Westworld (1972)

WESTWORLD, the first feature directed by novelist, screenwriter, and medical doctor Michael Crichton, was a smash hit for MGM, its biggest of the year. It spawned a good sequel, FUTUREWORLD; the shortlived CBS television series BEYOND WESTWORLD (three episodes and cancelled); and an HBO series more than forty years later. Clearly, Crichton’s basic concept (he also penned WESTWORLD’s screenplay) of an amusement park where one is free to act upon his or her basest desires among a population of non-feeling, non-judgemental robots resonates still today.

In Westworld, created by the Delos Corporation, paying clients dress up in western wear and interact with incredibly realistic robot bartenders, cowboys, and, yes, saloon girls. The robots, which are monitored by Delos employees stationed underground, are programmed to serve the customers’ every whim. But nobody told the black-clad robot gunfighter that looks a lot like the bald guy from THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, which goes haywire and begins shooting real bullets at the Everyman best pals played by Richard Benjamin (LOVE AT FIRST BITE) and James Brolin (THE CAR). Yul Brynner plays The Gunfighter as one of western cinema’s great villains — a silent, unstoppable killing machine that actually seems amused by his murderous pursuit.

Keep in mind you have to swallow a lot to buying into the concept. Imagine an amusement park that hands out real bullets to its $1000-per-day clientele trying to get insured or warding off a million lawsuits. Crichton feeds some bull about the pistols being designed to lock when aimed at a warm body, and I guess that’s good enough. But how would you know the jasper you’re punching in a barroom brawl is a robot and not a guy who thinks you’re a robot? And why would the robots’ guns be loaded with real bullets?

The film takes its time world-building, giving us not only a good look at Westworld and the technicians who keep it running, but also Delos’ companion parks Romanworld and Medievalworld (played by Harold Lloyd’s Benedict Canyon mansion). The actual plot doesn’t kick in until the third act! Alan Oppenheimer (BLIND AMBITION) plays a concerned technician who wants to shut down the park when the robots begin malfunctioning. Look for STAR TREK’s Majel Barrett as a wry madam and PLAYBOY’s Anne Randall (STACEY!) as a comely Medievalworld wench.