Westworld, 1973.
Directed by Michael Crichton.
Starring Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, and James Brolin.
SYNOPSIS:
Westworld, Michael Crichton’s 1973 theatrical debut as a director that was turned into a wildly inconsistent HBO series a few years ago, gets the Arrow Video treatment. If you’re a fan, you’ll appreciate the physical swag included here, along with a batch of new bonus features and a remastered print of the film.
I saw a video the other day of some robots pulling off some pretty slick moves during a demo. Yeah, I’d say the future envisioned by movies like Westworld is arriving even sooner than we expected.
But for now, let’s travel back to 1973, when this film was Michael Crichton’s theatrical debut as a director. (He wrote it too, of course.) It inspired the recent HBO series of the same name, which went off the rails for me somewhere along the way, and it starred Yul Brynner as an android, with Richard Benjamin and James Brolin playing Peter Martin and John Blane, respectively.
The story is set in 1983, which admittedly was pretty optimistic for its vision of theme parks populated by human-like androids that guests could do with as they pleased. Westworld, based on the American Old West, is one of three Disneyland-like worlds people can stay in.
Peter and John have made it their destination, and the latter has been there before, so he delivers exposition for the audience to his buddy. They enjoy themselves causing trouble and indulging in a brothel’s offerings when something goes wrong in the park’s internal systems and the androids begin attacking the guests. (Yeah, sounds a lot like a later Crichton story that went on to be a huge box office hit.)
Yul Brynner’s character, simply identified as “Gunslinger” in the credits, decides to take its revenge on the humans who have already dispatched him a couple times, and when he kills one of the pair, the other runs for his life.
I suppose I’d put Westworld in the category of “movies that are competently made but I won’t necessarily watch again.” However, if you’re a fan, Arrow Video has set you up with a Limited Edition release that has several phsyical extras, along with newly-restored video that looks and feels like the movie is unspooling in a 1970s era move theater again.
In terms of bonus features on the disc, nearly all of which are new, here’s what you’ll find:
• Commentary: Documentary filmmaker and author Daniel Kremer delivers a discussion that’s pretty solid, although it meanders off the beaten path here and there.
• Cowboy Dreams (11:42): Producer and screenwriter Larry Karaszewski chats with actor Richard Benjamin about the movie.
• At Home on the Range (17:04): James Brolin gets his turn in the spotlight.
• HollyWorld: Producing Westworld (34:17): Producer Paul N. Lazarus III gives an in-depth look back at the making of the movie.
• Sex, Death and Androids (13:13): Author Alexandra Heller-Nicholas offers an appreciation of the film that takes more of a scholarly approach to its subject.
• On Location with Westworld (9:08): This is a pretty run-of-the-mill old school EPK.
• Beyond Westworld (49:39): It’s not a surprise that there was originally a desire to turn the movie into a TV series way back in 1980, but, wow, is this pilot episode pretty bad. I can see why it didn’t even get a full season.
The theatrical trailer and an image gallery round out the platter.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
