Movie Review: Westworld (1973)
Crichton's Early Attempt At Jurassic Park
A review of the 1973 cult classic Michael Crichton sci-fi movie, Westworld, starring Yul Brynner, James Brolin, and Richard Benjamin. 7/10
Delos is a state of the art amusement park in which visitors pay $1000 a day to live out their fantasies in one of three different "worlds" populated by robotic citizens. The worlds include Roman World, Medieval World, and Westworld. It is a great success until something goes wrong with wiring and the robots begin to grow out of control and start attacking guests, while the scientists that control the park are locked in their underground headquarters.
Think of "Westworld" as Michael Crichton's earlier attempt at "Jurassic Park," his much more popular and later work. One cannot not fail to see the similar plot between the two. In "Jurassic Park," a special park is opened, where visitors pay to see dinosaurs that later mutate and escape, attacking everyone. In "Westworld," a special park is opened, where visitors pay to live in a world of robotic people that later go haywire, attacking everyone. These are too similar to be written off as completely different stories. It is almost as if Crichton wrote "Westworld" and then later asked himself, "Now what if I substitute dinosaurs for the robots? Yes, that's the ticket!"
While "Jurassic Park" is a phenomenal mega hit, "Westworld" bares a lukewarm reception in comparison. However, "Westworld" does have its own diehard fans. It is an intriguing premise that will get most movie fans light bulbs glaring in brightness as they ponder the situation put forth by this movie albeit lesser so than real live dinosaurs.
The story is unique and intriguing. The finished product is good, especially by 70s standards. It is simple yet thought provoking. The film suffers from three things: the slow plot, the lack of necessity for three worlds rather than just Westworld, and the cheesy effects available back in the day.
The plot is paced well during the actual Westworld scenes, but the other two worlds are tedious and unnecessary but most likely there to give us the perception that the park is really a giant of a park, like Disney World. Medieval world takes time away from the main Westworld scenes. We do not even get to see much of Roman World - just stock footage of chariot races and such. And 70s technology special effects were just cheesy beyond belief!
The special effects are mostly the robotic people, the computers, and aircraft. Rather than the guests travelling to the isolated park by regular airplanes, Delos has each group flown across the desert in futuristic hovering aircrafts. Talk about cheese!
The robots are simple effects - just people with contact lenses and a covering for their hands. No electronics are seen except for when the scientists are repairing the robot in the lab. The robots are just actors that act oddly on purpose and when the internals are seen, they are basically mannequins with some jerri-rigged wires, conductors, lights, and gizmos that beep and ding. Think "Six Million Dollar Man" and "Bionic Woman."
The computer equipment is REALLY old looking and plain because that is what the equipment looked lie in the 70s.
The underground headquarters and repair tunnels for the workers are just plain hallways - probably one long hallway set repeatedly, over and over.
Other than that, the rest of the effects are not that special. They are just your standard western and medieval sets used for countless movies. A few horses and stuntmen and it is good to go.
"Westworld," although with cheesy effects by today’s standards, was innovative back in its day and even set a few precedents. The movie boasts the first use of computer digitized images as part of a feature film. It is seen with the Gunslinger's point of view. It was a timely process that took eight hours to create ten seconds of Gunslinger sight.
The acting is fairly good for it being a 70s action flick. The cast boasts a list of a few big stars from back in the day.
The two main "human" stars are Richard Benjamin, who plays Peter Martin, and the great star of "The Amityville Terror" fame, James Brolin, plays John Blane. John plays a calm, fun man returning to Westworld for a repeat visit. John encourages his friend, Peter, to go along with him to try to forget his divorce woes and professional life as a city lawyer. Peter starts out stiff, prim, and proper but, under the tutelage of John, he grows to love his role as a gunfighter.
Dick Van Patten is mostly there as comic relief, playing a banker who visits Westworld to get away from his boring city life. In Westworld, he turns out to be bumbling and not adept for western life.
The real star of the movie is Yul Brynner, who plays a Westworld robot and is simply called The Gunslinger. Brynner's cold, expressionless face and body movement makes this an ideal role for him. His role is an homage to his character in "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) and he even wears the same exact costume. The Gunslinger is first "killed" by Peter in a bar, but his wiring breaks down and he keeps returning to shoot it out. Peter wins every gunfight because the robots are programmed to lose. Once the whole computer network crashes, the programming is lifted and The Gunslinger now shoots to kill!
"Westworld" is a somewhat fun movie to watch when you take into account the time period in which it was produced. Try to accept it for what it is and you will enjoy it more. It is definitely worth a view by sci-fi and western fans.
