*Originally written October 5th, 2016*
After watching the pilot for HBO's Westworld adaptation (Which was excellent), I thought I'd go back to where it started.
This was pretty fun and not what I expected. I'd never seen this properly, but I have images from it from when I must have seen scenes as a child in passing, but it holds up pretty well. I wasn't surprised to see this was from the writer of Jurassic Park, as this very much feels in the same vein, but an earlier idea of the concept. A futuristic theme park goes wrong and the attractions start killing guests etc.
The cast are great, Yul Brynner's performance clearly went onto inspire The Terminator and James Brolin must be Christian Bale's father right? I mean seriously, look at him. Someone has had an affair there. Richard Benjamin also does a great job holding the film together. Spending about an hour with Brolin and Benjamin before the event happens really helps you empathise with these characters. A lot of the first hour is just the two loads exploring the park and experiencing it, Brolin completely into it from the get-go, while Benjamin is far more unsure about the park, even feeling guilty that he may have possibly killed a guest instead of a robot, despite being told all the measures have been put in place for that not to happen.
I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more chaos. We actually see a higher body count from the Roman part of the park, which could have been an entire film in itself, but in Westworld it was pretty much a cat and mouse game between The Gunslinger and the lead. Everything between the Gunslinger and Richard Benjamin was great though, it was all tense and made use of a travelling from different parks.
I also thought there was a scene where The Gunslinger walks through a river which was spoofed in The Simpsons with Principal Skinner, must have got it confused with something else. Meh. I will track down what film that did spoof one day. The internet doesn't seem to have any answers. Help?
As good as Westworld is as a thriller, it does shine brightest as a sci-fi film. The whole film is gorgeous and filled with tons of great ideas (Many of which I assume will be references in HBO's TV show. For 1973, a lot of the practical effects hold up, especially the Gunslinger's unsettling melting robot face towards the end. Even the off putting look of the robots hands lend this weird surrealness to the whole thing. It's also lovely to just see blood squibs again, god I miss blood squibs...
A fun sci-fi film thriller all round and definitely worth a visit before seeing the HBO series. Will check out the sequel at some point, but I feel that won't be as good. Who knows.
8/10 Dans
Westworld is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:
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