- The first hour of Westworld perfectly captures everybody's popular conception of the Old West. Plenty of shootouts, barfights, sheriffs, and whores, and it's always the automatous men in black (Yul Brynner) who get gunned down at high noon. That's exactly the vacation experience that average joes Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) and John Blane (James Brolin) are paying a fortune for, and that's exactly what they get. "There's no way to get hurt in here, just enjoy yourself," explains Blane.
- But because this is a science fiction film, and more specifically one written and directed by Michael Crichton, the seemingly idyllic vacation paradise slowly begins to come apart at the seams. First, it's a control panel or a phone that doesn't work. Then, there's a robotic rattlesnake whose bite is a little too real. Next thing you know, the neighboring Medieval World has a sex robot that turns down customers and a villainous black knight that refuses to lose a duel. The only thing worse would be if that black-hatted gunslinger decided that he should get a chance to shoot first.
- While there aren't many completely unexpected surprises lurking in Westworld, the film is a well-made illustration of Crichton's obsession with technological systems going completely off the rails. Surely the film's most brilliant decision was to cast Brynner as an emotionless killing machine who strongly resembles a certain hero from The Magnificent Seven. Add in the creepy visuals of underground repair centers and late-night robot replacement sessions, and you have a memorable sci-fi whose influence extends to Terminator, Dark City, and beyond. It may not be a truly great movie, but it certainly lives up to its in-film advertisement: "Boy, have we got a vacation for you."
- Also featuring Dick van Patten, Alan Oppenheimer, and Majel Barrett.
