Westworld
directed by Michael Crichton
starring Richard Benjamin, Yul Brynner
Arrow Video
Released in November 1973, Westworld could have been forgotten by spring, but the film struck a nerve. The film was a hit that spawned a sequel, Futureworld, and two television series, but also became one of the classic science fiction films of the era. Written and directed by novelist Michael Crichton, who is pretty unheralded as a director despite some terrific films, including Coma (1978), The Great Train Robbery (1978), and Looker (1981). The film, though very much a product of its time, feels eerily relevant today.
Delos, a high-end resort, offers its well-heeled clientele the opportunity to spend a couple of weeks vacation in medieval Europe, Ancient Rome, or the American Wild West. Each of the worlds at Delos is populated with lifelike robots who serve all manner of functions, allowing guests to live out their fantasies. Needless to say, few people vacation at Delos to write poetry, so the robots are mostly there to facilitate violent or sexual fantasies, with the added benefit that the robots are programmed to not harm the guests. They can engage in sword fights or quick draw duels with impunity.
Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) and his friend, John Blane (James Brolin), head to Westworld to try to help Peter get back to normal following a messy divorce. Blane thinks some time spent drinking and carousing with robot hookers and a couple of gunfights is just what his buddy needs. Everything is going according to plan on the ground, but worry is afoot in the subterranean control rooms, where the engineers are flummoxed by a series of errors with the robots that seems to be spreading like a virus. Soon the virus breaks containment, and the robots are no longer constrained by their “do not harm” programming. Things turn deadly as the black hat gunslinger (Yul Brynner) of Westworld guns down Blane, and Martin has to flee in an attempt to elude the relentless gunslinger, only to uncover mass slaughter of the guests in all three worlds.
Even after endless references and parodies across film and television, Westworld still delivers. It’s one of those films you’d recognize even if you hadn’t watched it before. The film’s sub-90 minute runtime helps keep things moving without a lot of time to ponder the logistics of how an operation like this could possibly work. The film is a cultural touchstone, and it is a bit alarming how relevant it still feels as we enter the AI age.
