WESTWORLD is about a 21st-century amusement park called Delos on a remote island that offers expensive vacations in various fantasy worlds. The site is divided into three zones: Westworld, Medievalworld, and Romanworld. Guests live out their fantasies with realistic robots controlled by a nerve centre of sophisticated computers. Visitors to Delos pay $1,000 per day for the entertaining experience.
Interviewer: Hi. Ed Ramsey from Delos. If there's anyone who doesn't know what Delos is, well, as we've always said: Delos is the vacation of the future, today. At Delos, you get your choice of the vacation you want. There's Medieval World, Roman World and, of course, Westworld. Let's talk to some of the people who've been there.
Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) and John Blane (James Brolin) are businessmen who opt for "Westworld", an Old West town. However, an electrical malfunction causes the robots to run amok. Their vacation resort turns into a nightmare and death trap.
Peter Martin: You talk too much.
Robot Gunslinger: You say something boy?
Peter Martin: I said you talk too much.
Robot Gunslinger: Try to make me shut up.
Yul Brynner plays The Gunslinger, a cowboy robot programmed to start duels, a spoof of his character "Chris" from THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960). He wears the same costume. The Gunslinger shoots and kills Blane, and Martin runs for his life.
Martin flees to other areas of Delos, but finds only broken robots and dead bodies. When he enters the control area, he discovers dead technicians. The Gunslinger catches up with him and Martin throws corrosive acid in its face, then sets it on fire. However, it does not stop functioning until it falls off a high set of steps. Martin lies exhausted on dungeon stairs with a Delos advertisement echoing in his head: "Why don't you make arrangements to take our hovercraft to Medieval World, Roman World and Westworld. Contact us today, or see your travel agent. Boy, have we got a vacation for you, vacation for you, vacation for you, vacation for you, vacation for you..."
Also in the cast are: Linda Gaye Scott (Arlette), Majel Barrett (Miss Carrie), Anne Randall (Daphne), Robert Hogan (Interviewer), Norman Bartold (Medieval Knight), Alan Oppenheimer (Chief Supervisor), Victoria Shaw (Medieval Queen), Dick Van Patten (Banker), Steve Franken (technician), Michael T. Mikler (Black Knight), Terry Wilson (Sheriff), Julie Marcus (Girl in dungeon), Sharyn Wynters (Apache girl), Anne Bellamy (middle aged woman), Chris Holter (sterwardess), Charles Seel (bellhop), Wade Crosby (bartender), Nora Marlowe (hostess), Lin Henson (ticket girl), Orville Sherman (Supervisor), Lauren Gilbert (Supervisor), and many others. The atmospheric music score is by Fred Karlin. Michael Crichton wrote the script and directed.
This sci-fi western melodrama is very good, with excellent but dated special effects. Director Crichton made the film in 30 days. It's a cult classic with intense action, suspense, minimal dialogue, and an abrupt ending. Martin starts as an inexperienced nerd but learns to be tough. The presence of creepy Yul Brynner dominates the movie. WESTWORLD is in some ways a satirical comparison of Delos with Disney World, except that the modern consumer utopia becomes a dystopia.
WESTWORLD was followed by the sequel FUTUREWORLD (1976), also very good but with less action and more mystery, plus political intrigue. In 1980 there was a short-lived TV series, BEYOND WESTWORLD.
