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Before Jurassic Park, author Michael Crichton hit it big with another sci-fi thriller set in an amusement park — 1973’s Westworld, a film he also directed. Richard Benjamin and James Brolin star as wealthy guests at a Wild West-themed land where they can ride horses, shoot rival gunslingers, participate in bar brawls, and even have sex with saloon whores. The inhabitants of Westworld, the people and the horses alike, are all lifelike robots. Just like in Jurassic Park, technology breaks down and all hell breaks loose. The robots start killing all the guests and the park’s administrators are helpless to try and stop them.
Westworld is novel in its escapist first third, when our characters first arrive at the resort and get fitted for Western attire. The second act drags as the park’s operators begin to notice glitches in the robots. Things pick up considerably in the film’s final, strongest act– when Benjamin is pursued by one particularly menacing and tenacious cowboy played hauntingly by Oscar-winner Yul Brynner (The King and I, The Magnificent Seven). Crichton’s directing is competent, though one wishes Westworld had better atmosphere, ambiance, and suspense. More developed characters would also be welcome. Benjamin and Brolin are just mirrors for the audience here, with barely any unique backstory or transformative character arcs that could have brought the story greater depth or meaning. The film still works as a conceptual piece or as matinee genre fare. Brynner is by far the best thing about the film, predating The Terminator in his depiction of unstoppable menace.
With Alan Oppenheimer, Dick Van Patten, and Star Trek‘s Majel Barrett as the town Madame.