"Fantasy Island" meets "The Terminator," with a touch of "Halloween" thrown in for good measure

Granted, it's a dated vision plagued by special effects and budgetary limitations of its era. And no, it's not going to win any retrospective awards for underrated acting or underappreciated dialogue. But Michael Crichton's "Westworld" (1973) is a picture chock full of chunky ideas that we can still chew on in 2016 and beyond, and deserves kudos for being slightly ahead of its time in terms of some of its espoused notions and techniques used. Consider the evidence:

WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANT THEMES SUGGESTED IN WESTWORLD?

• The danger of undue trust in corruptible technology.

• The exploitative nature of capitalism, the repercussions of corporate greed, and the ramifications of irresponsible corporations left unchecked.

• The folly of attempting to contain, bilk, exploit and fabricate nature.

• “The crisis of American malehood in the immediate post-feminist era,” suggests blogger Timothy Brayton. This picture plays with the masculine/macho conventions of the western and insinuates that indulging a primitive form of macho manliness can have disastrous consequences. For a further hint, consider the side character’s name, John Blane, which sounds a lot like John Wayne.

HOW WAS WESTWORLD PRESCIENT OR INNOVATIVE IN ITS IDEAS OR FILMMAKING TECHNIQUES?

• Like “Soylent Green” the same year, it introduces the cinematic concept of big, bad evil corporations and the dangers they can inflict on humanity as a result of their avaricious, unpoliced and reckless capitalistic tendencies. This notion was copied in many subsequent science-fiction films, including:

o Alien, featuring the crass Weyland-Yutani Corporation

o Blade Runner’s Tyrell Corporation

o The Terminator’s Cyberdyne Systems and, later, Skynet

o RoboCop’s Omni Consumer Products

o Jurassic Park’s InGen

o Avatar’s RDA Corporation

• This film also supposedly introduced the idea of the threat of computer viruses, which didn’t materialize in the real world for many years to come.

• It’s credited as influencing the slasher horror movie subgenre; “Halloween” director John Carpenter cites the Gunslinger as an inspiration for the cold, soulless, unkillable character of Michael Myers, down to the way the Gunslinger walks and comports himself.

• “Westworld” is also one of the first movies to employ computer animation, using a primitive form of digital image processing to “pixellate photography to simulate an android point of view,” according to Wikipedia. Actually, it could be the first instance of a feature film that depicts what the monster/robot/alien sees through its eyes, offering unsettling point of view (POV) shots that are later copied in “Halloween,” “The Terminator” and “Predator.”

• While not exactly innovative, this film is clever in casting Yul Brynner, who usurps the heroic image he created by in “The Magnificent Seven.”

• This could also be the first instance of the blending of science-fiction and the western genres for a feature film.

• The score also features off-putting percussive sounds, instruments that sound unconventional and electronic music to create a futuristically suspenseful mood.

WHAT OTHER FILMS AND STORIES ARE BROUGHT TO MIND BY “WESTWORLD”?

• Technology run amok movies and tales, like “The Andromeda Strain,” “The Terminal Man,” “Runaway,” and the aforementioned films.

• Amusement parks that turn deadly stories, like “Jurassic Park,” “Welcome to Blood City,” and “The Outsider.”

• “Relentless monster that won’t die” movies that require the hero to cleverly outwit the antagonistic force, like “The Terminator,” “Halloween,” and “Predator.” 

OTHER MOVIES DIRECTED BY MICHAEL CRICHTON

• “Coma”

• “The Great Train Robbery”

• “Looker”