“Westworld” (1973)

Studio: MGM
Starring: Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin, Dick Van Patten
Directed by: Michael Crichton
Rated: PG
Running Time: 88 min.

Synopsis: A new kind of fun park where a person can relive the wild west and other different worlds, goes out of control when the machines attack the guests for real.

REVIEW

Chris Woods

A great sc-fi/western/action/thriller and just an all around excellent film, written and directed by Michael Crichton and stars Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, and James Brolin. The movie is about a new kind of amusement park/resort that is one half Roman World, one half Medieval World, and one half Westworld. All three worlds are a place where adults can live out their fantasy in each world. The grown ups finally got to play cowboys and Indians for real. Also, all the people from each world are robots and the guests get to interact with them whether it was in a gunfight or sending a night with a lady in a whorehouse.

The movie starts out with almost an infomercial like segment where a reporter is interviewing people coming back from each world. Everyone has great things to say about each world and highly recommend it. As the reporter signs off with “Boy, have we got a vacation for you!”, we go to a futuristic shuttle taking a group to the resort. Here’s where we meet Peter (Richard Benjamin) and John (James Brolin) going to Westworld. Peter discusses with John, who’s been to Westworld before, on which kind of gun and holster he should get. As the shuttle lands, all groups go to their respective worlds. Peter and John get all their supplies for Westworld along with other guests going there as well. (Dick Van Patten plays one of them.) Once there, Peter can’t believe most of everyone is a robot. Only way you can tell is by the palms of their hands which the manufactures haven’t perfective. Everything else feels real and feels like their in the wild west. When Peter and John go to the bar they have a run in with a gunslinger played by Yul Brynner. Peter ends up in a gunfight with him and kills the gunslinger. Peter still wonders if he was really just killing a robot. John reassures him by telling Peter to shoot him. He does, and the gun doesn’t go off cause of a censor that doesn’t shoot at anything warm bloodied. Soon after that, Peter starts to enjoy himself when him and John go to the local whorehouse for the night.

When all the guests are asleep, the robots shut down and a crew comes out and takes all the dead robots to repair them. Underground the resort, a team monitor all the worlds and repair the robots. There seems to be many robots malfunctioning and one working is concerned. He suggest to the others they should close the park for a while, but the others disagree want to keep it open. The film mostly takes place in Westworld but they are parts that take place in Medieval World that follow one of the guest who’s a knight trying to have an affair with the Queen and is getting chased by The Black Knight. There are a few shots of Roman World, but no segments from there. Back in Westworld, the gunslinger (now repaired) comes back to get revenge on Peter and John. Of course, Peter kills him once again, but then he’s thrown in jail for it. John breaks Peter out of the jail and kills the sheriff. Now the two are living a true life in the west. The two ride horses escaping into the desert when suddenly a robot snake bites John. The staff watches everything that goes on in the park and sees this. They were concerned that a robot harmed a guest. They take the snake to check it out, but still don’t shut down the resort.

Then, the situation gets worst when the machines start going out of control. First, in Medieval World, the guest there is stabbed to death in a battle with the Black Knight. The crew down in the lab sees this and tries to shut down all the robots, but nothing happens. They then try to shut down all the power in the resort, but that doesn’t work either. Then in Westworld, Peter and John run into the gunslinger for the third time. Since time the gunslinger shoots down John and kills him. Peter can’t believe it and runs off while the gunslinger takes off after him. The crew tries to stop the machines some how, but can’t even get the power back on, trapping them down in the basement due to the doors being connected to the power. Meanwhile, Peter gets on a horse and leaves Westworld. The Gunslinger follows on horseback and tracks Peter all the way to Roman World. Probably the best part in the film when Peter is being pursued by the gunslinger. A very cool and thrilling scene where Brynner is almost Terminator like going after his victim.

Peter finds a secret entrance to the underground lab. He discovers the dead staff and tries to find someone alive. The gunslinger doesn’t give up, as he follows Peter to the lab. Peter does get the upper hand when he pours acid on Brynner, but the gunslinger comes back fighting. Peter then ends up somewhere in a castle in Medieval World and has a final battle with the gunslinger when he sets him on fire. When Peter thinks it’s finally over, the gunslinger rises from the ashes for one last scare to only fall over and self-destruct.

I first saw this film back in the 80’s on TV and still today the film stands up there with all the rest. A great suspenseful story, an awesome cast, a haunting score, great atmosphere through out, a really cool scary villain from Yul Brynner, and an excellent cat and mouse game at the end. Westworld also combines plenty of genres and makes it work and one of Michael Crichton’s best stories and an excellent science-fiction film