Westworld: 10 Key Offbeat Westerns To Watch Next
7. Westworld
The source material for the hit HBO series, Michael Crichton's movie explored modern day machismo... or at least a Seventies idea of manliness filtered through the prism of science-fiction. Crichton then contrasted this with the hardy values of the Old West, via the idea of a futuristic theme park.
Richard Benjamin and James Brolin entered the artificial environment of Westworld, where they got more than they bargained for when the robot populace designed to entertain suddenly ran amok. Central to the positronic rebellion was Yul Brynner's mysterious Gunslinger, a nod to the legendary Magnificent Seven.
The film made some fine points about both Westerns and Sci-Fi, showing that humans are never far from their primal origins whilst at the same time illustrating the perils of playing God and trying to recreate the world.
Cinemagoers approved of the jumble of genres and talk of a remake has been in the air for decades. Eventually the project was resurrected on the small screen, to great acclaim.