Wild Bill (1995)

Director:

Walter Hill

Writers (WGA):

Peter Dexter (book)
Thomas Babe (play)

Release Date:

1 December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Western

Tagline:

A legend never dies.

Plot:

Wild Bill Hickok, famed lawman and gunman of the Old West, is haunted by his past and his reputation...

Plot Keywords:

1870s | Caged Human | Told In Flashback | Theater People | Calamity Jane

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok
Ellen Barkin	...	Calamity Jane
John Hurt	...	Charley Prince
Diane Lane	...	Susannah Moore
Keith Carradine	...	Buffalo Bill Cody
David Arquette	...	Jack McCall
Christina Applegate	...	Lurline Newcomb
Bruce Dern	...	Will Plummer
James Gammon	...	California Joe
Marjoe Gortner	...	Preacher
James Remar	...	Donnie Lonigan
Karen Huie	...	Song Lew
Steve Reevis	...	Sioux Chief
Robert Knott	...	Dave Tutt
Pato Hoffmann	...	Cheyenne Leader

MPAA:

Rated R for wild West violence and a sex scene.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Sioux | Cantonese

Color:

Black and White | Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Canada:R (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Norway:15 (video premiere) | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | Spain:13 | USA:R | Germany:16 | UK:15 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Angeles National Forest, California, USA

Company:

United Artists

Trivia:

The Preacher is played by Marjoe Gortner, who in reality was at one time a "church-tent" revivalist minister and evangelist.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In the big stable shootout, Wild Bill gets off more than 16 shots out of two colts.

Quotes:

Charley Price: This town reminds me of something from the bible.
James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok: Which part?
Charley Price: The part right before god gets angry.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Last Man Standing (1996/I)

Nice Movie but historically VERY inaccurate

Now I'm not going to go into a tirade how inaccurate the movie was historically, but you'd think with the cast they had paid damned good money to take part in the movie that they would have found a way to tell Wild Bill's story in a more factual yet exciting way that keeps the nuance of the Romantic Western Period in tact.

The gun fights were incredible, the props and backgrounds were amazing and the portrayal of the old Deadwood mining camp were simply Breath taking.

I personally enjoyed how the movie would weave in and out of Wild Bill's past through his opium induced dreams... the characters were very believable but the story just didn't add up to the facts that surrounded Wild Bill's death.

I would also take exception to the HBO series Deadwood concerning Wild Bill's death also, it's a shame that somebody in the movie business, ANYBODY, would come up with a more accurate portrayal of the man, his life and his untimely death.

With all that being said, it was a beautiful movie visually.