Westworld

Starring:Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin, Norman Bartold, Alan Oppenheimer, Victoria Shaw, Dick Van Patten, Linda Gaye Scott, Steve Franken, Michael T. Mikler, Terry Wilson, Majel Barrett, Anne Randall, Julie Marcus, Sharyn Wynters, Anne Bellamy, Chris Holter, Charles Seel, Wade Crosby, Nora Marlowe
Director: Michael Crichton
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Welcome to Delos, the high-tech Disneyland for adults that Michael Crichton created for Westworld, a nifty science fiction thriller from 1973 that also marked the popular novelist's feature-film directorial debut. The movie is so named because the vacationing buddies who travel to Delos (James Brolin, Richard Benjamin) choose Westworld as their destination (the other choices being Roman World and Medieval World), where they are free to indulge their movie-inspired fantasies of the Wild West. From brothel beauties to black-hatted gunslingers (like the villain played by Yul Brynner), the place is populated by perfectly humanlike robots programmed and monitored to cater to every guest's fancy. But fun turns into abject horror when the robots--particularly Brynner's badman--begin to malfunction and Delos turns into an amusement park that's anything but amusing. Westworld has moments of camp and the look of a low-budget backlot production, but two decades before Crichton revamped his idea to create Jurassic Park, this movie made the most of its interesting and exciting premise. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Where nothing can possibly go wrong, ..go wrong.. go wrong.......2007-07-04

I believe given the limits of special Fx at the time it was made, this was a good film with an intriguing premise. I doubt we will see any remake of it for the simple fact that we dont have any actor who could convincingly play the iconic gunslinger brought to life by Brynner.
I had not seen the movie in years. I was mistaken in thinking that Delos was set up to be a vacation fantasy land set up for the super rich and powerful. We're told early on that the guests pay about $1,000 per day for their time in Westworld and the two main characters are obviously well off (One is recently divorced, the other's marital status unclear)
The first reviewer gave a well beyond adequate explanation of the difficulties of animatronic robot technology. I wont steal his thunder here. I think if a remake were to be done I'd have many changes.
Upon arrival at Delos-- but prior to changing clothes and getting into character/role playing mode-- guests would get to see a robot assembly and design area. Seeing technicians go from a steel framed skeleton with movable, programmable limbs and digits all the way to a semi-convincing character (cowboy, saloon hooker, medieval knight etc) would be neat. The guests would get the same type guided tour as the Attenborough character gave the guests at Jurassic Park, only at the end I'd have the guests discover that their tourguide narrator was in fact a robot as well. So far the only convincing robots actually in existence are in japan. (I saw the "girl" and she looked convincing at least from a distance)
Instead of the one deranged cowboy gunman, I think I might have multiple character robots go nuts, but I'd have them ea confined to a particular zone where they would receive programming signals from miniature cell antennas or something similar. That the gunslinger could go all the way to the Roman World seemed a bit far-fetched; seems like you'd engineer him so that he'd only go so far until his tower reception quit.

It might have also been better if robotic machines had been the repairers of the "killed" machines, that could have been the origin of the virus.
I'm a little incredulous that synthetic beings could ever be designed and built with which a man might choose to have sex. I think I would rework the saloon girl hookers part of the film as well.

difficult to believe.......2007-06-13

When you are programming a robot or a computer of some type, you must think of all the possibilities. For instance, think of the navigation control computer in an airplane or aeroplane. If something goes wrong, then the program must be able to continue without rebooting or shutting down. Today you should use Ada, but in a pinch you can also use c or jave.

This movie is really hard to believe. I think it is a really bad case of imcompetent programming when robots get out of control. They have to remake this movie so that it is more believeable and less, well you have to see it to believe it.

They have to change the story where the robots reprogram themselfs. Then it would be more believeable. Otherwise, it looks like the guy who wrote this has brain damage from mercury or fluoride poisoning. Don't swallow the toothpaste with fluoride because they use fluoride in insecticides!

Yul like it.......2007-04-14

and may want to brynner copy of its sequel too.

Futureworld

"... Draw ... "; Yul Brynner, WESTWORD........2007-04-13

Despite the fact that the production values in WESTWORLD tend to lean towards the low end of the spectrum (they look more like an original STAR TREK or SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN television episode instead of a motion picture) the movie is still a fun little sci-fi thriller flick. Brynner's depiction of the cybernetic cowboy - menacing, emotionless and cold - was superb and easily comprised THE BEST parts of the film hands down. I loved one of the final scenes of the cyborg where it stared into the camera with it's smoldering, hollow face - cool! WESTWORLD was Michael Crichton's directorial debut, and though the robotic-woman bed scene was unnecessary and tasteless, the picture, for the most part, was handled very well. If Yul Brynner were still around, I'd love to see an extended remake with Brynner reprising his role. Unfortunately that will never be possible.

A must-have SF-Horror film!!!.......2007-04-10

A great movie all round. For any horror &/or SF fan, this is a must-have. This release is in the modern-style cardboard DVD-box, instead of a proper plastic one, but other than that I have no criticisms. I am very happy with my purchase.

Average customer rating:

Misleading!
What a trip!

The Making of "Westworld"
Starring: Making of Westworld
Manufacturer: PASSPORT VIDEO
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000B1ODF
Release Date: 2003-09-23

Description

THE MAKING OF series is a behind-the-scenes look at some of Hollywood's most enduring classics. Hosted by actor/comedian Sean MacLaughlin, this series takes the viewer onto closed sets and into the world of studio moviemaking through rare footage, interviews and newsreels. Each edition also features a few surprises, including biographies of the stars and looks at similar films in the genre. THE MAKING OF series is a must-see for any film fan who wants to know just how Hollywood creates the magic that is movies.

Customer Reviews:

Misleading!.......2004-01-21

As a fan of the Westworld movie I eagerly bought this, only to find that it barely has anythind to do with it. There is a look at Yul Bryner's film career which was interesting but mostly irrelevant to the title. There are two sections (which use the same footage) covering robots and robots in movies. The actual part covering the movie was so short that it passed in the blink of an eye. I really felt like I had picked something up from a market stall that had been knocked together in someone's back bedroom. I wouldn't touch this with a bargepole!

What a trip!.......2003-11-26

I loved this DVD! I mean, I love the movie 'Westworld' but this DVD really captured the essence of what it must have been like to make this movie.