Futureworld: The Westworld Sequel Celebrates 50 Years with a 4K Upgrade (Limited Edition 4K)

The Film:

With the critical & commercial success of Michael Crichton's "Westworld" in 1973, it seemed fairly inevitable that a return to the park would be coming up pretty quickly, and indeed, just three years later, audiences were given a sequel known as "Futureworld." However, unlike its predecessor, it's one of those science-fiction outings that no one ever seems to mention, with many not even knowing that a sequel was made to the highly-popular original. Looking through its history, we find some possible answers for this, including a rather cold reception from both critics & audiences, who found it to be a somewhat dull & empty follow-up, and while it did end up turning a modest profit, it was still considered something of a box office disappointment.

Even so, the film was not without its advocates, who appreciated the filmmakers' attempt to take the story in a different direction instead of merely repeating itself. As the film celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, Arrow Films has decided to put it in the spotlight by giving it a fantastic 4K upgrade in hopes of getting it a little more recognition, so let's go back and take a look to see if it deserves a chance to shine as much as the original, or if its naysayers had this one pegged correctly all along.

Picking up two years after the tragedy in Westworld, the Delos Corporation has reopened the park after spending quite a lot of money on new safety upgrades. However, business is understandably a bit slow after what happened, leading them to invite newspaper reporter Chuck Browning (Peter Fonda) and TV reporter Tracy Ballard (Blythe Danner) to the park in order to do a story on it. Strangely, right before he's invited, Chuck had tried to meet with a defector from Delos, only for the latter to be shot & killed right before the meeting could take place, though not before he's able to give Chuck an envelope filled with news clippings about world leaders.

Meanwhile, the reporters opt to visit the Futureworld section of the park, which simulates taking a shuttle to a space station, and are given a tour by Dr. Duffy (Arthur Hill), who shows them various areas of the park, including the android-staffed control center. However, they soon start doing some investigating on their own, bringing to light certain secrets that they were never supposed to find out, including a sinister plot that would have global repercussions.

When it comes to making a sequel to a rather successful film like "Westworld," you really do have to admire their boldness in trying to do something new with the material. It would've been the easiest thing in the world to simply do a retread of the original by having the park reopen and bringing in new guests, only to have another disaster occur that has the main characters trying to survive the chaos. However, screenwriters Mayo Simon and George Schenck opted to skip the easy route and instead turn the sequel into an investigative mystery thriller, where the impending disaster isn't a simple malfunction, but rather a plot that goes well-beyond the park.

So the big question becomes, is their different approach successful? Well, we once again find ourselves with another "yes and no" answer in that, "yes," it is an intriguing way to continue the story and the mystery does have you curious as to what's really going on behind the scenes at the newly-reopened resort, but also "no" in that the answer to said mystery is somewhat simple and bland. That is to say, the set-up is there, but the reveal doesn't really have much of an impact given the elementary nature of it, which is more than a little strange given how, if the plot is successful, it would indeed cause quite a global change.

That said, "Futureworld" is certainly not nearly as bad as its reputation would suggest. The compelling idea was there, and it's executed in a fine manner to a certain degree, but after holding on through several scenes of these reporters sneaking around as they try to discover what shady business is going on, you can't help but feel a little let down when the discovery is made, ironically making it the opposite of the original, where you had to wait through the film showing off the park for most of it before it finally got to the meat of the story.

Again, it wasn't a bad attempt at a follow-up by any means. It really just needed a little more thought put into its overall narrative, for by the time the credits role on this sequel, it's not particularly hard to see why it's been mostly forgotten about over the past 50 years. It may be worth a peek for those curious as to where they attempted to take the story, but don't be surprised if you find yourself just a little disappointed at the overall result.

Video/Audio:

"Futureworld" comes to 4K in a 1.85:1, 2160p Ultra High Definition transfer of outstanding quality, presenting a beautifully sharp picture throughout its entire 108-minute duration that perfectly highlights the designs of its various park settings. Likewise, the original lossless mono audio track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality. Overall, Arrow Films has done a marvelous job in both areas for the film's 4K debut.

Special Features:

Commentary by Filmmaker and Film Historian Daniel Kremer (New)

Future Present (23 Minutes) (New): A video interview with producer Paul N. Lazarus III.

NASA: Science Fact and Fiction (8 Minutes): A 1976 behind-the-scenes short film chronicling filming at the Johnson Space Center.

Conclusion:

Richard T. Heffron's "Futureworld" is an intriguing attempt to build on the success of the highly-popular "Westworld" by taking the story in a radically new direction, and while you have to admire that screenwriters Mayo Simon & George Schenck did try to do something different (as opposed to just repeating the original film), you can't help but feel a bit disappointed at the end result that delivers a somewhat simple & bland answer to its over-arching mystery, ultimately giving us a sequel that isn't quite as memorable as its predecessor.

Score: 3/5

Available on Limited Edition 4K starting today.

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