Almas de metal

Michael Crichton wrote and directed this precursor to "Jurassic Park" that, while showing some of it's age, is still effective and was undeniably influential. The story concerns a unique and expensive vacation resort called Delos in which customers can choose from one of three "worlds"--Roman World, Medieval World or Western World (as it is referred to in the film.) Here, customers can indulge their fantasies of conquest (violent or sexual) among a host of ultra-realistic robots who are programmed to promote the experience while not allowing the participants to become hurt. Benjamin stars as a newcomer to the place with his buddy Brolin along for his second visit. Brolin shows Benjamin the ropes at Western World (how to shoot villains, seduce dance hall girls, etc...) One of the bad guys they encounter is icy Brynner who they dispose of more than once. Eventually, things start to come unglued as the men note that things aren't working as properly as expected and promised. The controllers of the park are unable to prevent the robots from hurting or even killing the guests! The film begins with that once-cutting-edge, but now amusing, sense of high-tech awe as the guys enter the park. Benjamin is an acquired taste and borders on annoying for much of the film. More at ease is Brolin who doesn't have a great deal to do. The most striking performance is that of Brynner. He has almost nothing to say, but he doesn't need to talk. His steely stare and mechanical gait wind up being quite relentless and terrifying. The highlight of the film is his non-stop pursuit of Benjamin. ("The Terminator" owes a lot to this section of the film.) There are several other supporting roles, but, aside from Van Patten, the actors create little interest in their exploits. "Star Trek" fans will note the presence of Barrett as a robot madame. There were rumors of a remake with Arnold Schwarzegger, but Arnie's already done the indestructible robot thing and no one's going to outglare Brynner. His bid as Governor seems to have quashed these plans anyway.

A well-remembered film from my youth and no I haven't seen the TV reboot, watching this again was like going back to a bunch of my favourite original Star Trek episodes mashed up together.

Sure, the premise could have perhaps more justifiably been played out in a darker, more overtly horror way, but instead it's mostly fun just the way it is, shot in broad daylight, occasionally played for laughs and with an out and out nerd in the lead role. With ideas that you can see played out later in films like "Terminator 2" and of course "Jurassic Park", not to mention the whole "Star Trek TNG" holodeck schtick, the film works because it's so easy to imagine ourselves playing out our adventure fantasies, especially in these days of virtual reality.

Sure the film is dated by its mildly sexist treatment of women who are seen throughout mostly as playthings of wealthy middle-aged men on tour, but if you can see past that, it definitely moves up a gear once things start to go wrong in paradise and the machines really begin to play up.

The action sequences seem to parody Peckinpah with lots of slow-motion shootin' and a-killin' with blood spattering everywhere which contrasts with the buddy-buddy vibe which exists between Richard Benjamin and James Brolin, who convincingly seem what they probably are, two rich businessman out on the ran.

The genius casting however was in getting Yul Brynner to parody his iconic role from "The Magnificent Seven" as the mean and moody gunslinger who just keeps on coming in pursuit of Benjamin.

An early film outing for author, screenwriter and occasional director Michael Crichton who I can only think once had a bad day at Disneyworld, "Westworld" is a very enjoyable light sci-fi romp best not taken too seriously.

Set during an unspecified future era on Earth, Westworld features Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) and John Blane (James Brolin) on their way to a new kind of amusement park, Delos, located way out in the middle of a desert. Delos is divided into three "virtual reality" areas, Roman World, Medieval World, and West World (or Westworld). These are not mere computer simulations, however. Guests are immersed in a complete recreation of the relevant eras--they wear the clothing, sleep in the accommodations, eat the food, and so on, relevant to the era. They also interact with robots that are nearly indistinguishable from humans, and can talk to, have sex with, and even kill some robots. It's an escapist's dream, at least until something goes wrong.

Westworld isn't the easiest film to rate. It has its share of faults, and the more one analyzes the plot, the more problems one can find. However, the premise is so fantastic, the atmosphere is so good (even though it's very spartan for a sci-fi film) and the performances from the principle actors are so entertaining that it is very easy to excuse any flaws and just "go with the film". The bottom line is how enjoyable or aesthetically rewarding a film is, not how logically taut the plot is. On those grounds, Westworld certainly deserves a 9 out of 10.

A lot of the attraction is the voyeuristic escapism experienced by the viewer. Who wouldn't want to be able to go to an amusement park like Delos? It's a fabulous idea, and a not-too-thinly-veiled satire/extrapolation of Disney World, which had just opened two years before this film was released (remember that Disney World is the Florida ___location; Disneyland is the California ___location). Walt Disney had already been talking about his original conception of EPCOT (which was quite different than the Epcot that was eventually opened in 1982) by 1967. Writer/director Michael Crichton's Delos is a rough combination of Disney World's theme parks with an EPCOT-like residency, if only a temporary one.

At the same time, computer and robot technology was finally starting to be strongly integrated into industry on an "everyday" level (it was just a bit more than 5 years until the beginning of the home computer revolution). Disney World's operational infrastructure is an extensive behind-the-scenes computer network, which Crichton parallels with his white lab coat-wearing scientists working amidst monitors and banks of flashing lights (and this is even better satirized in the sequel to Westworld, 1976's Futureworld).

The premise provides an easy launching pad for a number of ethical, philosophical and scientific dilemmas: What are the implications for killing someone when they seem almost identical to humans? What if they're artificially intelligent? Is it infidelity for married persons to have sex with robots almost identical to humans or artificially intelligent? If machines become sufficiently complex, won't they be prone to the same flaws as humans, such as viruses (or something analogous), and if artificially intelligent, disobedience? All of these questions and more are explored in Westworld, albeit most are not explicitly broached--probably in an attempt to avoid sounding preachy or over-intellectual.

Because at the heart of Westworld, at least on a surface level, is a fantastic thriller/suspense story. Once things begin to go wrong, the "play" turns deadly, and the end of the film is a very long, deliberately paced chase sequence. Yul Brynner is a menacing "Robot Gunslinger", in a character that Brynner thought of as an ominous satire on his Chris Adams from The Magnificent Seven (1960), and which eventually seems somewhat prescient of The Terminator (1984). The suspense/horror is based on a classic gambit of machines forcefully taking control of their creators. It may be more modern, but basically the threat is that of the wronged Frankenstein Monster, with all the attendant subtexts, including humans "playing God" as they create other beings in their own image, and dehumanization of the Other.

It's best while watching to not dwell on the quagmire of plot problems that aren't dealt with. If the guns in Westworld can't harm humans because of "heat sensors", what's to stop you from being shot if someone aimed at something inanimate that you happened to be standing behind? How do the swords in Medieval World not harm that land's guests? If guests can't be hurt, why are they thrown into tables, the bar, etc. during a brawl? (We could argue that the robots were already going haywire at that point, but the technicians aren't shown being alarmed by this behavior.) How do they fix all of the architectural damage done every day? Where are all the other guests? Wouldn't it cost a lot more than $1000 per day per guest to make all of those repairs and perform routine maintenance on the robots?

That's just a small sampling of the questions you could worry about while watching the film, but that would be missing the point. Westworld isn't intended as a blueprint for actually constructing a Delos-like amusement park. The idea is to get the viewer to fantasize about the scenario, enjoy the more visceral, literal suspense story, and at the same time ponder some of the more philosophical questions and subtexts. On those accounts, Westworld greatly succeeds.

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.

Note: On 05 March 2021, I saw this film again.

I loved this as a kid and today I watched it for the first time since I was a kid, with my kids and of course, they loved it just as I did. Watching again as an adult I'm a little less impressed and the technology is wonderful for some laughs. Looking at the big boxy things with flashing lights and spinning tape reels, my daughter asked if those are computers so I give the obligatory explanation. Westworld is one of the few movies written and directed by Michael Crichton, of whom I've been a big fan even before I knew who he was. Westworld being one of his more popcorny movies, lacking the sophistication of The Andromeda Strain but containing the seeds of Jurassic Park.

James Brolin is magnificent as expected. It always strikes me how much Christian Bale resembles him, right down to the smile and mannerisms. If Bale isn't the illegitimate son of Brolin then their family trees must share branches somewhere. I've always thought the same about Robert Redford and Brad Pitt.