Westworld

Michael Crichton is a versatile man whose career as a novelist would seem to be satisfying enough without trying his hand at the movies. After all, most of his books have been adapted for the screen. This was his first attempt at directing a big feature. He showed in "Westworld" an affinity for the film medium.

Mr. Chrichton employed computer technology that was in its infancy at the time. The result is a movie that is entertaining even after more than thirty years after it was released. Most of Mr. Crichton's books deal in science fiction.

The best thing in the film is Yul Brynner, without a doubt. His presence dominates everything. As the Gunslinger, he shows intelligence and tenacity in dealing with those that dared to cross him. Richard Benjamin is also effective as the young lawyer who is fascinated by the things he finds in Westworld. James Brolin's character seemed to be on auto pilot as he didn't register much emotion throughout the entire movie.

The film merits a look.

In a near future, the Delos Company offers the vacation of the future in the present days in the amusement parks Medievalworld, Romanworld and Westworld for U$ 1,000.00 per day. The vacationers can feel in the Middle Age or in the Roman Empire or in the Wild West and have joust, sex, duel against gunslinger and whatever he or she wants interacting with robots.

Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) and John Blane (James Brolin) travel in the hovercraft to Westworld and sooner Peter duels against a Gunslinger (Yul Brynner). However, when there is a malfunctioning of the machinery, the robots get out of control jeopardizing the guests.

"Westworld" is a very successful sci-fi of my generation and a sort of grandfather of other robots films, such as "The Stepford Wives", "Blade Runner" and mainly "The Terminator". There is a scene in this last franchise that is an updated rip-off of Yul Brynner's character chasing Peter.

The story has flaws, but is engaging and suspenseful, holding the attention until the very last scene. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Westworld - Onde Ninguém Tem Alma" ("Westworld - Where No One Has Soul")

Note: On 20 January 2018, I saw this film again.

Note: On 05 March 2021, I saw this film again.

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.

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.

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.