Futureworld
(1976)
Director: Richard T. Heffron
Cast: Peter Fonda, Blythe Danner, Arthur Hill
Although I
haven't got around to actually sit down with a piece of paper and a pen
to make it, for the past few years I have been forming in my mind a
rough sort of bucket list. A bucket list, in case you don't know, is a
list of activities that you would like to engage in before you drop
dead and leave this world of ours. Over the years that I have run this
web site, I have from time to time revealed some of the activities I
would love to do before I pass on. Some I know I will probably never
get to do; unless someone builds a time machine, I will never
experience visiting grindhouses in New York City during the early
1970s. But there are some things on my bucket list that I know are a
lot obtainable. I've said before that I would like to visit the deserts
of the United States southwest, and I'd also like to visit Las Vegas
and soak up the glitz and glamor. One other dream on my bucket list
that I don't think I have mentioned before, however, is to get to visit
a major amusement park, such as Disneyland or Six Flags. There is a
problem, however, with that particular dream, and for that matter the
others on my bucket list. Disneyland is a certain "no" after just a little thought because I hate how greedy and soulless the company has become, as I mentioned in my recent review of The Trumpet Of The Swan. But the biggest problem is that America has become such a violent place that
I am a little fearful as to what could happen to me while I'm there. So
unless something is put in America's drinking water in order to make
people more peaceful, I have to put those dreams on my bucket list on
hold. Well, I guess I could visit a major amusement park in Canada,
which would be Marineland, located in Niagara Falls in Ontario. But the
news reports I heard a few years ago about the alleged mistreatment of
animals there give me as much of a queasy feeling as the idea of going
to Disneyland or Six Flags.
While
I'm on the subject on amusement parks, I would
like to talk more about the subject - especially since, as you've
probably guessed already, that the movie I am reviewing here concerns
an amusement park. The idea of such establishments has certainly
evolved and improved on since the basic idea was formed many years ago
- insane asylums used to open their doors for the public to come in and
laugh and be amused by the unfortunate people who were imprisoned
there. Fortunately, amusement parks have become a lot more tasteful
since then - and a lot more advanced in many different ways. With that
in mind, it's interesting to think of what amusement parks will be like
in the future. Other people have seized on this idea before, possibly
the most famous examples coming from author and filmmaker Michael
Crichton. As you probably know, he seized upon two kinds of idea of
futuristic amusement parks. The more recent example comes from his
books Jurassic Park
and its sequel The Lost World,
both of which were not only turned into movies that were box office
smashes, but were continued with two additional movies without
Crichton's input. But years before the whole idea of amusement parks
containing dinosaurs entered Crichton's mind, Crichton came up with
another work concerning futuristic amusement parks. It was a movie
called Westworld,
which Crichton both wrote and directed. That movie concerned visitors
to an amusement park where they would interact in a themed world (such
as a Wild West area) with human-like robots that were programmed to
obey the wishes of the human visitors.
I first saw Westworld
as a teenager from taping it off late night television in the 1980s, and while I certainly thought it was entertaining enough
to recommend, all the same I had some issues with it. One issue was the
fact that in the Wild West world of the theme park, the human visitors
were allowed to not only have real guns with real bullets, but had completely free
opportunity to use them. Uh, couldn't humans be caught in the crossfire
between humans and robots? Another problem was the robots that were
programmed to have sex with humans. Ugh - to me, that's about as erotic
and romantic as putting your manhood in the tail pipe of a car. But
despite issues like those, the movie was a box office hit. A sequel was
inevitable, but some interesting changes happened along the way.
Crichton wasn't involved this time around, and the movie was not made
by MGM like the first movie, but was made instead by
American-International Pictures. The most interesting change, however,
was that the sequel wasn't, like most sequels, just a simple reworking
of the original. To illustrate that, here's the plot: A few years after
the robots at the Delos amusement park went berserk and started killing
the human patrons who were there at the time, the Delos organization
has
refurbished the park and the robots and is set to reopen the park to
the public. Naturally,
there is still the ugly tragedy hanging over their heads, so they
invite the press to come in and inspect the park in the hopes they will
report that all is well. Two of the reporters that are invited are
Chuck Browning (Peter Fonda, Fighting Mad)
and Tracy Ballard (Blythe Danner, Little Fockers), and they
are shown around the park by Delos spokesman Duffy (Arthur Hill, Owen Marshall).
Although Dr. Duffy puts on a good show, Browning and Ballard earlier
got word from a Delos employee - who was promptly assassinated
afterwards - that the Delos corporation is up to no good. What exactly
they are up to is unclear, but it may have some connection to the
politicians and assorted VIPs that are being invited to visit the park.
As you can see, the core story of Futureworld,
while taking place in the same theme park location as the first movie,
and also
repeating the idea of the first movie that concerned humans mingling
with robots that at first glance are
indistinguishable from humans, is this time around more of a conspiracy
thriller. This was a twist that I felt could have moved this follow-up
into some interesting directions, but despite the great potential, the
scripting pretty much botches things up. The conspiracy part of the
movie was the biggest disappointment. I don't want to spoil what the
conspiracy turns out what to be, but when in the first few minutes of
the movie it is revealed that a bunch of important politicians and
other worldly big shots are coming to the park... well, you probably
guessed right then as I did as to what the conspiracy was. The
execution of the conspiracy furthers the problem, but before getting
into that, I want to talk about other things first, such as other
script problems. For one thing, I was severely disappointed that the
movie doesn't seem to have very many original ideas to explore. It is
revealed that the robots in the park are actually monitored and
maintained by other robots, but once that is revealed, the movie
doesn't seem willing to expand on that idea any further. Later in the
movie, a device that can videotape dreams for people who are hooked up
to it is introduced, but all the movie can seem to do with this device
is to have one of the characters have a wacky and unintentionally funny
dream where Yul Brynner's robot character from the original movie shows up in
a cameo. One the dream is over, this device is promptly forgotten about
and never shows up again. Those two ideas are just about the only fresh
touches to be found in the movie. Any additional ideas that Futureworld
manages to bring up are ideas that were already discussed in the first
movie, such as humans having sex with robots (ugh again), with absolutely no
fresh angles.
The lack of freshness for Futureworld
also extends to the characters for the most part, both with their
writing and with the performances by the cast. It certainly doesn't
come as no surprise that the Delos spokesman Duffy turns out to be a
bad guy, but what really makes this character unmemorable is that he
doesn't show up for much of the movie, instead just making a few brief
appearances. As a result, actor Arthur Hill doesn't have enough
material to make his character the least bit threatening or cunning.
Still, he comes off better than the two main protagonists and their
actors. The character of reporter Browning is written to come across as
a kind of smartass with barely veiled contempt for the various people
in his life, a feeling that is only strengthened by the lazy and stiff
performance by Peter Fonda in the role. He seems only out for a good
story, and while that may be the attitude that many real reporters
have, it did not endear me to him, and often I cringed a little when he
was up center on the screen. What's worse is that in his scenes where
she is paired up with actress Danner, it's the drama equivalent of an
80s action hero dragging a helpless woman behind him while the bullets
are flying. As you may have guessed by this, Danner's character is
pretty useless, only here seemingly so that characters with her have an
excuse to make comments that explain any plot mysteries. It's no wonder
that all Danner can do with such an underwritten role is to whine and
show frustration. The only character in the movie that has any kind of
spark is a human park maintenance character played by Stuart Margolin (The Big Bus).
Now, Margolin is not fabulous in the role, but you do sense that he has
some idea of how his character should act, and does manage to generate
a significant amount of sympathy and life despite his character not
being written to show that much depth.
I looked forward to Margolin's scenes, because each of
them temporarily lifted Futureworld
from it being hopelessly bogged down in a storyline that was, quite
frankly, very boring. Getting back to the conspiracy angle of the
movie, once the movie hints of a conspiracy in the first few minutes,
aside from one short scene where Fonda's character asks a robot
bartender for some information, there is essentially no further
investigation into the conspiracy by Fonda and Danner for the next hour
or so of the running time. Director Richard T. Heffron (I,
The Jury)
for all of this time executes things at an excruciatingly slow pace
scene after scene during this time that just hammers home that nothing
significant is happening, and it's obvious padding. When the conspiracy
is eventually uncovered very late in the movie, there is some action,
but the chases and fights are too little and too late, being very low
key and utterly routine. As for the visual side of the movie, the
results are extremely mixed. Heffron was able to shoot much of the
movie on "real" locations such as the Johnson Space Center in Houston,
Texas, and some of these locations do add some serious"oomph" that
visually impress. But there are also some moments obviously shot on
soundstages that look pretty cheap and tacky. The special effects are a
mixed bag as well, sometimes looking quite advanced for the time (such
as some instances of early computer graphics), but at other times being
pretty obvious even by 1976 standards (you'll probably laugh at the
"hologram" chess board.) As you can see, there is not enough merit in Futureworld
to make it worth searching out for now or in your future, even for fans
of the original movie. If you do decide to watch it, more likely than
not you'll want to quickly stop this world because you'll want to get off.
(Posted December 30, 2022)
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See also: Deathsport, Fighting Mad, The Prize
Of Peril
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