Futureworld (1976)

Two years after the robot malfunction at Delos, the company has reopened with new safety protocols but visitors have been low.  To help restore confidence in the park, the company has invited the press to write honest articles or TV news reports that Delos is certain will be favorable.  Chuck Browning (Peter Fonda) and Tracy Ballard (Blythe Danner) travel together to the park.  They have a history though are not currently a couple.  Chuck had written a scathing article regarding Delos and is certain to be more skeptical than Tracy.  Prior to the trip to Delos, Chuck had a meeting with a former employee but the man is near dead when he arrives.  His last word is 'Delos.'  Chuck is going to dig deep.

Though Medieval World and Roman World have been reopened, Westworld remains closed as it reportedly saw the first robot kill a human.  Doctor Duffy reports that 50 guests and nearly 100 employees were killed during the malfunction.  Two new worlds - Spa World and Future World - have been added to the options.  Chuck and Tracy visit Future World which starts out with a rocket launch to a space station.  There are a variety of high tech games and opportunities to ski on Mars or walk on the moon.  And that mostly ends the park aspects.

Unlike the previous movie where the characters spent much of their time interacting in the historical setting while things slowly went wrong, this movie mostly abandons the theme parks in favor of crawling about the tunnel system beneath them.  Eventually, they stumble upon Harry Croft (Stuart Margolin), one of the few remaining human employees and someone who was working during the robot malfunction.  Harry knows his way around the tunnels and has access to every place.  Well, except for this one area.  Hmm.

As is painfully obvious by this point in the film, Delos is replacing high ranking or useful visitors with clones.  The newly created clones are instructed to dispose of their original.  Thus, we have Tracy vs. Tracy and Chuck vs. Chuck.  But it's an even fight since the replacements aren't superpowered robots.  Um, this doesn't seem like a good plan.  Gee, since Delos had drugged them and done hours of scanning on the unconscious targets, why wouldn't you just do that again and send the clone?  The mind-numbing stupidity of the plan immediately ruins the movie.

Yul Brynner returns in a dream sequence where he rescues Tracy from the red-clad med techs who scanned and probed her.  That was a weird and pointless tangent.

Mediocre.

Westworld (1973)

The movie opens with a commercial for the Delos Resort.  A spokesman interviews several guests who have just returned, each of whom offers glowing praise and agree that the $1000 a day price was well spent.  There are three parks: Roman World, Medieval World, and Westworld.  The spokesmen then says "Boy, have we got a vacation for you!"

After the commercial, a score of guests are aboard the hovercraft to Delos.  Peter (Richard Benjamin) and John (James Brolin) head to Westworld.  Peter is new to the park while John has visited before.  As such, some of the introduction and rules to the park are introduced by John explaining it.  Once in the park, Peter finds himself in a gunfight with the gunslinger (Yul Brynner).  His success thrills him.  Later, the pair go to a brothel.  Peter fully embraces the park after that.

 

Meanwhile, another story unfolds in Medieval World where the guest is having an affair the with queen and has been challenged to a duel by the black knight.  He also attempts to seduce a servant girl but is rebuffed.  She is instantly recalled for a full diagnostic.  In the control center, the technicians discuss the increasing failure rate of the robots.  The lead technician likens the spread of these failures to a disease.  Clearly, computer virus was not a thing yet back in 1973.  Of course, the failures turn spectacular and people start dying.

 

Obviously, the technology has not aged well.  The reel to reel computers, silly graphics on non-flat screen monitors, old style circuit boards, and so on subtract from the futuristic feel.  However, the story is strong.  Unlike in the HBO series, the technicians take the problem seriously and intend to close the park as soon as the remaining guests leave.

 

This film inspired later directors.  Arnold Schwarzenegger used Yul Brynner as a model for his portrayal of the Terminator.  Likewise, John Carpenter gave Halloween's Michael Myers the indestructability of the gunslinger.  Michael Crichton, the writer and director, came up with the idea during a visit to Disneyland when he saw the animatronic characters; Westworld is just a futuristic Disneyland?

 

Thumbs up!