Futureworld
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| Futureworld | |
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 Promotional US poster |
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| Directed by | Richard T. Heffron |
| Produced by | Richard T. Heffron Samuel Z. Arkoff James T. Aubrey Paul N. Lazarus III |
| Written by | George Schenck Mayo Simon |
| Starring | Peter Fonda Blythe Danner Arthur Hill Yul Brynner |
| Music by | Fred Karlin |
| Cinematography | Gene Polito Howard Schwartz |
| Editing by | James Mitchell |
| Studio | The Aubrey Company |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 13, 1976 |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Futureworld is a 1976 sequel to the 1973 science fiction film Westworld. It was written by George Schenk and Mayo Simon, and directed by Richard T. Heffron. The cast included Peter Fonda, Blythe Danner, and Arthur Hill. There is also a cameo appearance by Yul Brynner in a dream sequence. Other than Brynner, none of the cast members from the original film appear in this one.
The film attempted to take the plot in a different direction from the Westworld movie, but it was not generally well-received by the critics. The film was deemed as lacking in action and the acting was not engaging. It was made by AIP (its predecessor was made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which later bought AIP's successors Orion Pictures).
Afterwards, there has been a short-lived television series called Beyond Westworld.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
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Two years after the WestWorld tragedy in the Delos amusement park, the corporate owners have reopened the park following $1.5 billion in safety and other improvements. For publicity purposes, newspaper reporter Chuck Browning and TV reporter Tracy Ballard are invited to review the park. Just before the junket is announced, Browning arranges to meet with a Delos employee who promises he has dirt on the corporation. At the meeting, the tipster is shot in the back and dies with an envelope in his hands.
At the resort, guests can choose from a range of themed parks: MedievalWorld, RomanWorld, and FutureWorld (WestWorld has been completely abandoned). Browning and Ballard choose to visit Futureworld, which simulates a trip to an orbiting space station. Robots are available for sexual exploits as well as amusements like a boxing game, where the humans control robot boxers. They are guided through the resort by Dr. Duffy. Duffy graciously shows them the marvels of Delos, demonstrating that all the problems of Westworld have been fixed.
The reporters are stunned to find that the control center, overseen by Dr. Schneider, is staffed entirely by robots. This revelation confirms Browning's suspicion that something is wrong at the resort. That night, their dinners are drugged, and while they sleep, Delos runs exhaustive tests on them. The tests will enable Delos to make clone duplicates of the reporters. In addition to Browning and Ballard, a senior Russian general and a Japanese politician are also singled out for cloning. After they are returned to their rooms at 2:30 a.m., Ballard awakes in a fright, thinking all the medical tests were a nightmare. Browning has awoken as well, and the pair sneak out to explore the resort's underground mechanical areas.
They end up triggering a cloning machine which generates three deadly samurais. Just as they are about to be captured by the samurais, a mechanic named Harry (Stuart Margolin) saves them. He takes them back to his quarters, which he shares with a faceless robot he's named "Clark" (after Clark Kent, as he was known as "The man of steel"). It is stated that Clark is the body of one of the pleasure bots from the original version of RomanWorld. The reporters interview Harry about Delos, but Schneider interrupts them and insists that they return to their rooms. The following day, while Ballard is testing out a dream recording device that Delos has designed, Browning sneaks out to see Harry.
Harry takes Browning to a locked door that he has never been able to enter, although another technician - a robot - routinely enters. Realizing the key is in the robot's eyes, Harry destroys the robot and steals its face. They return with Ballard and open the door. Inside, they see the clones of themselves as well as the Russian and Japanese leaders. The clones are fully functional and are in the process of being coded through subliminal messages; they are instructed to always work for the good of Delos and to destroy their originals. Browning explains that his tipster's envelope was filled with clippings about establishment figures from around the world, realizing that Delos must be cloning the rich and powerful.
The trio decides to flee the resort on the next plane. Browning and Ballard return to their apartment where Duffy is waiting for them, who explains that by cloning world leaders they can ensure that laws are not passed which are harmful to Delos' interests. By cloning the two reporters, they would ensure favorable coverage which would help people forget the Westworld tragedy and popularize the new resort. Duffy also reveals that he believes that humans will destroy the planet if left to run it themselves. In the ensuing struggle, Duffy easily overpowers Browning with an unnatural strength. Ballard manages to shoot him twice. To confirm his suspicions, Browning peels back Duffy's face to reveal that he is a robot. As Harry makes his way through the tunnels to meet up with the reporters, he runs into Browning's clone, who kills him. Ballard and Browning are then beset by their own duplicates, who separate them and chase them through the facility, all the while taunting them with details about their lives (of which they know everything). Eventually, one of each pair is killed in the two-fold struggle, though which one is left unclear. When the surviving Browning and Ballard meet, he seizes her and kisses her.
In the end, Browning and Ballard are leaving the resort with the other guests. Schneider stops them on their way out to make sure they are the clones. The reporters confirm that they will be generating positive press for Delos, but just as they reach the exit, Ballard's badly beaten doppelgänger stumbles towards him, and Schneider realizes too late that he has been fooled. On the jetway, Browning tells Ballard that his editor is running the expose on Delos and the whole world will know what they are up to, and that kissing her was his idea to figure out whether or not she was a duplicate.
[edit] Cast
- Peter Fonda as Chuck Browning
- Blythe Danner as Tracy Ballard
- Arthur Hill as Dr. Duffy
- Yul Brynner (cameo) as The Gunslinger
- John Ryan as Dr. Schneider
- Stuart Margolin as Harry
- Allen Ludden as Game show host
- Robert Cornthwaite and Angela Reed as Mr. and Mrs. Reed
- Darrell Larson as Eric
- Nancy Bell as Erica
- Bert Conroy and Dorothy Konrad as Mr. and Mrs. Karnovsky
[edit] Production
Futureworld was the first major feature film to use 3D computer-generated imagery (CGI).[1] CGI was used for an animated hand and face. The animated hand was a digitized version of Edwin Catmull's left hand. The film also used 2D digital compositing to materialize characters over a background.
[edit] Filming
Much of the film was shot in the greater Houston area,[2] including Intercontinental Airport, Jones Hall, and the Johnson Space Center. The film includes a chase scene through the space center's underground tunnel system.
[edit] Alternate versions
For its initial television broadcast, an alternate version of the scene towards the end where Chuck Browning extends his middle finger to Dr. Schneider was shot. Instead of extending his middle finger, Browning performs a sanitized-for-TV bent elbow gesture, where the right hand is placed in the elbow crook of the left arm, then the left arm is raised (fist clenched) in a smooth and continuous motion.
[edit] Critical reception
Variety called it a "strong sequel."[3] Richard Eder panned the film in The New York Times, quoting Ballard's line from the movie, "This is about as exciting as a visit to the water works."[4] Coining his own variation on the phrase, Eder also claimed the film is "as much fun as running barefoot on Astroturf". He found the film entirely predictable and devoid of much dramatic tension. Writing that Danner and Fonda have "absolutely nothing to do" in the film, he concludes that "starring in Futureworld must be the actor's equivalent of going on welfare."
[edit] Home media
As of 2011, Futureworld was released on VHS and LaserDisc in the U.S., and on DVD from MGM on December 2010, as well as released in a number of foreign territories in the DVD format. On December 2nd 2011, Futureworld was released in Germany on Blu-ray Disc (german and English audio tracks). Futureworld is available to rent via Amazon, and available to rent or purchase from iTunes. The digital release is in the widescreen format.
[edit] References
- ^ "Futureworld (1976) - Trivia". The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc.. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074559/trivia. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
- ^ "Futureworld (1976) - Filming locations". The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc.. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074559/locations. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
- ^ Variety Staff. December 31, 1975. "Futureworld", Variety.
- ^ Eder, Richard, August 14, 1976., Robots in Dominant Roles, The New York Times.
[edit] External links
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