I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Finding out about him after seeing the Pop-Art comic-book stylisation of The Warriors,I was surprised to find Walter Hill be very involved in the making of HBO's magnificent Western series Deadwood. Directing the pilot,Hill gave the ep a rawness which was expanded over the next 3 seasons. Taking a look at what movies were about to go from Netflix UK,I spotted a Hill title I've not heard anything about before,which led to me getting set to meet Wild Bill.The plot:Attending his funeral, Charley Prince starts to think about the "difficult" friendship he had with "Wild" Bill Hickok.The past:Getting on everyone's hit-list,"Wild" Bill Hickok leaves undercover to the outlaw town of Deadwood.Viewed as a mythical cowboy,Hickok plays up to the image as he joins friends such as Charley Prince passing the time drinking.Becoming recently reunited with Calamity Jane, Hickok learns that he has an illegitimate son,who is just as much an outlaw as his old man.View on the film:Spinning the guns to black and white flashbacks that Hickok has half-drunk memories of,writer/director Walter Hill and cinematographer Lloyd Ahern II give the flashbacks a poetic calm in in unveiling the events which led to the "code" Hickok lives by. Sharply contrasting the smoothness of the flashbacks,Hill and Ahern give the present an earthy,gritty atmosphere. Setting the sun down on the Wild West with Hickok's face covering the screen,Hill pours mud and dry dirt into the tensions of the West,which ignites in a fury of red and white dust being scatted across the screen as Hickok hands a short.sharp shock of a shootout out.Visibly appearing to "tense" on screen, (with Hill saying that there was always some "tension" between them) Jeff Bridges channels this unease into a very good performance as Hickok,who displays flashes of his myth making bombast,but is wonderfully pinned by Bridges with a suspicion that his "code" is fading with the sun. Opening this adaptation of Peter Dexter's book & Thomas Babe's play with Hickok's funeral,Hill aims for the murky back-shooting of the Wild West with the elegance of the bio-pic. Inter-cutting between the past and the present,Hill struggles to keep the distinctive atmospheres at an even level,with the tough bite of Hickok's last days of living by his "code" being cooled down by the calmer,more withheld flashbacks,which leads to this being a far from "Wild" kill(ed) Bill.

Wild Bill is a terrific and underrated Western that combines wonderful direction,an amazing cast,fantastic Action and a memorable score. All of those elements make Wild Bill an entertaining Western film that is Walter Hill and Jeff Bridges at their best.Based on the novel Deadwood by Peter Dexter and the play Father's And Sons by Thomas Babe,Wild Bill tells the story of the last days of James Butler Hickok AKA Wild Bill(Jeff Bridges),the legendary lawman and gunfighter thinking about his life past and present.During the Western movie revival of the 1980s 90s there were classic Westerns such as Unforgiven(1992),Tombstone(1993)and Dances With Wolves(1990)that were critical and Box Office hits but there were also other Western films during this time that went under the radar and weren't as successful but still wonderful in their own rights such as Walter Hill's 1995 Western Wild Bill a terrific and memorable Western that was Hill's third and film about an iconic true life Western figure following Jesse James/Younger Gang film The Long Riders(1980)and the Geronimo film Geronimo:An American Legend(1993). And while Wild Bill isn't as good as those two films Wild Bill is an interesting look at a charismatic figure of his time. At a lean and tight 98 minutes Wild Bill is a memorable and entertaining film that is not really a biopic but a great mixture of Western shoot em up and character study told in a gritty way. This is the kind of movie that won't be appealing to general audiences and is the kind of film that will be liked or disliked but if you're a Western buff you will enjoy this film even though it might not be historically inaccurate. Wild Bill is a movie that is a revisionist Western in the truest sense told in very surreal and stylish giving viewers a look into one of the most iconic characters in the West in Wild Bill Hickok,a Cowboy who probably isn't known on a national level like other Western icons such as Wyatt Earp,Doc Holliday,Jesse James or Billy The Kid but if you know Western History you will know Wild Bill. The tone of the movie stylish and gritty capturing the beauty and ugliness of the Wild West in all it's glory and also gives viewers a look at the town of Deadwood in South Dakota which is violent and bizarre and serves as a precursor to the classic HBO TV series Deadwood,a show that gave viewers another look into Deadwood. When we look at the title character Wild Bill we get a brief but fascinating look into his life as a person of many things in his life such as being a lawman,gunfighter,buffalo hunter,folk hero and gambler. It's easy to see why Walter Hill wanted to make a movie about Wild Bill because like the characters in Hill's other films Wild Bill in the movie is depicted as a man who is larger than life but at the same time a flawed human being. Hickok is a man who also haunted by his demons(told in black and white drug induced dreams)and his ways of living have caught up with him(Hickok was losing his eye sight)and is over the hill but still has his bravado. Wild Bill as a character is so interesting that I would have loved to see more of his history and life story in the past and present which I think is a flaw. Another flaw is Wild Bill is that it feels less cinematic compared to Walter Hill's other movies and at times has the feel of a TV movie. The Action and gunfights in the film are thrilling and intense going along with the Western tone of the movie as Walter Hill can do. The ending in Wild Bill is amazing,dramatic and tragic and while not true to how what really happen in real life it's close enough. An outstanding ending.The cast is great. Jeff Bridges is excellent and at his best as Wild Bill Hickok,with Bridges bring gritty,tough and charismatic. Ellen Barkin is terrific as Calamity Jane,a lady friend of Hickok's. John Hurt is wonderful as Charles Prince,an English friend of Bill's. Diane Lane is sensational and beautiful as Susannah Moore,a past love of Bill's. Keith Carradine does a fine job in a small role as Buffalo Bill Cody. David Arquette is superb as Jack McCall,a man who's after Wild Bill. Christina Applegate is great as Lurline,a prostitute that befriends Jack. Bruce Dern does a good job as Will Plummer,an enemy of Wild Bill's. James Gammon is fantastic as California Joe,another friend of Wild Bill's. James Remar is amazing as Donnie Lonnigan,a gunman. Marjoe Gortner(Preacher),Stoney Jackson(Jubal Pickett),Karen Hule(Song Lue),Robert Knott(Dave Tutt),Steve Reevis(Sioux Chief),Pato Hoffman(Cheyenne Leader)and Dennis Hayden(Phil Coe)give good performances as well.The direction by Walter Hill is exceptional and stylish with Hill bringing a haunting and beautiful look to the film. Fantastic direction,Hill.The score by Van Dyke Parks is effective,beautiful and gripping,with Parks scoring matching the tone of the movie. Great score,Parks.In final word,if you love Westerns,Walter Hill or Jeff Bridges,I highly suggest you see Wild Bill,a terrific,underrated Western that is worth your time. Highly Recommended 9.5/10.

Good western.Follows the life of legendary gunslinger and lawman "Wild Bill" Hickok. Gritty and dark, it explores his motivations, relationships, regrets and inner turmoils. Good character development.On the down side, it does try too hard to contemporise the language and customs in some respects, and loses some focus towards the end.Great performance by Jeff Bridges, but that's a given. Good support from Ellen Barkin and John Hurt. Minor cast includes David Arquette, Christina Applegate, Diane Lane, Keith Carradine and Bruce Dern.

Wild Bill is a dark, moody Western about the last days of legendary lawman James Butler Hickock that sometimes shows off its true colors (by that, I mean its riveting action sequences, not its appearance) but suffers from a disorganized screenplay, some dull characters, an imperfect running time, and while it's not a bad Western, it's not a great one either.Jeff Bridges gives a noteworthy performance as Wild Bill, John Hurt gives most of the movie's seldom-seen charisma as his friend Charley Prince (I'm not sure if this character is real or not) and then there is a truly great performance by Ellen Barkin as frontierswoman Calamity Jane. In shorter, laconic terms, Wild Bill boasts a great cast and some witty dialogue. Director Walter Hill (who also directed The Long Riders (1980) with the Carradine brothers) does a phenomenal job with the action scenes as well. The killings in this film look harsh and brutal as they in deed were. And the violence is not overdone to the point where it becomes depressing.But like I mentioned earlier, the story is disorganized. There were too many black-and-white flashback scenes, which I've seen many done better many times before in other films, that dragged on and slowed the movie down for me. John Hurt's narration was sometimes effective, sometimes overdrawn. And the pacing was in need of a revision. I'm sure the filmmakers could have worked it out a different way to tell the past of the characters without constantly using flashbacks and could have removed some additional scenes that went into and out of nowhere. Because they unfortunately are the movie's major flaws. They slow it down.Wild Bill, again is not necessarily a bad film. I did mildly enjoy it at times, but it is a very dark motion picture without much point behind itself. The action scenes are good, the acting is great, and the general atmosphere of a dark time in a weary man's life is convincing. But ultimately, Wild Bill is just too slow and kind of a disappointment.