Westworld

Westworld, from a concept basis alone, had ton of potential when it was first green lit as an idea by author Michael Crichton. Known for his novel writing including such books as The Andromeda Strain, Sphere, Congo, and (arguably his most famous) Jurassic Park, he was also involved with the film and television industry, with many of his stories being turned into either TV show or movies. From this combination of work within the written and the visual realm of media, Westworld was a concept that he created and specifically wanted to have it as a movie as opposed to a novel, as he felt the idea just worked much better visually that it did on the page. Being his first directorial debut and after a very difficult production period under the studio control of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), the movie came out without much pomp and circumstance in 1973, yet received a reception that was extremely positive, setting a good starting point for this brand to later evolve from. Set in the then-future of 1983, the world features a high-tech, highly realistic adult-specific amusement park known as Delos. It features three themed worlds; The American Old West, Medieval Europe, and the ancient city of Rome, and these three resorts are created for the public to actually experience what it would be like to live in said time period, featuring several androids that function as NPCs within this world to divulge its occupants in whatever they desire, whether it be a violent or even sexual request. Two visitors of the Western world (simply titled Westworld) are first-time visitor Peter Martin (played by Richard Benjamin) and frequent visitor, John Blane (played by James Brolin). They get comfortable within the western themed world until they slowly discover the environment is becoming less spotless and it feels more dangerous than usual, mainly as a Gunslinger (played by Yul Brynner) starts to actively try to kill them. Now on the run and without the guidance of the people in charge to stop it, this holiday just became a much deadlier vacation than they bargained for. Though not many people may be aware of this movie and would only really know of the name from the very popular 2016 HBO series, it seemed to do critically well when it was release, but its lack of public knowledge may have some purpose to it when the movie’s less perfect side starts to show up.

As a concept for a book or for a film, Westworld has a great idea that mixes that traditional blend of science fiction hypothesis and real scientific hubris to create something unnatural but feasible, while also functioning as a neat idea for a movie to explore bigger themes and concepts that could be taken in many different mental and psychological directions. Crichton has always been great at constructing stories with wonderful concepts that will keep the audience reading regardless of flaws within the lines, and most of his work features very similar themes like failures of technology and humanity’s flaw with trying to either correct or control what can’t be controlled. Westworld functions in a very similar way; this idea of this park intended for adults run by androids leaves plenty of open room for a ton of great commentary on what a society deems are expectations and needs to be fulfilled in order to be happy, how an individual’s moral compass can be destroyed when there is a lack of real consequences, and the ramifications of being addicted to a fake world with no responsibilities. That’s not even taking into factor the androids and how they are programmed to act and even feel like real people, and how that toll affects how them especially when they seem to eventually gain free will, and all of these elements sound fantastic if they were actually focused on. This isn’t to say that the movie doesn’t feature ideas like this, but they are more talked about rather than actually felt. The movie really isn’t a commentary movie, it instead plays its very simply with these ideas being moreso elements that the public could pick up on through actions from the characters. In a book, this can be fleshed out more with inner monologues and longer periods of time dedicated to exploring this environment and the people, but here it doesn’t get much focus and is instead moreso a pretty neat concept introduced and then never fully utilized. While the first half shoves a lot of exposition in to explain the workings of this park along with several pretty dull scenes of scientists talking around a table (which just feels like a stable of Crichton’s work), the movie completely turns on its head in the final act when it suddenly becomes a chase movie. It’s so out of nowhere and lacks any sense of build-up or strong pay-off that it ends the movie off on a very unfocused weak endpoint. Much like something like Jurassic Park, this prominently analytical and thought-provoking idea suddenly becomes something akin to a slasher film by the end, which just feels like a complete 180 of what this idea was being presented as.  It felt confused on what it wanted to focus on, and neither aspect of the story was really dissected in an interesting way, leaving both ends unfinished and the whole product lacking closure.

One of the biggest criticism that Crichton has had to deal with is that while he’s great at creating ideas and keeping his audience engaged with the way he constructs his narratives; he can never write a likeable character to save his life. A majority of his characters are incredibly unlikable and are written to just be angry, cold, and bitter pains to be with. In this movie, thankfully that isn’t the case with these lead roles, but it’s hard to say that they aren’t very forgettable roles. The two leads aren’t unlikable, they’re just very under-written and don’t have much too them. There are pieces there, like how Brolin’s character actually enjoys the lawless nature of the environment that’s he’s been several times, and Richard Benjamin’s reluctance to adjust before slowly accepting it is a fine enough element, but it never really goes any further than that. They don’t have a backstory outside of throwaway lines and the last act kind of ruins any chances of any conclusion for either of them. Having only two leads is a smart choice for this environment, but without the background info, nothing new is discovered about them so nothing is gained from spending time with them. There are no other characters in the movie outside of nameless scientists and random guests who don’t do much else which is a shame as having more options to explore the various ways people could use this space would be beneficial (and it would’ve been fairly easy to do in a written format with multiple different perspectives), but the movie doesn’t really allow for that, so it doesn’t take much advantage of it. This story could have been a great anthology piece if it was constructed that way, and it seems like the series would adopt a style that would incorporate more characters and different plot lines later on, so it does seem to work better that way. Yul Brynner as the Gunslinger has a great look to him and even his robotic presence could have been a nice threat, but since he comes in so late and his actions make him come off as sillier than threatening in the final act, he feels like a pretty big letdown.

In terms of how the movie visually holds up, the environments do really feel like they exist within the specific time period they are portraying, but the movie doesn’t really utilize the full extent of what this park could offer. You’d imagine that for an idea that should have as many extravagant and immaculate visuals as possible, the minimal budget of only $1.2 million would have limited what they could’ve soon, and that is most apparent in regard to the other areas. They only spend time in the one environment, but when the movie gives three option, it feels like they have no purpose of existing. The medieval section factors in a bit, but not enough to make an impact and the Roman section doesn’t factor in barely at all. While that isn’t well handled, the sets and the overall production design handled by Herman A. Blumenthal and John P. Austin looks cool, even if they are only just used for running around in. While this is a pretty timeless idea, the movie really does show its age in how its presented as it does have its 70s elements that (while unavoidable) are still maybe too prominent to prevent the movie from having a timeless element that the concept really does have. The style, the way people act, the cinematography by Gene Polito, the soundtrack and film score by Fred Karlin, even the obvious voice dubbing, it has a very 70s feel which can be a bit distracting for some people. The movie’s shallowness in presenting itself really could have been avoided with a written form. A lot of the details are talked about, but it takes up so much time that there really isn’t time for much else, which leads to a plot without much going on and an ending that feels out of nowhere and over too quickly. The tone seems a bit all over the place too; it can have long talks about scientific experimentation and AI conditioning, but it also has a slow-motion bar fight and a really long chase sequence with a silly looking robot, it’s hard to pin it down exactly.

Westworld wasn’t fully lost to the world once this movie came out. It seemed to leave enough of an impression which led to its own sequel movie, Futureworld in 1976, a short-lived television series, Beyond Westworld in 1980, and the 2016 HBO TV series which was met with extreme critical praise. It really shows the strength of the story and by extension, the faults of this film. Overall, the movie isn’t necessarily bad; it moreso just exists and does the bare minimum within the running time it has. It can be pretty hoaky in tone, the movie wastes a lot of its easy commentary, and the last act is very rushed and out of nowhere, but for a quick watch, it’s perfectly harmless. It doesn’t have no thought put behind it, the characters aren’t unlikable, and if you are willing to turn your brain off and sit through it, it might entertain someone on a basic level. Nowhere near as complex and interesting as its HBO show, but at least its roots aren’t entirely awful, check it out for yourself and see if anything could go wrong on this vacation.