In an interview with Michael Crichton in
For those seeing Westworld for the first time, you'll recognize a modern truism that occurs at the workplace and at home. Even the most sophisticated computers can crash. That's exactly what happens at Westworld but in this case, the consequences are deadly. After all, we're talking about cyborgs armed with loaded guns and sharp swords. When they go on the blink, they're no longer amusing toys. Especially Yul Brynner as the trigger-happy robot gunslinger.
Westworld was filmed in several locations including the Mojave Desert, the gardens of the Harold Lloyd Estate, and several sound stages at MGM. Apparently the film was shorn of ten minutes prior to its release in order to earn a PG rating which makes you wonder what the R-rated footage could have been. Perhaps a sequence with Richard Benjamin, James Brolin, and those obliging saloon girls?
According to Crichton, in an interview with
When asked to pick his favorite sequence in the film, Crichton said, "I think it might be the sequence near the end where Brynner is almost blind and he finds Benjamin. That whole last half hour of the film is essentially silent. That's what I wanted to do, make that as a silent picture, with no dialogue." He also added that "when Benjamin kills Brynner the first time it is a total cliche - the lines, the staging, and the angles. I was very careful not to do anything visually tricky, because I wanted it to have a very standard look that I could play on later."
It is impossible now to imagine Westworld without Yul Brynner as the cyborg gunslinger yet on the surface his role wouldn't appear to require much acting. On the other hand, Crichton noted, "It's very hard to give the impression that you are a robot with no personality while at the same time having some sense of presence and personality. Brynner has this. I didn't cast Brynner or the other two principals, but I am very pleased with them in the film. Brynner is
Westworld was so successful that it inspired a sequel - Futureworld (1976) starring Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner. Once again the story was set in Delos, the adult amusement park that includes Westworld and other attractions. Only this time the cyborgs were instrumental in a world domination plot concocted by Delos engineer Arthur Hill. Although Yul Brynner makes a brief cameo appearance in the film, Futureworld was a cheap imitation of the original film and effectively ended a potential Westworld film franchise. However, there was a television spin-off series, Beyond Westworld.
Producer: Paul Lazarus III, Michael I. Rachmil
Director/Screenplay: Michael Crichton
Visual Effects: Brent Sellstrom
Production Design: Charles Schulthies
Cinematography: Gene Polito
Costume Design: Betsy Cox
Film Editing: David Bretherton
Original Music: Fred Karlin
Cast: Richard Benjamin (Peter Martin), James Brolin (John Blane), Yul Brynner (Robot Gunslinger), Dick Van Patten (Banker), Alan Oppenheimer (Chief Supervisor), Norman Bartold (Medieval Knight), Victoria Shaw (Medieval Queen).
C-89m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning.
by Jeff Stafford