Ah, once again thanks to the Netflix movie download service, I am revisiting my youth…. Well, specifically, the guilty pleasures of my youth. The other night I rewatched Westworld, and it still stands up pretty well.
In case you have never seen it, Westworld is a SF/Western written and directed by Michael Crichton, whom you might have heard of (he’s fallen into relative obscurity, though – wonder what he did after this movie?). It starred Richard Benjamin (no Paula Prentiss in sight, unfortunately) and James Brolin (no Barbra Striesand in sight, fortunately) fighting Yul Brenner’s gunslinger robot in Jurassic Park… er, sorry, I meant the Delos amusement park.
The park is separated into three different historic periods – Westworld, Roman World, and Futureworld, also called EPCOT – that have robots programmed for the guest’s amusement (“You can shoot, rape or pillage without any legal repercussions or guilt!” was the park slogan). Well, something goes worng, and the robots start turning on their masters (eerily prescient of the robot uprising of ’02).
James Brolin’s character bites it (apparently there was not a benevolent robot Dr. Marcus Welby nearby) and Richard Benjamin’s milksop character has to try and survive as the Terminat… err, the Gunslinger chases after him. Since Benjamin’s character had “killed” Yul’s Gunslinger twice before, the robot wants to even the score (though I don’t know how he could kill Richard Benjamin twice – silly robot!)
All in all, a fun film if you haven’t seen it, and worth revisiting it if you have. Just avoid the sequel, Futureworld, like the plague.
Here’s a fan-made trailer:
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