Westworld

Long before Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton was writing (and in this case, directing) future-fiction works such as Westworld, and even after 30 years there’s no less reason to think such things couldn’t happen. In fact, it could be argued that, in part, they already are.

Westworld is set in a giant, futuristic theme park, developed, owned and run by a company named Delos. Guests pay $1000 a day to spend time in one of the three worlds on offer, being Westernworld, Medievalworld, and Romanworld. Each is ‘staffed’ by robots (androids) that are programmed to behave and interact as humans – and to accommodate a guest's every desire. Naturally they are period-dressed, as are the guests, and the whole thing is closely monitored by the real staff, in underground control rooms and laboratories.

John Blane (James Brolin) and Peter Mann (Richard Benjamin) are two paying ‘guests’ in Westernworld, though Blane has holidayed there before. For Mann, however, it is his chance to escape from the workaday drudgery of being a lawyer and an opportunity to live the dream of being a ‘hombre’ in the days of the Wild West. Mann gets his first real taste of life at the outpost when a black-hatted gunslinger (Yul Brynner) strolls into the bar and picks a fight with him. Reluctant at first, Mann soon gets into the swing of things and in the slowest ‘quick draw’ you’ll ever see, shoots the gunslinger dead. Yee-ha! Oh, this is not a problem for it’s all part of the ‘game’, what the guests pay $1000 bucks a day for.

"Nothing can possibly go wrong!"

The gunslinger is dragged off to be repaired, and the boys go off to enjoy some good ol’ fashioned, large-bosomed hospitality at the local whorehouse. Living the life of Butch and Sundance, these boys are having a rootin’, tootin’ ol’ time, until things start to go alarmingly wrong, and the ever-obliging robots start to take matters into their own (malformed) hands. Suddenly, instead of feeling like they are on the best holiday ever, they find themselves in a shootout at the (not-so) OK Corral!

This is a fine old science-fiction/western romp, though it’s no match for films such as The Terminator (which pays subtle homage to Westworld), in action, suspense, and certainly not for special effects. The premise is quite good, although there are numerous inconsistencies and leaps of faith required before you get truly swallowed up in the fun of it all. The cast are good, especially Brynner who looks amazingly scary at the best of times, and with Crichton directing his own work, there is little chance of the writer’s intention being misunderstood.

The special effects range from good to laughable (though quite innovative for their time), and while the whole thing moves along at a decent pace, it might have been nice if the tension had been drawn out a little more. Oh yeah, it also has one of those “Look behind you!� type endings, but at least this one did it before most of them. It also might have been nice to spend a little more time in the other two worlds, but I guess that would have blown the budget.

A good fun romp, and something to think about should you ever visit Movie World or Disneyland.

Whoever is responsible for insisting that older films get a decent transfer at the very least, deserves our thanks. Those that have decided that Region 4 are deserving of NTSC releases may not deserve such praise. Having said that of course, we are lucky some things get released at all. It is unlikely that money would have been spent on a PAL version, that’s a given.

There are a number of oldies being released at the moment and most of them scrub up quite well all things considered. Of course this film looks 30 years old, at that age most of us do... You can’t do much about hairstyles and the (lack of) fashion, but at least the film looks good technically.

It is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is 16:9 enhanced. Colours are acceptable though bordering on drab, improved, I’m sure, by transfer to DVD. There is some very minor colour bleeding that you’ll struggle to notice. Black levels too are generally fine with minor evidence of noise. The overall image is a little soft compared to recent films, but vastly superior to any old VHS copy you'll find. There is some mild grain to be seen and a few film artefacts such as dirty marks and white flecks that pop up from time to time. There are reel change markers included indicating this has been transfered from a theatrical release print.

There are no compression artefacts to speak of, nor a layer change.

There is but one English option, partner, and that is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. It is quite adequate, and while a full 5.1 audio mix would have added some wonderful ambience, what is offered is fair. There are no issues as far as most of the basics are concerned, and the volume and clarity is fine. There are some issues with audio-synch being slightly out however, but this seems limited to a few scenes in the middle of the film.

The score is enjoyable and nicely suited to the film, though it is not aggressive and doesn’t sound as menacing as it might have had it been in 5.1. Sound effects such as honky-tonk pianos, gunshots, smashing bar stools, bar mirrors, and barmen are all loud and clear, they just lack any real oomph. There is no action from the anything but the left and right front speakers, unless you ‘Pro-logic’ it and even then it doesn't sound any better. There is some exaggerated separation that makes much of the audio seem a touch unreal, with voices way over to the left or right, just because the actor is left or right of screen.

Sorry, pilgrim. The only extra is the lengthy three minute theatrical trailer which is typically all action, and voiced by a man with very large testicles.

As far as sci-fi films goes, Crichton's debut, Westworld, was quite something in 1973. There is enough menace even now to make it worthwhile, attributable largely to Brynner, but if you are expecting a high-tech, all-action, laser-gun thrill ride, well, you will most likely be disappointed. This is more akin to watching an episode of the original Star Trek as far as storyline and most special effects goes. Good, but only when judged in context.