MovieChat Forums > Westworld (1973) Discussion > Love the film, dislike the premise

Love the film, dislike the premise

posted 8 years ago by bigal_a
8 replies | jump to latest

I feel really uncomfortable about the whole concept of Westworld

First a few niggles:

What if everyone wants to be sheriff or Lord of the Manor at the same time?
How can you make a bar fight safe for everyone?
The guns fire real bullets. Why take that risk, even with the hokey "doesn't work with hot things" gimmick.
And given the real bullets, what's with the "Battery" warning light on Yul Brynner's six-shooter? That rather detracts from the "totally accurate simulation." Real cartridges have their own power source.
In a realistic simulation, why would you have only a single design of gunslinger? "I thought I killed you this morning!"

And the kicker that really makes me uneasy...

"Hey, look! I killed a guy! And I killed three yesterday! I love this place!" I can see one step from there to, "Wow! I got to strangle a whore tonight, and it felt great!"

The restitution of life is no great feat. A variety of deaths may well enter into your punishment

[–] crood 8 years ago

It appears some of these are going to be brought up in the HBO series.

No, live ammunition and real swords don't make sense. Even if you could program a gun not to fire at a living thing, how could you program a sword that's being swung by a human to not strike another human?

In the 70's, assuming 100% safety wasn't really a thing. Certain activities had implied risks. I'd like to point out the real world 80's Action Park in New Jersey. No one left that place without scrapes, bruises, burns, etc.

There's just a lot of logic that has to be ignored to enjoy the premise. Somehow, it mostly works.

[–] yatzo376 (7475) 5 years ago

😅 Nicknamed “Traction Park” back in the day!

[–] manwithoutaplan (227) 5 years ago

I'd like to point out the real world 80's Action Park in New Jersey. No one left that place without scrapes, bruises, burns, etc.

Dude, I just went on YT and saw the footage of that place and that was truly 70's-early 80's. LOL at the Cannonball Loop or whatever that thing was. Nobody in their right mind would go down that, Jersey folk I guess. ... Lane 7 or so of that Alpine Ride looks tremendously dangerous. 70's safety standards I guess were "Hey just let 'em ride it and let their mom's fix 'em up."

Thanks for the post, although 3 years late to yours.
AND thanks to yatzo 376 for answering and bringing this interesting "action" park to my attention.

Good day to all.

[–] The_Mob_Has_Spoken 8 years ago

I'm nearly the opposite. I think the film itself isn't really anything special but I love the concept. The only things I really liked about the story were the fakeout with Richard Benjamin's neurotic nebbish apparently being set up to be killed but his buddy the smooth tough guy James Brolin actually buying the farm and Yul Brynner's robot gunslinger without a name.

"I like simple pleasures like butter in my ass and lollipops in my mouth." - Floyd Gondolli

[–] Miike_Maniac 7 years ago

Watch out for the HBO series, more than one character in it has that very prediliction for sexual violence, which is 100% park-permitted. So much so that park management makes disparaging comments about the "rape and pillage" attitudes of their customers.

[–] Phagocyte 7 years ago

Exactly. The guests are encouraged to indulge their every whim. It's not a matter for the park management to make moralistic judgments about.

[–] Cheepshooter (672) 6 years ago

I feel the opposite way. I really like the concepts. The actual story and the nonsensical detail oversights kinda bother me. I take it with a grain of salt because it was the early 70s, though.

[–] yatzo376 (7475) 5 years ago

Yup, like the Stepford Wives from a couple years later.
The 70s were the ME decade