Doctor Omega
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Westworld is a 1973 American science fiction Western thriller film written and directed by novelist Michael Crichton about amusement park androids that malfunction and begin killing visitors. It stars Yul Brynner as an android in a futuristic Western-themed amusement park, and Richard Benjamin and James Brolin as guests of the park.
The film served as Crichton's first theatrical feature.[3] It was also the first feature film to use digital image processing, to pixellatephotography to simulate an android point of view.[4] The film was nominated for Hugo, Nebula, and Saturn awards.
Westworld was followed by a sequel, Futureworld (1976), and a short-lived television series, Beyond Westworld (1980). A Westworldtelevision series from HBO debuted on October 2, 2016.
Cast
- Yul Brynner as The Gunslinger
- Richard Benjamin as Peter Martin
- James Brolin as John Blane
- Norman Bartold as the Medieval Knight
- Alan Oppenheimer as the Chief Supervisor
- Victoria Shaw as the Medieval Queen
- Dick Van Patten as the Banker
- Linda Scott as Arlette, the French prostitute
- Steve Franken as the Delos Technician shot dead by the Gunfighter
- Michael Mikler as the Black Knight
- Terry Wilson as the Sheriff
- Majel Barrett as Miss Carrie, madam of the Westworld bordello
- Anne Randall as Daphne, the serving-maid who refuses the Medieval Knight's advances
- Nora Marlowe as the Hostess
- Robert J. Hogan (uncredited) as the Delos Guests' Intervie
Legacy
A sequel, Futureworld, was filmed in 1976, and released by American International Pictures, rather than MGM. Only Brynner returned from the original cast to reprise his Gunslinger character. Four years later, in 1980, the CBS television network aired a short-lived television series, Beyond Westworld, expanding on the concepts and plot of the second film with new characters. Its poor ratings caused it to be canceled after only three of the five episodes aired.
Crichton used similar plot elements – a high-tech amusement park running amok and a central control paralyzed by a power failure – in his bestselling novel Jurassic Park.
Westworld contains one of the earliest references to a computer virus and the first mention of the concept of a computer virus in a movie. The analogy is made by the Chief Supervisor in a staff meeting where the spread of malfunctions across the park is discussed.[34]
Beginning in 2002, trade publications reported that a Westworld remake starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was in production, and would be written by Terminator 3 screenwriters Michael Ferris and John Bracanto.[35][36][37] Tarsem Singh was originally slated to direct, but has since left the project. Quentin Tarantino was approached, but turned it down.[38] On January 19, 2011, Warner Bros announced that plans for the remake were still active.[39]
In August 2013, it was announced that HBO had ordered a pilot for a Westworld TV series to be produced by J.J. Abrams, Jonathan Nolan, and Jerry Weintraub. Nolan and his wife Lisa Joy were set to write and executive produce the series, with Nolan directing the pilot episode.[40] Production began in Summer 2014 in Los Angeles.[41][42] The new series premiered October 2, 2016. It aired ten episodes, starring Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood and Thandie Newton. It has since been renewed for a 10-episode second season.