Principal Cast: Yul Brynner; James Brolin; Richard Benjamin; Dick Van Patten; Alen Openheimer;

Written and directed by Michael Crighton

SYNOPSIS

Set in a futuristic world, this would have to contain one of the simplest storylines I have ever come across, and it works as a result!

It commences with a television promotion for Westworld - a resort that provides for the well-to-do the options of Roman World, Medieval World and Western World where all guests’ every wishes are catered for and come true. The difference with Westworld is that the resort is staffed by androids, programmed to cater for all the needs of the guests through a crew of `backroom boffins’ in a command centre unseen by the guests.

The very simple plot revolves around the scenario where the dream goes horribly wrong - when the robots fail to respond to their human controllers and run amok. The last half hour is dedicated to the last remaining human and humanoid survivors in a life and death struggle. The ending is as cryptic as the beginning.

Much of the action (and the `entertainment’) occurs in Western World where our principal heroes are located, but each `world’ has its interesting moments.

Yul Brynner plays a robot, while the other principal characters `play’ humans.

And that’s it - that’s the whole story - there’s not much more I can say without giving the whole thing away, but who cares? That’s the beauty of this film - the viewer is left to decide for him or herself the morality of such a recreational distraction and what occurs therein - for instance, is sex on demand and `killing’ acceptable, as it is in Westworld?

When the `star’ of the film plays an android it is harder than usual to judge his performance - suffice to say that his onscreen entrances provide a wonderfully suspenseful edge to the movie as a whole. Co-stars James Brolin (I initially thought that he was the `human’ star!) and Richard Benjamin are quite adequate, as are the cameos from Dick Van Patten (another rich guest) and Alen Openheimer (the robot controller).

The film contains one incomprehensible scene during the `chase’ nearing the end of the movie - how did the `hero’ know where the command centre was? There were a couple of other questionable occurrences, but I’ll leave that to you!

EXTRAS

? 32-chapter scene selection index

? theatrical trailer

? languages and subtitles menu (both for English and French)

OVERALL

Though some may find the plot a bit far-fetched (or is it - how many people enjoyed Jurassic Park, thinking or hoping that it could happen in reality one day?). The simple plot and uncomplicated dialogue make this quite an entertaining, albeit not very demanding film - it’s what you make of it.

NTSC; 88 minutes