The Original

Westworld is one of the most promising shows in quite some time. Its premise, cast, and crew involved show me this could be the next big thing for HBO. And if the premiere is any indication, it will be just that.

Jonathan Nolan, his wife Lisa Joy, and J.J. Abrams are the brilliant minds behind this TV series adaptation, and they do a nice job of incorporating many of Michael Crichton's intriguing ideas in the original film while also adding in some nuances as well. Although in the film version the 'hosts' are played more as antagonists, I appreciate the change in having them more as victims and/or toys for the guests. This change brings a good balance so that as audience members, we don't necessarily know who to root for.

Westworld boasts an impressive ensemble cast including Anthony Hopkins, James Marsden, Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Luke Hemsworth (yep, there's another one), and the great Ed Harris. The premise of the show opens the door for characters to die and come back, considering half are androids, but having big names also helps bring the show down to a more recognizable and understandable level. It's a dense show, but I don't expect anything different from a Nolan product.

The premiere sets up the promising idea that the androids/hosts have a possibility of malfunction due to Hopkins' and Wrights' programming issue. Of course, knowing where the movie ends up is probably a good indication as to the direction the show will take, but I like that it wasn't immediately clear. It's also nice to see that some of the main cast members are hosts. We didn't get to see a whole lot on them in the film, besides Yul Brynner, so I like seeing much more character development come from that angle.

This show is being billed as a Western Game of Thrones, and it now has a strong pilot to show for it. Plus, throw in a great score by Thrones' composer Ramin Djawadi and some incredible visual effects that could rival Thrones, we may have ourselves another Emmy winner. Here's hoping.

+Impeccable cast

+Another Nolan gem

+Score

+Nuances to the film's ideas

9.0/10

I loved the first episode, it's really promising. I loved the cast, theme and the background music as it felt so intense.

I'm looking forward to complete the Season 1.

Westworld has quickly become one of HBO's breakout hits. The show's not even two years old yet and it's still attracting new viewers who probably never saw the original film from 1973. The series is a serialised take on the original movie and tells a completely different story from it, but keeps the same philosophical questions and dilemmas in place.

'The Original' shows us that Westworld is a holiday attraction that's like the world's most seamless video game experience except the whole theme park consists of robots who actually believe they're part of the American Old West. This introductory episode is a beautifully shot and bloody affair that we've come to expect from HBO, and the delivery of this episode makes me wonder about the future of the series once it's no longer running side by side with Game of Thrones. I think Westworld easily has strong legs on its own.

Another golden chapter to HBO's ever-growing library of quality programming.

The pilot of this series lived up-to expectations, with a nice set-up of theme park and well established characters within the theme park, who follow normal repetitive daily routine in the theme park with minor changes everyday.

The show gives viewer a perspective of normal old school western world in the beginning, only to bring out the sci-fi element swiftly in the story. At the beginning the sci-fi element seems quite normal, justifying the theme-park element of the story. But, eventually the pilot elaborated more on sci-fi element and gave audience a slight hint of self-developed instincts in some of the characters.

This show with its unique representation is going to dwell into different aspects of human behavior in conjunction with artificial intelligence. And will also elaborate on the philosophical as well as psychological outlook of human nature and its consequences.

This show got me instantly hooked on. Evan Rachel Wood is extremely beautiful and gorgeous. She acts well too. Ed Harris looks menacing . Many other characters get introduced and they act really well. The visuals are spectacular and the action sequences are brilliant. Anthony Hopkins is the icing on the cake. Brilliant show .I am loving this.