I loved Westworld, so I was excited to find out Futureworld was being aired on a local UPN station. I'd read reviews that Futureworld was disappointing, but sometimes futuristic '70s movies are a blast to watch regardless of their flaws. :-) Well, Futureworld was a real stinkeroo. I actually had fun laughing at many parts that weren't meant to be funny. I could go on for days about the ridiculous plot holes and unanswered questions, but here are just a few of my favorites:
Why did they lead us to believe that Clark, the faceless robot "friend" of Harry the mechanic, *could be* The Gunslinger? Clark seemed pretty harmless, but I was waiting for an exciting moment at the end of the movie when he revealed his true, merciless character (The Gunslinger)! Instead, Clark was more of a paperweight in his scenes.
What the heck is with the dream sequence between The Gunslinger (Yul Brynner) and Blythe Danner's character? That was so ridiculously bad that I had to turn away during parts of it. I understand it was a dream and dreams can be really weird, but that doesn't mean filmmakers have to put all our bizarre dreams on film! Before I saw the dream sequence, I was hoping so much that Brynner's cameo would add something to the movie. Instead, I was embarrassed for him. They could have cut the entire dream sequence and it never would have affected the film.
Fonda's and Danner's characters started punching buttons on the white chamber and suddenly three ninjas materialize out of nothing! First of all, that occurred before we knew the Delos scientists were engineering human clones of the world leaders. So when I saw the ninjas magically appear fully clothed and with weapons, I was thinking, "Since when do mechanical robots and their trappings materialize from nothing?" Then, when we find out that these new insidious creations are flesh-and-blood, that still left me thinking, "How on earth would you create a human clone from thin air?"
Why did Fonda's and Danner's characters agree to run to Westworld to hide? Did they think they could start a new life in the abandoned Westworld? We learned in the first movie that Westworld was surrounded by the Mojave desert, so there wasn't an escape route in that world. If they hoped to escape Delos, Westworld was certainly not the way out.
Oh yes, if Delos spent millions fixing up and expanding all the worlds, even adding more worlds, why did they leave Westworld untouched? That would still be a world that people would want to enjoy, and the tragedies at Delos weren't any worse at Westworld than they were at the other worlds (in the original film). It seemed to be a strange oversight in the film.
The big finale. I have to say I was a bit disappointed that the movie ended with Peter Fonda flipping off the evil and conniving Dr. Schneider, with Dr. Schneider responding with a melodramatic slamming of his hands on the railing of the platform he was standing on. Maybe it would be have been good for a laugh if Schneider had held his fists in the air and yelled, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" a la Darth Vader at the end of Episode 3. ;-)
I do want to note that the computer-generated 3-D faces and hands were pretty advanced for 1976. I also enjoyed the '70s decor and architecture -- one of my favorite parts of '70s TV shows and movies. :-)
Why did they lead us to believe that Clark, the faceless robot "friend" of Harry the mechanic, *could be* The Gunslinger? Clark seemed pretty harmless, but I was waiting for an exciting moment at the end of the movie when he revealed his true, merciless character (The Gunslinger)! Instead, Clark was more of a paperweight in his scenes.
What the heck is with the dream sequence between The Gunslinger (Yul Brynner) and Blythe Danner's character? That was so ridiculously bad that I had to turn away during parts of it. I understand it was a dream and dreams can be really weird, but that doesn't mean filmmakers have to put all our bizarre dreams on film! Before I saw the dream sequence, I was hoping so much that Brynner's cameo would add something to the movie. Instead, I was embarrassed for him. They could have cut the entire dream sequence and it never would have affected the film.
Fonda's and Danner's characters started punching buttons on the white chamber and suddenly three ninjas materialize out of nothing! First of all, that occurred before we knew the Delos scientists were engineering human clones of the world leaders. So when I saw the ninjas magically appear fully clothed and with weapons, I was thinking, "Since when do mechanical robots and their trappings materialize from nothing?" Then, when we find out that these new insidious creations are flesh-and-blood, that still left me thinking, "How on earth would you create a human clone from thin air?"
Why did Fonda's and Danner's characters agree to run to Westworld to hide? Did they think they could start a new life in the abandoned Westworld? We learned in the first movie that Westworld was surrounded by the Mojave desert, so there wasn't an escape route in that world. If they hoped to escape Delos, Westworld was certainly not the way out.
Oh yes, if Delos spent millions fixing up and expanding all the worlds, even adding more worlds, why did they leave Westworld untouched? That would still be a world that people would want to enjoy, and the tragedies at Delos weren't any worse at Westworld than they were at the other worlds (in the original film). It seemed to be a strange oversight in the film.
The big finale. I have to say I was a bit disappointed that the movie ended with Peter Fonda flipping off the evil and conniving Dr. Schneider, with Dr. Schneider responding with a melodramatic slamming of his hands on the railing of the platform he was standing on. Maybe it would be have been good for a laugh if Schneider had held his fists in the air and yelled, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" a la Darth Vader at the end of Episode 3. ;-)
I do want to note that the computer-generated 3-D faces and hands were pretty advanced for 1976. I also enjoyed the '70s decor and architecture -- one of my favorite parts of '70s TV shows and movies. :-)