Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Delos is a futuristic amusement park that features themed worlds populated by human-like androids. After two patrons have a run-in with a menacing gunslinger in West World, the androids at Delos all begin to malfunction, causing havoc throughout the park.
Westworld is a genuinely original high-concept thriller that predates and arguably inspired countless 'technology run amok' narratives. Its central premise — a luxury theme park populated by androids that go haywire — is strikingly inventive for 1973 and earns a high Novelty score for sheer conceptual distinctiveness and cultural influence. Yul Brynner's cold, implacable Gunslinger is an iconic screen presence, though the human leads are serviceable rather than exceptional. The plot is lean and functional, setting up its premise efficiently but not with great depth. Cinematography is competent genre filmmaking of its era — solid but unremarkable. The ending is tense and delivers on its chase-thriller promise without being especially surprising or resonant. Overall a well-above-average concept executed at an above-average but not exceptional level.