Westworld

Michael Crichton wrote and directed this precursor to "Jurassic Park" that, while showing some of it's age, is still effective and was undeniably influential. The story concerns a unique and expensive vacation resort called Delos in which customers can choose from one of three "worlds"--Roman World, Medieval World or Western World (as it is referred to in the film.) Here, customers can indulge their fantasies of conquest (violent or sexual) among a host of ultra-realistic robots who are programmed to promote the experience while not allowing the participants to become hurt. Benjamin stars as a newcomer to the place with his buddy Brolin along for his second visit. Brolin shows Benjamin the ropes at Western World (how to shoot villains, seduce dance hall girls, etc...) One of the bad guys they encounter is icy Brynner who they dispose of more than once. Eventually, things start to come unglued as the men note that things aren't working as properly as expected and promised. The controllers of the park are unable to prevent the robots from hurting or even killing the guests! The film begins with that once-cutting-edge, but now amusing, sense of high-tech awe as the guys enter the park. Benjamin is an acquired taste and borders on annoying for much of the film. More at ease is Brolin who doesn't have a great deal to do. The most striking performance is that of Brynner. He has almost nothing to say, but he doesn't need to talk. His steely stare and mechanical gait wind up being quite relentless and terrifying. The highlight of the film is his non-stop pursuit of Benjamin. ("The Terminator" owes a lot to this section of the film.) There are several other supporting roles, but, aside from Van Patten, the actors create little interest in their exploits. "Star Trek" fans will note the presence of Barrett as a robot madame. There were rumors of a remake with Arnold Schwarzegger, but Arnie's already done the indestructible robot thing and no one's going to outglare Brynner. His bid as Governor seems to have quashed these plans anyway.

Westworld was the blueprint for what was later Jurassic Park. Here, Michael Crichton first envisoned Disneyland, if the Hall of presidents ran amuck. It provided many of the inspirations for later sci-fi films, like Terminator. It was a great blend of action, horror, and comedy.

Richard Benjamin and James Brolin are the heroes of the film, but Yul Brynner is the star. He portrays a robot, based on his character from "The Magnificent Seven." Brynner is the relentless killing machine who fights until the end. With almost no dialogue, he conveys fear with little more than expression and body language.

The film explores old themes, the dark side of technology, but it was ahead of its time in depicting the dangers of computers and automated systems. The effects are dated, but the story holds up well. The sequel, Futureworld, tried to add political intrigue, with less success. Definitely one for the sci-fi fan or collector, or cult movie lover.

I remember when Westworld first came our. We stayed in our seats to watch it a second time. It was exciting, interesting, and sexy in its own way. Forty years later it is still a good watch. It is fun to see what they thought technology would be in the days before micro-computing.

So watching it now, it is a little tired. What was once novel is now a trope. But the story is great, the show moves along at a good pace, and I would recommend watching it. After all, it is a classic.

Set during an unspecified future era on Earth, Westworld features Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) and John Blane (James Brolin) on their way to a new kind of amusement park, Delos, located way out in the middle of a desert. Delos is divided into three "virtual reality" areas, Roman World, Medieval World, and West World (or Westworld). These are not mere computer simulations, however. Guests are immersed in a complete recreation of the relevant eras--they wear the clothing, sleep in the accommodations, eat the food, and so on, relevant to the era. They also interact with robots that are nearly indistinguishable from humans, and can talk to, have sex with, and even kill some robots. It's an escapist's dream, at least until something goes wrong.

Westworld isn't the easiest film to rate. It has its share of faults, and the more one analyzes the plot, the more problems one can find. However, the premise is so fantastic, the atmosphere is so good (even though it's very spartan for a sci-fi film) and the performances from the principle actors are so entertaining that it is very easy to excuse any flaws and just "go with the film". The bottom line is how enjoyable or aesthetically rewarding a film is, not how logically taut the plot is. On those grounds, Westworld certainly deserves a 9 out of 10.

A lot of the attraction is the voyeuristic escapism experienced by the viewer. Who wouldn't want to be able to go to an amusement park like Delos? It's a fabulous idea, and a not-too-thinly-veiled satire/extrapolation of Disney World, which had just opened two years before this film was released (remember that Disney World is the Florida location; Disneyland is the California location). Walt Disney had already been talking about his original conception of EPCOT (which was quite different than the Epcot that was eventually opened in 1982) by 1967. Writer/director Michael Crichton's Delos is a rough combination of Disney World's theme parks with an EPCOT-like residency, if only a temporary one.

At the same time, computer and robot technology was finally starting to be strongly integrated into industry on an "everyday" level (it was just a bit more than 5 years until the beginning of the home computer revolution). Disney World's operational infrastructure is an extensive behind-the-scenes computer network, which Crichton parallels with his white lab coat-wearing scientists working amidst monitors and banks of flashing lights (and this is even better satirized in the sequel to Westworld, 1976's Futureworld).

The premise provides an easy launching pad for a number of ethical, philosophical and scientific dilemmas: What are the implications for killing someone when they seem almost identical to humans? What if they're artificially intelligent? Is it infidelity for married persons to have sex with robots almost identical to humans or artificially intelligent? If machines become sufficiently complex, won't they be prone to the same flaws as humans, such as viruses (or something analogous), and if artificially intelligent, disobedience? All of these questions and more are explored in Westworld, albeit most are not explicitly broached--probably in an attempt to avoid sounding preachy or over-intellectual.

Because at the heart of Westworld, at least on a surface level, is a fantastic thriller/suspense story. Once things begin to go wrong, the "play" turns deadly, and the end of the film is a very long, deliberately paced chase sequence. Yul Brynner is a menacing "Robot Gunslinger", in a character that Brynner thought of as an ominous satire on his Chris Adams from The Magnificent Seven (1960), and which eventually seems somewhat prescient of The Terminator (1984). The suspense/horror is based on a classic gambit of machines forcefully taking control of their creators. It may be more modern, but basically the threat is that of the wronged Frankenstein Monster, with all the attendant subtexts, including humans "playing God" as they create other beings in their own image, and dehumanization of the Other.

It's best while watching to not dwell on the quagmire of plot problems that aren't dealt with. If the guns in Westworld can't harm humans because of "heat sensors", what's to stop you from being shot if someone aimed at something inanimate that you happened to be standing behind? How do the swords in Medieval World not harm that land's guests? If guests can't be hurt, why are they thrown into tables, the bar, etc. during a brawl? (We could argue that the robots were already going haywire at that point, but the technicians aren't shown being alarmed by this behavior.) How do they fix all of the architectural damage done every day? Where are all the other guests? Wouldn't it cost a lot more than $1000 per day per guest to make all of those repairs and perform routine maintenance on the robots?

That's just a small sampling of the questions you could worry about while watching the film, but that would be missing the point. Westworld isn't intended as a blueprint for actually constructing a Delos-like amusement park. The idea is to get the viewer to fantasize about the scenario, enjoy the more visceral, literal suspense story, and at the same time ponder some of the more philosophical questions and subtexts. On those accounts, Westworld greatly succeeds.

Classic sci-fi thriller, written and directed by Michael Crichton, about a futuristic amusement park called Delos where people can role play in fantasy "worlds" based on the Old West, the Roman Empire, and Medieval Europe. Each of these worlds is inhabited by androids who look, talk, and act like real people. You want to have a sword fight with a knight, you can. You want to shoot it out with a gunslinger, you can. You want to bang an attractive prostitute or wench, have right at it. But this fantasy world turns into a nightmare when the robots malfunction and start killing the tourists!

Richard Benjamin does a great job as the unlikely hero, a newly-divorced and somewhat nerdy man brought to the park by his macho friend James Brolin. Dick Van Patten and Alan Oppenehimer are good in supporting roles. But it's Yul Brynner, as the black-clad gunfighter out to kill Benjamin, that steals the show with his commanding screen presence. The movie takes its time setting things up and building the suspense, showing one small malfunction at a time. It's an hour in before the killing starts. From that point on the pace never slows down and it becomes an exciting cat-and-mouse chase with Brynner hunting Benjamin. The sets and special effects are terrific, particularly when you consider this was made for $1.25 million (with half of that going to pay the cast and crew). I can't say enough good things about Fred Karlin's effective score. This was Crichton's first theatrical directorial effort (he directed a TV movie prior to this). I think it's his best work as a director, although I hold a special place in my heart for Runaway. His script is smart with nice bits of humor throughout. It's a great film that should appeal to a wide variety of people, so long as they are able to enjoy movies made before CGI. Sadly, there are many who can't.