Westworld was made in 1973. Before Arnold terminated anything. Before Captain Picard even knew what a borg was.
It's about an amusement park with three different "worlds": Roman world, Medieval world, and the scariest one: Westworld.
Yul Brenner plays a robot gunslinger. For an insanely expensive admission ticket, guests can pretend they're cowboys. They can ride horses into town. They can sidle up to the bar for whiskey. They can have their way with the dance hall girls. And the best part is they can challenge the Gunslinger to a gunfight at high noon all day long, killing him over and over. This is exactly what he's been programmed for.
What could possibly go wrong?
Well, a funny thing happens. Seems there's a computer virus that starts spreading from robot to robot, world to world. During a sword fight in Medieval world, a guest is suddenly stabbed. In a shootout with James Brolin, Yul Brenner shoots and kills him. For real. Then chases his friend through the park trying to kill him as well.
A few years back they were going to remake this film with Arnold in the Yul Brenner role. It seemed like pretty good casting, even if it wasn't exactly asking Arnold to stretch as an actor. But then that pesky governors race came up, and suddenly he had another day job.
Probably better anyway. Westworld is another one of those movies that doesn't need to get remade.
It was written and directed by Michael Crichton.
Hmmm, wonder if he ever wrote anything else about an amusement park where things go horribly wrong?
2 comments:
Great flick. Nice review.
"What could possibly go wrong?" I like to use this phrase when faced with situations in which me and those in my company could actually die... sky diving, walking in LA at night, getting lost in a 2-horse town, etc.
It's a good way to cut the tension.
I wonder if Arnold thought, "Hmmm on the one hand I have this great movie and on the other hand I could run California. A conundrum."
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