Day 194: "In Futureworld, nothing can go wrong."

In 1973 on of my favorite science fiction movies was released: Westworld.  It was rare back then for movies to get a sequel, but this one did: 1976's Futureworld.  The original still stands today as a warning against technology getting to far ahead of the humanity in charge of creating and maintaining it.  Futureworld sticks to this basic premise, but adds in the quotient of the morality of big business and politics.  The original movie was about a high end amusement park that is staffed mainly by very high tech robots that appear and act human in almost every way.  One day there is a computer glitch, and the once benign robots begin to run rampant, overriding their safety protocols and killing the guests at will.  The uprising is eventually stopped, and the park shut down.  Futureworld continues the story.  Years after the initial disaster, the park has been reopened, with entirely new safety protocols by its parent company, the multinational technology corporation Delos.  Two reporters are sent to investigate the new park after a third is found dead with, apparently, incriminating news about Delos.  Initially, they are given the red carpet treatment and shown every aspect of the park's operations, including the now abandoned Westworld.  When they investigate further, they discover a web of treasonous activities and plans to replace world leaders with programmed replicas, which are virtually indistinguishable from the originals.

Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner star as the pair of reporters Chuck Browning and Tracy Ballard.  Considering the state of science fiction in the mid-seventies (Star Wars notwithstanding) they do an admirable job with thier parts.  Yul Brenner also makes a cameo appearance as the menacing Gunslinger from the original film.

This definitely falls well into the formula sci-fi from the seventies: lots of miniatures, mostly of the park itself, industrial looking sets revealing the seedy underworkings of the Eden-esque world above, and a paranoid convoluted plot that is too clever for itself.  I did like this, but it was too much politics and big business wheeling and dealing.  There wasn't the charm of 70's sci-fi that I love so much; like Logan's Run, Westworld, or even The Stepford Wives.  Fun but not great.  7.5/10.

See you tomorrow, and GO WATCH A MOVIE!!