The two best special agents in the Wild West must save President Grant from the clutches of a diabolical, wheelchair-bound, steampunk-savvy, Confederate scientist bent on revenge for losing the Civil War.
Jim West is a guns-a-blazing former Civil War hero. Artemus Gordon is an inventive U.S. Marshal who excels in disguise. When the United States is threatened by psychotic Confederate Arliss Loveless, President Ulysses S Grant teams the duo up to bring him to justice. On a hazard-packed train journey from Washington, D.C. to Utah, West and Gordon must combine their skills to best Loveless and his diabolical machines.—Chris Turner <[email protected]> and J. Kyle
Legless Southern inventor Dr. Arliss Loveless plans to rekindle the Civil War by assassinating President Ulysses S. Grant. Only two men can stop him: gunfighter James West and master-of-disguise and inventor Artemus Gordon. The two must team up to thwart Loveless' plans.—<[email protected]>
One day in the wild, wild west, a famous scientist is found dead. Or better: Decapitated by a devilish device, as it seems. Special Agent Artemus Gordon, quite inventive himself, finds out about the man's last sight and is forced to team up with James West, a man who relys on nothing but his gun. They first suspect General "Bloodbath" McGrath to be responsible for the killing, but as he's not bright enough to invent the flying decapitation device himself, a more evil mastermind behind the scenery is soon proven to exist. Dr. Arliss Loveless, who, by the way, has kidnapped the nation's best scientists, seems to plan on taking a major part of the country as his personal property. But Dr. Loveless did not spend enough thoughts about possible intervention from two men, who may get a little distracted by the sudden appearance of beautiful Rita Escobar, daughter to one of the abducted scientists.—Julian Reischl <[email protected]>
When a body is found and the killer is identified as General "Bloodbath" McGrath, Captain James West is sent to find him. Thanks to U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon, who was also on the case, McGrath manages to escape. Discovering that the legless Dr. Arliss Loveless is the real villain behind everything, West and Gordon must work together to track Loveless down.—FilmFanUk
In 1869, Army Captain James West (Will Smith), hides in a railroad water tower while spying on a group of ex-Confederate soldiers working under General "Bloodbath" McGrath (Ted Levine). West follows them to a saloon where General McGrath is enjoying a loud party. McGrath is seduced by a large prostitute who attempts to hypnotize the general into divulging his plans.
West breaks in, but is stopped by the prostitute, allowing McGrath to escape. West fights off McGrath's men and finds himself with the prostitute, who reveals himself as U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon (Kevin Kline). In Washington, D.C., West and Gordon meet at the White House with President Ulysses S. Grant (also played by Kline), who tells them about the disappearance of America's key scientists. Grant charges the two with finding the scientists before he inaugurates the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah.
The two head to New Orleans, pursuing a lead about Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh)- an ex-Confederate scientist in a steam-powered wheelchair since the literal loss of his legs, who is hosting a party for the elite of Southern society. West mistakes a female guest for a disguised Gordon and makes an error that results in the guests wanting to lynch West. Meanwhile, Gordon roams the mansion and comes across a caged Rita Escobar (Salma Hayek), rescuing her. Gordon frees West from a lynching with an elastic rope, and the three escape to The Wanderer. Onboard, Rita asks for their help in rescuing her father, Professor Guillermo Escobar.
Later, Loveless hosts a reception to demonstrate his newest weapon: a steam-powered tank. The tank uses General McGrath's soldiers as target practice, angering McGrath. Loveless shoots McGrath and leaves him behind. Gordon, West and Rita arrive at the scene and find the dying McGrath. West then reveals one of Loveless' past crimes: He used the tank to massacre a settlement of free slaves, including West's family. Loveless boards his armored train and heads to Utah with Gordon, West, and Rita in pursuit. Using steam powered hydraulics, Loveless maneuvers his train behind The Wanderer. West disables Loveless' train, but not before Loveless uses a locomotive-mounted cannon to stop The Wanderer. Rita, afraid of being recaptured by Loveless, accidentally releases sleeping gas, knocking out West, Gordon and herself.
West and Gordon wake up as Loveless pulls away in The Wanderer, announcing he intends to capture President Grant at the "golden spike" ceremony. They find themselves fitted with the same metal collars from earlier in the movie. West crosses a ground level wire that triggers a nearby machine to release the lethal flying disks, forcing West and Gordon to run as the disks are magnetically attracted to the collars. The two leap into a mud pit from opposite directions, causing the discs to collide. After removing the collars, the two stumble across Loveless' private railroad track, which leads them to his industrial complex. Here, they witness Loveless' ultimate weapon: a gigantic mechanical spider armed with powerful weapons. Later, Loveless uses the spider to capture Gordon and Grant at the inauguration ceremony at Promontory Point, while West is seemingly killed by one of Loveless' bodyguards.
At his industrial complex, Loveless reveals his plan to destroy the United States with his mechanized forces unless President Grant agrees to divide the states among Great Britain, France, Spain, Mexico, and himself. Loveless demands that President Grant surrender, but he refuses. Loveless threatens to execute Gordon but is interrupted by a belly dancer, who turns out to be West in disguise, having used a concealed layer of chain mail during his "death." West, disguised as a woman, uses an exotic dance to distract Loveless while attempting to free his captives, but Loveless escapes with the President.
Gordon and West, inspired by an incident in the desert where they saw a wasp kill a tarantula, use a flying machine to catch up with the spider and bomb it with nitroglycerin before crashing onto it. West is dropped into the engine room to fight the spider's crew, all of whom have bizarre prosthetic. West defeats the crew and Loveless himself descends into the engine room to defeat West. Loveless, now on hydraulic mechanical legs, pins West to the floor and stomps on him until Gordon incapacitates the walking apparatus. Pleading for his life, Loveless drags himself back to his wheelchair as the spider approaches a canyon. Loveless attempts to shoot West with a concealed gun, but hits the spider's control lines, locking it up just before it plunges into the canyon. This sends West and Loveless almost over the edge, with the wheelchair getting caught in the railing. West deliberately pulls a lever that will release them, sending Loveless to fall to his doom, while West grabs a chain hanging outside the engine room.
After the second ceremony at Promontory, Grant promotes Gordon and West to the first two agents of his newly formed U.S. Secret Service. Gordon and West meet Rita again, both of them planning to court her, but she crushes their hopes by announcing that Professor Escobar was, in fact, her husband and not her father. The film ends with Gordon and West riding Loveless' steam-spider into the sunset.
