Westworld was a 1973 film written and directed by Michael Crichton. It was a seminal science fiction movie starring Yul Brynner as a malfunctioning robotic Western movie-style gunslinger in a futuristic amusement park (called Delos) where wealthy patrons vacation to role-play their fantasies. Richard Benjamin and James Brolin starred as amusement park guests that were hunted down by the Gunslinger. Because of the way it blends genres, Westworld may be described as a science fiction Western.

Overview

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The title refers to the name of one of the three themed areas of the Delos amusement park. Westworld provided a simulation of the environment of a mid 19th-century western gambling town, while the two other themed areas of Delos, MedievalWorld and RomanWorld, provided ambiance of the time of King Arthur, and of decadent Rome during the pagan eras, respectively.

The entertainment (in all three areas) consisted primarily of interaction by the guests with androids in the particular setting, e.g. the old west, medieval Europe and pre-Christian Rome. The use of the term android refers to the fact that (with one exception, which is a critical point in the film) the robots are indistinguishable from human beings. This provides for great fun for the guests as they can indulge virtually any fantasy, including killing the androids in gory and gruesome ways, such as by sword or six-gun. The androids in general are programmed to respond positively to guest requests, specifically including requests for sex. Delos guests paid $1,000 a day (1970s dollars) for their experience.

The main premise, that the general technology will fail catastrophically, is a common premise running throughout several of Crichton's stories, including Andromeda Strain, the Jurassic Park series, Prey, and Timeline.

In Westworld, Brynner's character, a relentless, emotionless, uncompromising android known only as "Gunslinger," is bent on the pursuit and destruction of his target, resembles his previous role of Chris in The Magnificent Seven and foreshadows Arnold Schwarzenegger's characters in The Terminator series of movies.

An important point of the film is that the androids are virtually indistinguishable from human beings; early in the film, one of the guests (Benjamin) shoots and kills the gunslinger (who actually bleeds, just as a human would) and is worried he might actually kill a guest. The other guest (Brolin) shows him (by having him try to shoot him) that the guns cannot fire at anything warm, only "something cold, like a machine."

We also discover that the only obvious physical difference between the humans and the androids is the hands: on close examination, the androids' finger joints appear somewhat fake. ("They haven't perfected the hands yet," Brolin's character says to Benjamin's character.)

The problems of the resort start to become apparent when technicians notice certain anomalies in the behavior of the robotic actors including a strange increase in systemic failures of some of the dog robots. When a female servant android refuses a guest's request for sex, this causes a supervisor to suspect something is seriously wrong.

When a robot rattlesnake makes an actual strike upon one of the guests, the supervisor realizes that there is a potential disaster on their hands, as the androids and other robotic actors are not supposed to injure a guest under any circumstances. Failures eventually cascade until the (now reincarnated) Gunslinger kills the guest played by Brolin. Technicians watch, horrified, through television monitors, and discover they cannot shut down the androids, and the Gunslinger begins stalking the guest played by Benjamin, demanding he "draw," whereupon the gunslinger would, (if the other guest was to do so) then kill him as well. The movie follows Benjamin as he attempts to outrun or escape the inexorable pursuit by the Gunslinger, and find a way to stop him (or die trying).

Along the way, Benjamin runs across a technician who is trying to escape the resort. The technician informs Benjamin that Gunslinger can react faster and think faster than he can, and that "you haven't got a chance." The Gunslinger kills the technician from a distance with a high-powered rifle as he is talking to Benjamin, who confidently states "Oh yes I do."

The resort's technicians become locked in the control room deep underground, and can only watch as the robots kill the guests throughout the park. Benjamin arrives in RomanWorld and finds an access hatch to the underground control area. As he wanders the deserted corridors, he comes across the control room, finding that the resort's technicians have all suffocated in the sealed control room. The gunslinger pursues Benjamin through the corridors, prompting Benjamin to throw a bottle of acid into the machine's face. Thinking this has destroyed the robot, Benjamin escapes into MedievalWorld, where he finds a female guest chained up in the dungeon. He releases her and gives her a drink of water, whereupon her face bursts into sparks, revealing she was in fact a machine. In the Great Hall, Benjamin runs across the gunslinger, whose face has melted but is still functional. He realises that the robot's eyes are reliant on infrared technology, and hides under a flaming torch to confuse the machine. The gunslinger leaves the room, and Benjamin seizes the opportunity to set fire to it. Finally, the gunslinger robot shuts down.

The film ends with Benjamin lying exhausted in the Great Hall, while the words of Delos' advertisement echo in his head: "Boy, have we got a vacation for you, vacation for you, vacation for you..."

Filming Process

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The cinematographic process used in this film was anamorphic. This is a process that was first developed in the 1940s but did not become widely used until the 1960s. In essence, the anamorphic cinematographic process employs a wider lens that films a wider image than other technologies used in filmmaking. Therefore, the aspect ratio of the image imprinted onto the film is larger. When projected, this process provides the viewer with a wider, more natural view of the scene.

Sequel

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Westworld was followed by a sequel, Futureworld, in 1976, and by a short-lived sequel television series, Beyond Westworld in 1980.

Currently, a remake of Westworld is in development and slated for release in 2007. It was originally stated to star Arnold Schwartzenegger. However, no further details are known about the film or even if it will come to fruition.

Influence on popular culture

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In 1981 Theatre of Hate had a top 40 hit with "Do You Believe (In the Westworld)". In 1985 Colourbox recorded a song title "Just Give 'em Whiskey' which sampled dialogue widely from the film. The band Westworld takes their name from the film. The Canadian Post-Rock band Valley of the Giants's debut self-titled album is heavily influenced by the movie, with a track being called "Westworld". The Simpson's episode "Itchy & Scratchy Land" (S6Ep04)"The "theme park of the future" slogan for I&S Land is an allusion to the 1973 film, which featured a theme park where chaos soon ensued."

Triva

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• Westworld was the first major feature film to use 2D computer generated images (CGI) during scenes showing the point-of-view of the robotic gunslinger. The world's first use of 3D CGI in a feature film is Futureworld of 1976.

• Information International, Inc., or better known as Triple-I, created the digitized shots of The Gunslinger's point of view for the movie. According to Turner Classic Movies, some of the shots took 8 hours to render completely, and many tests were made to get the right look. Probably Triple I's most famous CGI work is for the film, Tron, mainly the scenes featuring the Master Control Program, Sark's Carrier and the Solar Sailer.

• The Gunslinger (Yul Brynner) is either a homage or spoof of Chris, Brynner's character from The Magnificent Seven. Both characters also wear the same costume.

• In the scene when Richard Benjamin's character spashes "The Gunslinger" (Yul Brynner) in the face with hydrochloric acid, Brynner's face was covered with an oil-based makeup mixed with ground Alka-Seltzer. A splash of water would then produced the fizzing effect.

1973 films | Science fiction Westerns | Science fiction films | Cult science fiction films | MGM films

Westworld | Mondwest | Il mondo dei robot | Westworld | Мир Дикого Запада (фильм)