Release Date: November 21, 1973
Director: Michael Crichton
Starring: Richard Benjamin, James Brolin, Yul Brynner, Dick Van Patten, Alan Oppenheimer
Favorite quote: “There’s no way to get hurt in here, just enjoy yourself.”– John Blane
Westworld is the surprise hit series from HBO. The latest adaptation of Michael Crichton’s novel, it has been greenlighted for a second season. With that success, I figured it would be a good idea to check out the 1973 movie the series is based on. I have never seen the movie before, which is a first for “Have You Seen…” But I’m a movie buff, so I set to remedy that promptly.
Oddly enough, Westworld takes place in the future. An amusement park named Delos promises visitors the vacation of a lifetime; its advertising carries the slogan, “Boy, have we got a vacation for you!” The town is split into three distinct areas set in different areas. There’s a recreation of Pompeii (Roman World), a depiction of medieval Europe (Medieval World), and an area set in the Wild West (the eponymous West World). For $1,000 a day, vacationers can visit one area and live as a native.
Rather than human actors, the realms are populated by androids that are almost indistinguishable from real people. Each android is programmed to play a certain character in its assigned realm. They can assist, seduce, or threaten vacationers, adding to the realism. Fights to the death can occur between androids and vacationers, although the androids’ weapons are ineffective against humans and they are programmed to lose.
The story begins with Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin), a first-time visitor to Delos. He’s accompanied by his friend, John Blaine (Josh Brolin), a repeat visitor. They head to West World to live the life of cowboys. While there, they run into the Gunslinger (Yul Brynner), an android programmed to goad vacationers into a gunfight and lose. Peter takes him out and the Gunslinger is dragged away. Once repaired, he’s programmed to confront his killer again.
Behind the scenes, the technicians and supervisors tend to their army of androids, which include animals. One chief supervisor (Alan Oppenheimer) notices that several androids have been malfunctioning in odd ways. The malfunctions, which were occurring in one of the realms, seem to be spreading to other realms like a virus. Worried, he brings the matter up with the other lead technicians, who soon agree to close Delos for park wide maintenance…but after the current guests leave. This decision potentially endangers every human being in Delos.
Westworld does a great job of showing the behind-the-scenes happenings that keep the androids up and running. Michael Crichton directed his own adaptation, and he takes great pains to show the amount of work it takes to keep a fleet of androids working. If anything, he lavishes too much time on it, killing the pacing somewhat. He also gets credit for introducing the concept of a computer virus, the first time the concept was mentioned in a theatrical release.
Crichton also conveys the terror of being trapped in an amusement park that is slowly going haywire. It’s an unnerving feeling that he later mastered in his 1990 hit novel Jurassic Park. Yul Brynner’s Gunfighter personifies the fear. Although programmed to be a pushover, he still has that menacing vibe. As the film progresses, that menace grows until he becomes this movie’s T-Rex.
Overall, the movie is pretty satisfying, save for the pacing issues. Things pick up nicely once the tension starts to ramp up. The thought of being stuck in a world where even android rattlesnakes are menacing is pretty crazy, and Westworld sells that world convincingly.
The movie spawned a sequel, 1976’s Futureworld, which I plan to watch soon. A TV series, Beyond Westworld, was attempted in 1980 but didn’t get traction. HBO’s latest attempt has stuck. For fans of the series, I suggest you give the Westworld movie a look. It’s a nice primer for the series and good enough as a standalone movie.
