Westworld (1973)

This is one of those films that sits in your Netflix (or other) que, that you never quite get to. I've had this movie, burnt, in my possession for nearly two years but never got around to watching it. Luckily I have a class and a blog that propels me to watch countless sci-fi films, so this was a perfect opportunity to take a shot at a film I had not seen before, and I was more then pleased with the film.

Westworld, written & directed, by the famed author Michael Crichton, takes place in the distant future. There is a new vacation resort which lets you play out one of three fantasy worlds; a medieval world, roman world, and west world. There you can live out violent, sexual, or any fantasy on a one of a kind vacation. But what happens when the different worlds, filled with humanoid androids, starts to grow dim and the androids start malfunctioning? That is the plot of 1973's Westworld, which Crichton was inspired to write after a trip to Disneyland, where he saw the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and was impressed by the animatronic characters. With Crichton's talented writing, Yul Bryner's chilling portrayal of The Gunslinger, and a plot that doesn't seem too far fetched, you have a underrated sci-fi classic.

Story
In the near future a company, Delos, has created the ultimate adult amusement park. Have you ever dreamed of playing real-life cops & robbers? Or dreamt of courting the Queen in medieval times? This resort lets you play out these fantasies, for $1,000 a day. The story follows two tourists (James Brolin & Richard Benjamin) who are vacationing in WestWorld. Brolin's character, John, has been there once before and Benjamin's character, Peter, is a virgin to Delos. Through the course of a day or two the characters are enjoying their stay in WestWorld. John explains to Peter some of the rules there are in WestWorld. All the people in the "town" are androids, you can do whatever you like there, and the guns that you are given aren't able to be used on humans due to a heat sensor in the gun, thus protecting you from hurting other guests or vice versa. On their first day, John & Peter encounter their soon to be rival of the town, The Gunslinger (played by Yul Bryner). After killing him once in the saloon, he returns in their room and Peter has to take him out once again. Sadly it will not be the last time.

While the guests are enjoying their stay we are shown the inner workings of the resort. At night while guests are asleep a crew comes into town and picks up dead (broken) androids and takes them to a repair station. In the station there is a lead technician who notices in the last couple days there have been many malfunctioning androids, which hasn't happened yet. In what may be the first mention of the concept, the technician suggests a type of computer virus running through the high-tech androids. After a robotic rattlesnake actually bites John and a knight kills a guest in MedievalWorld, the supervisors of the company decide to shut down the resort until things can be figured out. But when they shut the power off they also trap themselves in the control rooms and the androids are allowed to run amok in the resort.

Peter & John wake up after an all night drunken bar fight, unaware of what is going on in the resort. They walk into the street to find The Gunslinger challenging them to a showdown. John treats the situation like any other part of the resort, fake, until the robot shoots him and kills him. This sends Peter on the run from The Gunslinger, who is on the hunt for him. Peter runs through the other parts of the resort only to find dead guests and robots. He goes down a manhole cover to find the technicians area of the resort, only to find them all dead due to suffocation of the closed doors. He battles the The Gunslinger with a few attempts, first trying to burn him with acid, then setting him on fire. Finally, after coming back one more time, The Gunslinger succumbs to it's damages and Peter survives, most likely the only survivor on the resort. As he sits on the steps of a fake dungeon he thinks back on the Delo's slogan, "Have we got a vacation for you!"

From beginning to end I was caught up in the concept of the film. Going to a resort to live out a fantasy of the old west or medieval Europe, does not seem far fetched by any means. And it also seems like something that thousands of people would flock to, even despite the heavy price tag. But it does seem that Crichton certainly re-hashed this idea for a more successful venture later on: Jurassic Park. The idea of tourists going to a place filled with robots/dinosaurs, and soon everything goes bizerk and everyone must fend for themselves. I don't have a problem with the similarities since it was Crichton who took his own ideas to, I think, make them better and more finely tuned. Either way I loved this film and was very surprised by the story and the depth they go into the resort. He shows you just enough to hook you and make you want to go to this resort, until the robots start killing everyone, but before that I was ready to book a flight.

Direction
When I saw Michael Crichton's name appear in the opening credits, I was surprised that he didn't just write the film but also directed it. This was his first feature film that he directed, and I was immensely surprised how well of a job he did. Unlike when a different author, Stephen King, thought he could direct and ending up giving the world a forgettable waste of time: Maximum Overdrive. Crichton does a wonderful job and bringing his script to life. He takes you into a distant future and makes you believe that this concept is 100% believable, and as I've stated before, if you can do this then you have a great sci-fi film in your hands.

Not only does he know what to show you (shots, action, etc), he actually gets a bone-chilling performance out of his actor Yul Brynner, The Gunslinger. Not that Brynner is not capable of a performance, I was more surprised that Crichton collaborated, tweaked, and worked on that great of a performance. He was able to pull something completely and utterly terrifying out of Brynner, in what I would call one of the scariest performances I've seen in a long time. Although I wouldn't say that he has a great, one of a kind touch to directing, he certainly did a exceptional job, which still surprises me since he is/was primarily a writer. Crichton is able to make you believe what is happening before your eyes and also get some great performances from all the actors involved. As a director myself, I give much credit to Crichton for jumping into directing and actually doing a great job, which is beyond rare. If your interested in seeing Crichton in the directed chair, there is a doc about the making of WestWorld.

Acting
Let's get the boring ones out of the way. James Brolin & Richard Benjamin both do a great job of playing the average joe, audience point of view, characters of the film. But the man who, with no question, steals the show is Yul Brynner as The Gunslinger. His character was based off his character in the 1960 film Magnificent Seven. They are both physically identical. He wears almost all black and does not show much emotion on his face. But unlike Arnold in Terminator, he is not wooden, but blank. That is until he begins fighting back and starts killing guests, he begins to smile and shows more chilling emotion as an unstoppable killing machine. Yul brings something to that character that is haunting because he is a broken robot, out to kill the man who has killed him twice. One of the elements that help his haunting look are the reflective contacts in his eyes that give him an always glowing cornea. Creepy.


All around WestWorld was a great discovery of an underrated science fiction classic. I had always heard the name come up, and I'm more then pleased after watching it. Crichton brings a story that can be completely plausible and shows us, like in most of his stories, when a civilization becomes too technologically advanced, it will fall to the ground. WestWorld has a great concept, a one of a kind performance by Brynner, and robots! I would suggest that if you are a fan of sci-fi, then you will be a fan of this film like myself.