Two years after the disastrous events which took place at Westworld, when state-of-the-art humanoid robots broke their programming and began killing the guests, the Delos role-playing leisure resort is re-opening, claiming all-new ultra-safe technology and new zones - one of which is Futureworld. As expected, interest from suspicious holidaymakers is low, and so to boost popularity dignitaries and selected media people are invited along with the idea of them spreading the word of their experiences. Chuck Browning is the reporter who publicised the events at Westworld and therefore destroyed the reputation of Delos. Along with TV presenter Tracy Ballard, an old flame, he arrives at the resort where he is promised access-all-areas. Suspicious to the point of paranoia it doesn’t take him long to wander from the accepted routes. In the underground tunnels linking the zones Chuck meets a technician who takes him to a restricted area. Here they discover a terrifying secret which could make or break the new Delos...

After the simple but masterful creation that was Westworld, Futureworld tries to mix things up with kidnapping, killing and intrigue. During the first half of the film Peter Fonda’s character achieves nothing of any significance in what amounts to a tiresome run-around. Only when he meets the technician, and his faceless android friend, does the pace pick up a little. However, there’s far from enough to keep the general viewer interested. It only needs one essentially good idea, but the big secret here is a plot device which was being used in science fiction films in the forties and fifties.

It's nice to see the abandoned Westworld zone, which after all is cheaply and easily created using the backlot from any western feature. In my opinion it would have been a simple and logical notion to have the technician rebuilding the old gunslinger in his spare time and have it disrupt the Futureworld zone by killing the prominent guests. Instead of that, what do they use the remarkable and prestigious acting talents of the returning Yul Bryner for? Tracy's dream sequence wherein they dance and kiss. To say that he is woefully underused is the ultimate understatement; all I can say is I hope he got paid a lot of money.

Futureworld is pretty close to a pointless exercise. It never garnered much attention at the cinema and I can't see it gaining a retrospective DVD following (especially with no extras). The sensible option would be to package it with Westworld and allow it to hang on to its great predecessor's shirt tails.

4

Ty Power