Westworld (1973)

A robot malfunction creates havoc and terror for unsuspecting vacationers at a futuristic, adult-themed amusement park.

Director:

Michael Crichton

Writer:

Michael Crichton

Stars:

Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yul Brynner	...	Gunslinger
Richard Benjamin	...	Peter Martin
James Brolin	...	John Blane
Norman Bartold	...	Medieval Knight
Alan Oppenheimer	...	Chief Supervisor
Victoria Shaw	...	Medieval Queen
Dick Van Patten	...	Banker
Linda Gaye Scott	...	Arlette (as Linda Scott)
Steve Franken	...	Technician
Michael T. Mikler	...	Black Knight (as Michael Mikler)
Terry Wilson	...	Sheriff
Majel Barrett	...	Miss Carrie
Anne Randall	...	Daphne
Julie Marcus	...	Girl in Dungeon
Sharyn Wynters	...	Apache Girl

Storyline

An amusement park for rich vacationers, it provides its customers a way to live out their fantasies through the use of robots that provide anything they want. Two of the vacationers choose a wild west adventure. However, after a computer breakdown, they find that they are now being stalked by a rogue robot gunslinger.

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Plot Keywords:

computer | vacation | evil robot | future | hovercraft | 

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Taglines:

...Where nothing can possibly go worng!

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller | Western

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Amongst the names originally mooted to play the two human leads were James Caan, Lee Majors, Elliott Gould, Jon Voight and James Franciscus. However these all proved to be either unavailable during the filming dates or too expensive to hire. The then 42 year old William Shatner (Captain Kirk from Star Trek (1966)) was also seriously contemplated by the studio but the producers struggled with ideas as to who to cast alongside him. They eventually decided to cast two younger relative unknowns so as to make sure Yul Brynner remained the star name in the film. Coincidentally, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's wife Majel Barrett appears in this film.

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Goofs

After the Chief Supervisor orders a power shutdown, accidentally locking himself and the other technical personnel in the control room, Peter finds them all dead of suffocation. The amount of real time that expired was less than an hour, and the technical personnel couldn't possibly have suffocated that quickly.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Interviewer of Delos Guests: [hosting a commercial] Hi. Ed Renfrew for Delos again. 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.

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Alternate Versions

Early prints contain a scene in Medeval world where a guest is tortured on a rack. That scene was deleted from television and video.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXIX (2018)

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Soundtracks

Home on the Range
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Brewster M. Higley
Music by Daniel E. Kelley
Performed by Richard Benjamin

User Reviews

The Vacation of the Future Today

In a near future, the Delos Company offers the vacation of the future in the present days in the amusement parks Medievalworld, Romanworld and Westworld for U$ 1,000.00 per day. The vacationers can feel in the Middle Age or in the Roman Empire or in the Wild West and have joust, sex, duel against gunslinger and whatever he or she wants interacting with robots.

Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) and John Blane (James Brolin) travel in the hovercraft to Westworld and sooner Peter duels against a Gunslinger (Yul Brynner). However, when there is a malfunctioning of the machinery, the robots get out of control jeopardizing the guests.

"Westworld" is a very successful sci-fi of my generation and a sort of grandfather of other robots films, such as "The Stepford Wives", "Blade Runner" and mainly "The Terminator". There is a scene in this last franchise that is an updated rip-off of Yul Brynner's character chasing Peter.

The story has flaws, but is engaging and suspenseful, holding the attention until the very last scene. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Westworld - Onde Ninguém Tem Alma" ("Westworld - Where No One Has Soul")

Note: On 20 January 2018 I saw this film again.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 November 1973 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Le monde de L'Ouest

Filming Locations:

Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1