Wild Bill
by Walter Hill
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DVD details
Actor: Diane Lane, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Bridges, John Hurt, Keith CarradineDirector: Walter Hill
Brand: TCFHE/MGM
Cinematographer: Lloyd Ahern II
Writer: Walter Hill
Producer: Gary Daigler
Producer: Lili Fini Zanuck
Producer: Richard D. Zanuck
Writer: Peter Dexter
Writer: Thomas Babe
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-04-02
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Wild Bill
DVD Review: Good western from Walter Hill
Summary: 4 Stars
It's always good to see a western about Wild Bill. Nearly half of the westerns made concern either Wyatt Earp, Jesse James or Billy the Kid. Wild Bill was equally as famous in his time, but films on him have been few and far in between - "Wild Bill Hickock" (1923) with William S. Hart and "The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock" (1938 serial) with Wild Bill Elliott are the only two films to focus on Bill, although he has made cameo appearances in a dozen more films (e.g., "The White Buffalo", "Little Big Man", "Calamity Jane"), and he did have his own TV series from 1951-8 with Guy Madison.
Fellow lawman Wyatt Earp, in contrast, has had more than a dozen films about his life and he has been played by such notables as Randolph Scott, Henry Fonda, Joel McCrea, Burt Lancaster, James Stewart, James Garner, Kurt Russell, and Kevin Kostner
"Wild Bill" is a 1995 western starring Jeff Bridges in the title role. Written and directed by Walter Hill of "Deadwood" and "Long Riders" fame, the film has a great supporting cast that includes John Hurt, James Gammon, Ellen Barkin, David Arquette, and Diane Lane, with brief appearances from James Remar, Keith Carradine, Bruce Dern, Christina Applegate, and Marjoe Gortner.
Jeff Bridges may be best known for re-playing the role of Rooster Cogburn from 2010's version of "True Grit" and for his Oscar winning role in "Crazy Heart" (2009). In fact, Bridges was nominated 4 other times for "The Contender" (2000), "Starman" (1984), "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" (1975), and "The Last Picture Show" (1971).
Ellen Barkin plays Calamity Jane. No one exudes sex like Barkin, and her work in films like "The Big Easy" (1987) and "Sea of Love" (1989) is exceptional. She briefly retired from films when she married billionaire Ron Perlman, but after their divorce, she returned. She was twice nominated for a Golden Globe ("Switch" in 1991 and "Before Women Had Wings" in 1997) and won an Emmy for "Before Women Had Wings".
The beautiful Diane Lane plays the mother of the man (David Arquette) who wants to kill Bill for having deserted his mother. Among her 50+ films and TV roles she was nominated for an Oscar for "Unfaithful" (2002) and Emmy nominated for her work in "Lonesome Dove" (1989). I liked her best in films like "Rumble Fish" (1983) and especially "Streets of Fire" (1984).
Beautiful and extremely funny Christina Applegate plays a $5 prostitute who helps Arquette. We know Applegate best as Kelly Bundy from the hilarious "Married with Children" (1987-97), but after graduating from that series she's gone on to earn 4 Emmy nominations and 1 win ("Friends"), 3 Golden Globe nominations ("Samantha Who?"), and won the People's Choice award twice (1999-2009).
James Gammon (1940-2010) as Bill's friend, California Joe, is the scene stealer. Gammon's rough face and deep, gravelly voice are known from more than 100 films and TV roles, the most prominent of which was Nash Bridges' father in the "Nash Bridges" (1996-2001) series and the manager in "Major League" (1989) and the sequel.
Keith Carradine, Bruce Dern, James Remar, and Marjoe Gortner all do excellent jobs in their very brief appearances. One wonders what such name talent is doing in such minor roles, especially since only Carradine (McCabe & Mrs. Miller", "Long Riders", "Annie Oakley", "Last Stand at Sabre River") and Dern ("The War Wagon", "Will Penny", "Hang `em High", "The Cowboys") have much of a track record in westerns.
Walter Hill won the DGA for his work on the TV series "Deadwood" (2004) and the TV mini series "Broken Trail" (2006), but his more famous distinctions are directing films like "48 Hrs." (1982) and producing the "Alien" films (1979, 1986, 1992). Despite working in many genres, his most popular work is in westerns and his favorite directors were directors of western films (e.g., Ford, Hawks, Peckinpah, Leone).
The film received no nominations for major awards. Roger Ebert thought that Bridges "is not in the right role" and the "movie tries for poetry and elegy [but]doesn't get there." In contrast, The San Francisco Chronicle said "these shootouts are explosive and artfully staged" and called it "an audacious wallow in violence and Western legend". The Washington Post claims "Hill evokes the great westerns of the past".
If critical comment was mixed, viewers were not. The film grossed a mere $2 million in a year in which the top grossing films made in excess of $200 million or more. With a production budget of $30 million, the film was a commercial failure. 1995 was not a particularly good year for westerns. No western was nominated for any major award, and the major films that year were "Apollo 13", "Babe", "Braveheart", "Casino", "Dead Man Walking", "Heat", "Nixon", "Seven", "Toy Story" and "The Usual Suspects". Prior to this, "Unforgiven" won an Oscar in 1992 and "Tombstone" (1993) and "Wyatt Earp" (1994) had been hits.
The film is action packed with several flashbacks to savage gun fights involving Wild Bill, interspersed with the slow and steady slowdown between Bill and his stalker. It's certainly one of the better westerns, though not in the same class as "The Searchers", "The Wild Bunch", "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid", etc.
Description of Wild Bill
He was a legend in his own time...and for all time. Jeff Bridges portrays Wild Bill Hickok, the hard-drinking, quick-shooting gunslinger who lived on the edge. Hickok's amazing story is told with a stunning visual style and lightning-fast pace, illuminating one of the most exciting heroes of the American West. Wild Bill is "an action-packed masterpiece" (Paul Wunder, WBAI Radio). In the town of Deadwood, South Dakota, Wild Bill must face his most lethal enemy. A mysterious stranger (David Arquette) has arrived announcing that he will not leave until Hickok is dead. Wild Bill finds comfort in the arms of sexy Calamity Jane (Ellen Barkin), but he is haunted by the memory of the one woman he truly loveda longing that could ultimately bring about his downfall. As Hickok andhis opponent near their explosive confrontation, the stage is set for a powerful climax unsurpassedin high drama and edge-of-your-seat excitement.Audiences overlooked this film, one of the better westerns in several years, featuring yet another terrific performance by Jeff Bridges, America's most underrated movie actor. As James Butler Hickock, he captures the sense of a man at the end of his career, one of the first media superstars who discovers that his legend is more burden than blessing. As he heads toward his final hand of poker in Deadwood, South Dakota, he flashes back to his younger days and the events that built his reputation, even as he copes with encroaching blindness caused by syphilis. Walter Hill blends action and elegy, utilizing a screenplay based both on Pete Dexter's novel Deadwood and on Thomas Babe's play Fathers and Sons. Wild Bill features strong supporting performances by John Hurt (as a Hickock sidekick) and Ellen Barkin (as the tough, lusty Calamity Jane)--but the centerpiece is the sad, manly performance by Bridges, who more than measures up to the part. --Marshall Fine
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