Wild Times

This is the basic western of man meets girl, looses girl.

The cast is second to none. Mini Series on TV Sam Elliott plays Hugh Cardiff an ex-Buffalo hunter. With his shooting skills he starts the following the shooting competitions.

At the shooting competitions he meets Ben Johnson and Timothy Scott, the 3 become good friends.

The threesome get into trouble and help each other out.

For a historical flare, the threesome even meet Wild Bill Hickok and go into business together.

While long for a movie, if you like to just sit down and watch one for a couple/three nights this one is a great one.

Some of the worst acting ever committed to film by name players. The story is weak, the score abysmal, the directing non existent. This may have been the film that doomed Sam Elliott to supporting roles, B movies and TV westerns following his bravura performance in "Once An Eagle." Dennis Hopper's mumbled lines take up about 30 seconds. Ben Johnson is sleepwalking through his role and the female lead would have had difficulty outshining the furniture. Poorly written, poorly directed and poorly acted. It is hard to understand the high ratings given by some reviewers. If the novel on which it was based was as bad as this two-part miniseries, it is hard to believe it was published. The horses were pretty good, however.

I like this show, it has an outstanding cast, a good plot and a very interesting story line. This is a fun movie to watch. I just wish someone would start making movie and/ or mini series like this again. This is so much better than the stuff that passes for entertainment now that it's pathetic. I cannot understand how shows like Deadwood can endure and shows like this not be available at all. This is one of the shows that should be available on DVD. This is one of the great westerns made for TV that in someone's infinite wisdom isn't available yet and may never be. It joins a list including "How the West Was Won" (maybe the best western series ever), The Lazurus Man and Peacemakers. "How the West Was Won" would draw a premium price.Single episode VHS tapes recorded from television are bringing $18.

I like this movie not because of the acting but because of the technical aspects. The movie takes place in the blackpowder era. I look for technical mistakes like using a 1873 Colt Peacemaker revolver in the 1860's or using a Winchester 1894 in the 1870's. Cardiff used muzzle loading, blackpowder, Plains Rifle with a octagon barrel, percussion cap ignition, and looked to be about at least .50 caliber. A muzzle loader like that takes a cloth patch surrounding the ball and then a ball with a short projection that is used to start the ball down the barrel. That is called a ball starter and one the ball is started the ramrod takes over. On the chest of Cardiff was a white handled small knife. That is a patch cutter. The cloth patch is put in front of the bore and a ball put in. The excess patch is cut off using that knife. Cardiff also used a Colt 1860 blackpowder revolver with percussion cap ignition. In the bar scene during the fight the person behind the bar pulled out a rolling block rifle ( you never see these in westerns). During the first shooting scene, Ben Johnson used a Winchester 1894 rifle with the front hand guard removed so it would resemble a Henry rifle. Lastly, watching the movie was like watching a film of family members who are no longer living. These actors are movie icons the likes of which will never be seen again. They have gone to the great Big Wigwam in the sky!

Wild Times is a real piece of crap. A Don "Red" Barry movie from the early forties has more intelligence than this tripe. The dialogue was dumb, the storyline was dumber, and the acting was way below par. My wife and I got stuck watching all three hours and twenty one minutes of this valueless video on the Westerns Channel, hoping that as time wore on it would get better. It never did. It started out mildly okay, then went downhill from there. Some movie moguls must have had a lot of cash and nothing to do to waste their time and everyone elses with this worthless western. If you have the choice of watching Wild Times or rearranging your sock drawer - do the socks. It'll be more entertaining.