticized for looking like flat, gray CGI soup, there is something refreshing about the vibrant, tactile world Sonnenfeld built. It’s a mess, but it’s a gorgeous, expensive, high-effort mess.
If you're going to revisit it, do it for the craft. Look at the practical effects. Appreciate the absurdity of a movie that features a scene where Will Smith has to escape a pair of flying, magnetized circular saw blades in a cornfield. It’s pure, unadulterated 90s cinema.
How to Appreciate the Film Today
If you’re planning a rewatch or introducing someone to this piece of cinema history, here are a few ways to make the most of it:
- Watch for the Practical Effects: Pay attention to the scenes inside the "Wanderer" (the train). The mechanical gadgets and hidden compartments are largely practical builds, not CGI.
- Contextualize the "Steampunk" Genre: Compare it to modern steampunk works. It’s one of the few times this aesthetic was given a massive budget.
- The Branagh Masterclass: Watch Kenneth Branagh’s performance specifically as a study in "high camp." It’s a complete departure from his usual work.
- Listen to the Soundtrack: Beyond the title track, the score by Elmer Bernstein (who scored The Magnificent Seven) is actually a very traditional, high-quality western score that contrasts hilariously with the onscreen madness.
The Wild Wild West movie isn't a masterpiece, and it never will be. But it is a singular moment in pop culture history—a giant, clanking, steam-powered reminder that sometimes, even the biggest stars can't outrun a giant mechanical spider.