The Wild Wild West Revisited (1979 TV Movie) User Reviews

Jim & Arte - back in action!

[ShadeGrenade · 7/10 · 30 May 2011]

This made-for-television movie was my first real taste of 'The Wild Wild West'. It was shown in a peak-time slot one Saturday night on B.B.C.-1 in 1987. I enjoyed it then, but having seen the original series like it a lot less. It is now 1885, and both Jim West ( Robert Conrad ) and Artemus Gordon ( Ross Martin ) are no longer on active duty in the U.S. secret service, the former lives in Mexico, the latter is part of a travelling troupe of performers. Robert T. 'Skinny' Malone ( Henry Morgan a.k.a. 'Colonel Potter' of 'M#A#S#H' ), the new head of intelligence, brings them together for a perilous assignment - the son of the late Dr.Migelito Loveless ( Paul Williams ) has kidnapped the President of the U.S.A, Queen Victoria of England, the Tzar of Russia and the King of Spain and has replaced them with perfect doubles. The mad genius has also developed two super-humans he wittily calls 'Six Hundred Dollar People' as well as a prototype atomic bomb. West and Gordon's problems are further compounded by continual interference from other country's agents.

The director was Burt Kennedy, whose speciality was comedy Westerns such as 'Support Your Local Sheriff' and 'Support Your Local Gunfighter' ( both starring James Garner ). Unsurprisingly, much of 'Revisited' has a jokey feel rather at odds with the more subtle humour of the series. At times it threatens to turn into another 'Blazing Saddles'. Conrad and Martin were thankfully young enough to play their roles without looking too ancient, but even so West's fights are nowhere near as thrilling as before. And where are his famous gadgets? He gets out of a dungeon with the aid of a lock pick! How disappointing. In the old days West would probably have blown the door off with a tiny bomb produced from his sleeve. As 'Loveless', the cherubic Williams is far more menacing than Kenneth Branagh in the 1999 movie.

Jim and Arte re-teamed a year later for 'More Wild Wild West' which featured Jonathan Winters as an invisible villain. It was not much better than 'Revisited', and alas proved to be their swan-song.

The Old 1960s Series Played for Camp

[mrb1980 · 7/10 · 18 June 2017]

James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) are brought out of retirement in this engaging, if very campy, TV reunion movie from 1979. West and Gordon battle Miguelito Loveless, Jr. (Paul Williams), who has imprisoned several European heads of state in a dungeon and replaced them with doubles. Loveless also has a nuclear bomb with which he's menacing the world. In an ending reminiscent of the old series, West and Gordon manage to foil Loveless and escape in a most improbable manner.

Fans of the original series will notice a few differences. First, West uses very few of his famous Secret Service gimmicks such as the pistol up his sleeve and the explosives hidden in his boot heel. Second, the dialog and acting are comedic and very broad, almost to the point of ridiculing the characters. Some of the situations presented are pretty ridiculous.

Familiar faces such as Skip Homeier and Harry Morgan appear as Secret Service agents, and the familiar train is of course present. The beautiful Old Tucson filming locations are a big plus as well. Conrad and Martin are good, but the film suffers from its campy approach. It's still enjoyable to see the old duo back in action after 10 years, so if you liked the original series, you'll like this TV movie.

Flabby heroes explains many things.

[searchanddestroy-1 · 7/10 · 15 April 2019]

I have read comments which say that this TV movie is more a comedy than a serious adventure yarn. Of course it is. The original series, shot ten-fifteen years ago, could afford to be serious, because the overall genesis of the series was action packed sequences, with many stunts and not only from stunt men, but also the lead Robert Conrad, who was ten- fifteen years younger and also in a far far better shape, leaner and could show many more skills than in this TV movie. So, yes, I understand that the producers decided to compensate the lack of action sequences by more humor and comedy. Don't expect any fist fights from Jim West, or only a little. Forget what you saw in the past. But if you are a die hard fan of the show, don't hesitate to see it. It will be painful from time to time but rewarding.

Pro's & Con's

[jmlightis · 7 July 2000]

I was so excited when my ebay search found this video and then even more excited when I won it on the auction. I was really surprised when no one else bided on this video since I know that there are so many fans of this program. I never even new that this video originally existed till I surfed the web on The WWW sites. I still want to find the other video "More of The WWW." Now my thoughts on the video WWW Revisited. It was great to see them in action again. They looked great. Even though the production wasn't quite as good as the original TV series a little hammed up. Of course all reunion shows are never as good as the original. It was still very entertaining to see my heroes from my child hood back in action. I will say this. The start of the video about where Jim and Artie were in there retirement could not have been more perfect. It just seemed so natural that Artie would be traveling in a side show being that he was so dramatic and so able to act like so many different characters. And where else would Jim be but kicked back with beautiful women taking care of him. The producer/director must have let them write this part of the script, cause it seemed so "them." Now I want to know from someone what the hell happen when they were making this movie. And what idiot and how know one did anything to catch and change the script CAUSE JIM WEST WAS KNOWN FOR ALL HIS GADGETS. Jim West did not use any of his gadgets in this movie. Oh it showed him checking out a couple of tricks in the train but what were they thinking when they made this movie. No heel on the boot gadget, knife in the toe of the boot, gun up his sleeve, no nothing. What's up with this, blows my mind.

Fun

[s_pike · 7/10 · 8 February 2024]

Where is Johnathan Winters in the cast listing? He threatens to steal the show and is wonderful villain paradigm. More fun than later big budget version. A presage of Brisco County Junior. Era of poking fun at the cultural narrative of westerns and 007. Loved the steam punk one armed bandits. Pace slows but the surreality of the sets and nuclear bombs going off at regular intervals maintains a threat of urgency against the clever spoofs and twisted familiarity of steam punk renditions of the modern world. Joyce Brothers cameo is precious. Steam Punk takes off with Brisco, but its roots stretch back into wild Wild West.

West and Gordon still deliver!

[solar12 · 9/10 · 16 April 2010]

The classic espionage TV series The Wild Wild West, which ran from 1965 to 1969 on CBS, was followed by two TV movie sequels: The Wild Wild West Revisited (1979) and More Wild Wild West (1980). The original series episodes ranged from thrilling espionage episodes to more comedic and campy ones, but the follow-up TV movies continued only in the campy and comedic vein. That was considered a let down by some fans of the series who were hoping for something closer to the more serious episodes of the show. I can understand their viewpoint, but I found both movies entertaining for what they were: a fun bit of escapism featuring the reunion of two favorite characters and the actors who played them. The chemistry between these guys can't be beat. Both movies have their weak points, but Conrad and Martin, reunited as an older West and Gordon, make for fun viewing.

You can't go home again

[grendelkhan · 5/10 · 13 January 2007]

I was excited when I first heard about The Wild Wild West Revisted. I loved the original series and enjoyed Conrad's more recent series, Baa Baa Black Sheep. I was all set to see one of my favorite series reborn. I was soon to learn a harsh lesson: you can't recreate the past.

The movie finds Jim and Artie retired, but pressed back into service. Now, one thing they got right was not pretending that Jim and Artie were still young. Unfortunately, they used this to try to mine laughs, rather than drama. We are introduced to Dr. Loveless Jr., played by Paul Williams. It's a nice idea, and Williams tries hard, but it doesn't work (still better than Kenneth Branagh, though). Add 70's TV staples Shields and Yarnell, as steam era cyborgs (in a bad parody of The Six Million Dollar Man) and you have a complete mess.

The elements that made the show great are missing. There are no wild stunts, no clever gadgets or steampunk devices (Shields and Yarnell aside) and it's rather lacking in the bizarre, or at least interesting bizarre. The atomic bomb shtick also ends up to be overly jokey.

Conrad and Martin still had good chemistry, and it's fun to see them, but the material just wasn't there. Fan's would have been better off with a retrospective, or a more straightforward, dramatic script; but, instead, they get one big lame joke.

This was tongue in cheek.

[friggle · 9/10 · 21 November 2017]

The Wild Wild West lived at 7:30 (6:30 Central) on CBS / Friday nights. As I recall - for 5 years. A most enjoyable show especially for an 11 year old up through its cancellation. I must have seen all the episodes.

Now I remember in 1979 being at my parents home and watched it with my mom. We tuned it in because we liked the original. Nothing though can match laughing out loud with a parent after you are an adult.

This was done as a spoof of themselves. "Have you been sick?" No Artie why? He only went 6 feet when you hit him. West goes to pick up a girl at the saloon only to find out that she knows him because he use to date her mother.

Slam on the old age stuff - I liked it - it was what it was suppose to be. Just saw it again on DECADES TV. What a treat.

WW West Movie Missed the Mark

[dogma-53668 · 3/10 · 28 June 2021]

Though it was good to see them together again the script missed the mark. There wasn't the action and adventure just some corny jokes to cover up the fact that Jim West wasn't using his normal gadgets and fighting action. Artie wasn't up to his old self either. The Jokes were okay but it really wasn't full-blown the Wild Wild West. Too many things were missing. I haven't seen the second one yet but I get a feeling I'm going to be disappointed. I'm a big Wild Wild West TV series fan.

Pretty mild compared to the series, but it's ok

[MovieCriticMarvelfan · 17 January 2003]

Since no one has commented on this flick, I guess I am the first one that has seen it. The tv movie doesn't quite live up to the series as far as the gadgets, but like a tradional western it has bar fights, a damsel in distress and other action, but fans looking for gadgets or huge explosions might be disappointed. Saw it on digital cable (eat your heart out, cheap cable subscribers). LOL

Ironically there was another Wild Wild West tv movie in 1980.

Misguided but it's good to see West and Gordon

[aramis-112-804880 · 4 March 2024]

Doctor Loveless is dead (alas) but his son (Paul Williams) has apparently kidnapped a lot of world leaders and replaced them with doubles. We've seen it all before.

Too bad it's another Loveless. Michael Dunn was irreplaceable. They ought to have brought back another villain or made up a new one.

Whoever was responsible didn't take the material seriously. I hate that. It's the failing of so many reunions or reboots: they either ignore the sparks that made the originals work ("The Avengers," "The Wild Wild West"--Smith and Klein) or they refuse to take the material with a straight face. But when West and Gordon reunite there's magic in the air.

And for a supposed old coot, Robert Conrad still looks in pretty good shape and takes his shirt off (if you'll forgive the cliche) at the drop of a hat.