Yesterday I managed to get my hands on a copy of WESTWORLD, a movie I vaguely remember watching as a kid twenty-five years ago. Written and directed by Michael Crichton, it’s the story of two guys whose vacation at a western-inspired theme park goes horribly wrong. The robots that populate the park, allowing you to truly experience the wild, wild west – gunfights and bar brawls and all – malfunction and then it’s man vs. machine as our heroes are pursued by The Gunslinger, a bald-headed, evil cowboy terminator in black. I only remembered the general idea of the film, and the look of the relentless Gunslinger – a sliver-eyed Yul Brynner – but I knew I enjoyed watching the movie, even if at the time, I remember being quite scared. (But then, what movie didn’t scare me at that age?) Over the years I’d remember seeing the movie and occasionally would check the shelves at Best Buy, or a video store to see if they had a copy with no such luck. For some reason or another I thought of it again yesterday and was fortunate enough to find it at Borders.
Even though it was made in 1973, even though I absolutely loathe movies made in the 1970’s, WESTWORLD held up pretty well. Just enough of a sci-fi story mixed with the appeal of a western to still be enjoyable. Sure, the effects are lacking when compared to today’s standards, but – and maybe this is the nostalgia speaking – I still really liked it.
I’m holding out hope that the copy of Disney’s CONDORMAN I ordered yesterday (another of my favorite movies to watch as a kid) still has a little of the same magic left in it in as well.
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