Search - The Wild Wild West: The Complete Series on DVD

Four stars for all four seasons, 2 stars for the packaging

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 11/11/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

""The Wild Wild West" was a terrific show. CBS/Paramount has released the series in this entire season format. The show looks extremely good and the extras (only on season one except for the "bonus disc" but we'll get to that in a moment)are good as well. The big issue is the packaging. The box is certainly attractive look but it's basically the size of a board game box. When you open the inside the 27 discs are split into seasons 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 in what appears to be 2 cardboard "saddle bags" where they slide into it and are held in place with tiny cardboard inserts. The discs could be pretty easily scratched in this cheap packaging. Whoever designed this should be sent back to design 101--it's clever IF the quality of the materials were good but they're not--and it is a pain if you want to store this with some of your other DVD season sets. The saddle bags are sunk into a plastic older again making it look a bit like a board game (which is perhaps the purpose). There is a strip reprsenting the pix from the opening along the top. There is also a booklet that notes what episodes are on each disc.

The "bonus" disc has the two TV movies which should have been included as an extra on the fourth season box set (but was withheld so fans would have to double dip to get the two TV movies). Although the box claims they have been digitally restored, they look like simply transfers and while they don't necessarily look bad, they could have used the clean up given to the season sets. There are lots of white streaks and splotches that appear on the first TV movie and the openining 10 or 15 minutes for the 1980 sequel looks WORSE with the image a bit muddy and image quality darker than the 1979 TV movie. I was never a huge fan of the TV movies as they are more in line with "Support Your Local Sheriff" the movie starring James Garner. That's because both TV movies were written and directed by the same team who did that movie and "Support Your Local Gunfighter". It's nice to see both Robert Conrad and Ross Martin in their roles again but both movies while they have the humor that was characteristic of the series, certainly lack something. The producers must have gotten a bargain on stock footage for nuclear bombs exploding as it appears several times in both TV movies.

The first TV movie "The Wild Wild West Revisited" features Dr. Loveless' son (played by Paul Williams)planning to take over the world with replicas of the leaders of every major nation in the world. Both West and Gordon are called back retirement to prevent Loveless from using an atomic bomb (or something similar)that he has created planeted in the major nations of each country where he has replaced the leaders.

The second TV movie "More Wild Wild West" features the duo pulled out of retirement again to prevent Albert Paradine II (Jonathan Winters) from using his invisibility device from taking over the world.

Both films have nice supporting casts, some clever gags and nice interplay between Conrad and Martin but are a bit uninspired failing to capture the flavor of the original series at all.

I think it stinks that CBS/Paramount chose to release the TV movies only in the "The Complete Series" as they rightfully should have been included as part of the second, third or fourth season sets as an extra there. Regardless, my advice is to burn a copy when you're watching it on TV vs. ponying up additional cash for a package that while it looks nice isn't very sturdy.

If you haven't purchaed the other season sets this is an affordable one stop shop but the box itself is cumbersome and the materials a bit shoddy in my opinion (although it looks quite nice)."

Disappointing packaging...

K. Rowley | Austin, Texas United States | 11/08/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I do not like gimmicky packaging - especially when it is prone to damage the discs. This complete set comes in a rather large box - 11" x 8" x 2 ¾". The box itself is pretty heavy duty - reminds me a bit of the candy boxes people like to give. The top of the box has a bit of foam attached to the underside to cushion the contents. The bottom part of the box has a form fitted plastic insert that is frocked with sort of a fake velvet. There are two cavities, holding cardboard sleeves shaped to look either like gun holsters or saddle bags (kind of hard to tell which). There is also a strip of cardboard attached to the plastic insert - printed with the iconic end-of-scene graphics from the show. What disappoints me the most about this set, is the fact that the DVD discs are stacked in these holsters and are only inserted in cardboard sleeve half the size of the actual disc. I randomly pulled out a half-dozen of the discs and a couple of them had visible wear marks from the cardboard. Putting the discs back into their individual slots was somewhat challenging too. It sort of reminds me of the odd packaging that the first & second series of "Sliders" came in. I know a bunch of people complained about the use of friction to hold the discs in place and how it tended to scratch the DVDs. I think the same will happen here too. As soon as I can, I will be buying some slim dual disc DVD cases and transferring this set to them.

I don't know why these gimmick packaging are made - I recently bought the complete box set for the "Angel" series - which was 40 discs. That came in a great package - a cube (5 ¼" x 5 ¾" x 6") which fits on the shelf next to my regular DVD cases. Each season is in its own "book" with each disc safely in its own tray. This WWW box is way too big to fit on a shelf.
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Bad Disc's

BJB | Tucson, Az USA | 12/01/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I have been a fan of this show for years. I too bought each season as it came out. Three weeks ago I purchased the box set because I wanted the movies. Unfortunatly my set was very deffective. The very first disc would only play for the first 20 minutes and then stopped. Upon checking the rest of the disc's I found all but 2 had mild to moderate scratching. The packaging is terrible. I had to return my set."

Brains and Brawn

Fred W. Armstrong | Maple Ridge, BC | 03/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This show was pure fun. From the cliffhanger endings to each act , the great gadgets and disguises that Arty would use to Jim West's six shooters and fists. It was kind of a 'Western' version of Batman, now that I reflect on it. Great campy villains, wonderful (repetitive) plot lines and cute females for the boys to compete over. A lot of reviewers have commented on the packaging, but I usually take my DVDs out of the lavish packaging and place them in discgear holders, so I've not had any issues with disc damage. I bought this set for the shows, which take me back to my youth and sitting in the living room wondering how Jim and Arty could ever escape form this predicament - but they always did. As i re-watch these episodes I can't wipe the grin off my face at these wonderful classic TV episodes. For this price, the collection is a great buy. This is the TV I grew up on, and in a time where watching 24 hour news just depresses the hell out of me this collection offers respite and escape to a simpler time."