Mondwest

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.

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.

A well-remembered film from my youth and no I haven't seen the TV reboot, watching this again was like going back to a bunch of my favourite original Star Trek episodes mashed up together.

Sure, the premise could have perhaps more justifiably been played out in a darker, more overtly horror way, but instead it's mostly fun just the way it is, shot in broad daylight, occasionally played for laughs and with an out and out nerd in the lead role. With ideas that you can see played out later in films like "Terminator 2" and of course "Jurassic Park", not to mention the whole "Star Trek TNG" holodeck schtick, the film works because it's so easy to imagine ourselves playing out our adventure fantasies, especially in these days of virtual reality.

Sure the film is dated by its mildly sexist treatment of women who are seen throughout mostly as playthings of wealthy middle-aged men on tour, but if you can see past that, it definitely moves up a gear once things start to go wrong in paradise and the machines really begin to play up.

The action sequences seem to parody Peckinpah with lots of slow-motion shootin' and a-killin' with blood spattering everywhere which contrasts with the buddy-buddy vibe which exists between Richard Benjamin and James Brolin, who convincingly seem what they probably are, two rich businessman out on the ran.

The genius casting however was in getting Yul Brynner to parody his iconic role from "The Magnificent Seven" as the mean and moody gunslinger who just keeps on coming in pursuit of Benjamin.

An early film outing for author, screenwriter and occasional director Michael Crichton who I can only think once had a bad day at Disneyworld, "Westworld" is a very enjoyable light sci-fi romp best not taken too seriously.

You can see the roots both in the plot and the special effects in Michael Crichton's Westworld that can later be found in the incredibly popular Jurassic Park series.

Like Jurassic Park the protagonists of Westworld are a pair of wealthy American yuppies who are going to a futuristic vacation resort. The place is called Delos and like Disneyland with its separate theme parks of Fantasyland, Adventureland, Frontierland, and the World of Tomorrow, Delos has three different resort type places to visit, Romanworld, Medievalworld and Westworld.

Our two intrepids have chosen the Westworld experience. They get to mix and mingle in an old west frontier town, or at least a Hollywood type version of same and get the feel of western life. Included are gunfights and bar brawls such as you see in any good Hollywood western. This is what Richard Benjamin and James Brolin have chosen for themselves.

For reasons unexplained in the story, the whole thing breaks down in all three theme worlds and in the case of Westworld, a very nasty gunslinger robot has shaken loose from his programming and is on the hunt for human targets. Will man with all of his weaknesses defeat an apparently indestructible machine?

You can also see some of the themes in the later Terminator films that Arnold Schwarzneggar popularized. Here the relentless hunter is played by Yul Brynner in the familiar black western garb that he made popular in The Magnificent Seven.

The VHS copy of Westworld advertises itself as the very first use of computer graphics. If that's the case this is one unique experience for that reason alone and should not be missed.