Wild Wild West

Set in 1869, Wild Wild West follows two government agents, James West and Artemus Gordon, who are sent by President Ulysses S. Grant to deal with a dangerous threat to the nation. Their target is Dr. Arliss Loveless, a wealthy and unstable inventor whose plans and machines could do serious harm to the country. West is a straightforward man of action, while Gordon favours disguises and gadgets, and the two must work through their differences to stop Loveless. A mysterious performer, Rita Escobar, joins them, and much of the story unfolds aboard a specially equipped train.

Barry Sonnenfeld directed the film, which sits between Men in Black and Men in Black II in his filmography. Will Smith plays West, Kevin Kline plays Gordon, Kenneth Branagh plays Loveless, and Salma Hayek Pinault plays Rita Escobar, with M. Emmet Walsh and Ted Levine in supporting roles. The screenplay was written by Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman and Brent Maddock, and Sonnenfeld produced alongside Jon Peters. Made on a budget of 170 million US dollars, the film took about 222 million dollars worldwide.

Audience scores are low: on IMDb it holds 4.9 out of 10 from roughly 173,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.3 out of 10 from around 3,700 votes. A critics' rating of 4.1 out of 10, drawn from 130 reviews, sits below even the audience figures, so the film drew little favour from either group.