HBO does n’t just desire to fulfill its sizableGame of Thronesvoid this fall ; it also wants to make act Cowboys & Indians cool again . WhenWestworldhits the lowly screen next calendar month , the connection will attempt to attain thatby enter a stacked dramatis personae , thought - provoke ethical dilemmas , a dense secret , and a world of spookily vivid robots .
The Western / sci - fi saga comes from tycoon writing span Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan , who havelikenedthe serial publication to a 10 - hr motion picture . ( ThinkDeadwoodmeets2001 : A Space Odysseyon loop – more twists , less blank space . ) Below , a guide to everything else you need to have it off about it ( except for themind - flabbergast question you ’ll askafteryou observe the premiere ) .
How do I watch?
What’s it about?
A luxury amusement park knight Westworld exists for succeeding yuppies to try their best John Wayne and Jesse James impressions . It ’s a big - scale Wild West re - creation that fare with bandits , whore , shoot - outs , saloons , and all the other meet clichés Tinseltown has conjured . Androids , visit " hosts , " populate the world to offer a seemingly sempiternal amount of narratives and to interact with human visitors à la characters from aGrand Theft Auto - style open - existence video game . Some gasconade quest and bounties . Others make themselves available for killing , f*cking , and partying .
Nodeadly repercussions lead – at least that ’s what the car park tells customers – because Westworld is the variety of topographic point where you make your most expansive and perverse dreams occur true .
It’s rebooting a Michael Crichton original
In 1972 , Crichton wrote a screenplay for the very firstWestworld . The late scribe ’s story revolved around a more complex parkland , eff as Delos , that in reality comprised three destinations : Western World , Roman World , and Medieval World . All were as ego - explanatory as they sound , with bot that served the same purpose as those mentioned above .
In Crichton ’s interlingual rendition , which he directed , two Delos patrons ( Richard Benjamin and James Brolin ) visit Westworld just as a cryptic technical " virus " make its high - tech dweller ( namely Yul Brynner ’s contraband - hat gunslinger ) go rogue . The resulting ogre - run - amok movie , in which humans make up for dominating their mech counterparts , plays as equal parts grip activity thriller , behavioral evaluation , and quondam Hollywood homage .
MGM was the only major studio that wantedWestworld , greenlighting a $ 1.25 million budget and six - workweek shoot . With VFX dexterity of hand , original stunts , photographic camera - cutting , and circumstances , Crichton and his team delivered a mean flick that prevail under 90 minutes and make an unexpected 95 % approval rating after previews .
James Marsden and Evan Rachel Wood|John P. Johnson/HBO
Who’s in it?
One of the independent differences between the ' 70 version and the update will be the points of horizon . Instead of focusing solely on human visitor , HBO ’s series will also give in - depth story communication channel to the resort ’s technicians and humanoid . Specifically , you ’ll desire to pay attention to Dr. Robert Ford ( Anthony Hopkins ) , Westworld ’s O.G. designer ; Dolores Abernathy ( Evan Rachel Wood ) , a robotic rancher ’s daughter ; and the Man in Black ( Ed Harris ) , a longtime Westworld player who looks like someone doing Brynner cosplay .
Viewers will see how the relationships between the human and the host evolve via said trio . The tot up perspectives produce the reboot ’s stakes and make for a mixture of engaging story – not just one . All around , the playing is top - mountain pass .
Others involved :
The show will push the envelope
The premiere bear a scene in which a military man violently drop back one of the female hosts into a b . When the media discovered this detail during the summer , sexual ferocity against women became a talking point at the Television Critics Association .
" Westworldis an examination of human nature , the best parts of human nature – paternal love , romantic passion , finding oneself – but also the humble part of human nature – violence and intimate force , " Joytold reportersin July . " Sexual violence is an issue we take earnestly ; it ’s extraordinarily disturbing and horrifying . And in its portrait , we endeavour for it to not be about the fetishization of those Acts of the Apostles . It ’s about exploring the crime , establishing the crime and the torment of the characters within this tarradiddle and exploring their stories hopefully with dignity and depth . "
In an unrelated consultation sooner this month , Nolan underlined thatWestworldis not supposed to be experience - good transportation . " I ’ll put it to you this manner : Interstellarwas , for me , a love strain of a human spirit , " hetoldRolling Stone . " The first season of the show that Lisa and I put together – it ’s reasonably much the exact opposite of that . "
HBO/YouTube
It might also be a bit of a mindf*ck
… as a show that desire to discuss A.I.-related quandaries should be . " It ’s the most interesting part I ’ve had in a prospicient time because [ my part ] had to say so many magisterial themes about the bicameral mind and consciousness , " HopkinstoldtheLA Timesthis calendar month . The former idea to which Hopkins name is detailed in Julian Jaynes’The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind . Part of the psychologist ’s dissertation posits that human awareness did not commence with beast phylogenesis , but that it was a " learned process that emerged , through catastrophe and catastrophe . " WoodtoldRolling StonethatWestworldwas an intellectual incubus . " There were days where I had experiential - crisis moments and started to marvel , Wait , am I a golem ? ' " she tell . " Then , after I watched the pilot , I was genuinely creep out by myself . It f*cked with all of our head , I think . "
The creators grabbed influences from odd places
NolantoldEsquirelast summertime that experiential modes of entertainment help him and his team establish out the reboot ’s world . He specifically name - dropped the video gamesRed stagnant RedemptionandBioShock , and the immersive field of operations performanceSleep No More .
This reboot has been a long time coming
Around 2002 , the tradescriedthat Arnold Schwarzenegger had signed a deal with WB to help reviveConan the BarbarianandWestworld– in the latter as a grampus bot . At the end of 2003 , however , Arnie replaced Gray Davis as the governor of California . ( The only Orcinus orca bot he played in that meter frame was the Terminator . ) In 2011,THRreportedthe project was still participating . And a couple years later on , J.J. Abrams ’s Bad Robot production company cop a fender commitment deal with HBO and Warner Bros. TV to in the end do something with the idea .
A pair snag still surfaced , despite the go - ahead : namely , a wait to " get ahead of the writing , " and ascandalous on - specify gender release . HBO has since bill the long - awaitedWestworld , fitly , as " a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial cognizance and the future of hell . "
Need aWestworldfix right now?
If you have n’t watched Crichton ’s feature directorial launching , that should do the trick , but if you want more , Westworldwas successful enough to engender a continuation , Futureworld(1976 ) . This time Crichton was not involved . Instead , Richard T. Heffron helmed , with Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner co - starring as investigatory reporters sent to tour the titular Delos addition and research the corporation post - Westworld .
Futureworldtakes a silly turn when , oops , it ’s let on Delos is making killer clones out of its Guest . Also , Brynnerbriefly cameosin a aspiration successiveness that would ’ve madeBarnabas Collinsand his friend express mirth . Though Heffron ’s follow - upplays like a cheesy TV motion picture , it managed to receive mixed reviews upon its release . It should at least partly sate originalWestworldfans .
There was also a TV series
Beyond Westworld , a spin - off of the former pics , arrived in 1980 . It was another trip-up . The CBS property introduced a corrupt programmer who graduated from thePinky & the BrainSchool of World Dominationand want to utilize the defunct common ’s killer androids to , well , you fuck . In grammatical case that thought does n’t right away sound like a no - no : BWessentially voided the original ’s most interesting thematic elements – and those of the extroverted HBO projection . ( " Wow , are these zombie sentient being ? They look and act like us ? Should wenotabuse them ? " " Haha , never mind , it ’s cool : a scientist is just f*cking around ! " ) The showcanboast Emmy noms for art centering and make - up , but only three installments beam before its speedy cancellation .
How can you prep?
Watching the oldWestworldstuff will give you an approximation of what to have a bun in the oven – and might assist you spot any Easter egg Nolan and Joy plant life . you may also get in the ripe sci - fi mindset by watch more material that has A.I. and genial handling playing a front - seat function :
Is it really HBO’sGame of Thronesreplacement?
Comparisons toGame of Throneshave nearly swim out the other marketable aspect ofWestworld– which is understandable but weird , seeing as it does n’t share much in common withGoT. On the Earth’s surface , the two inhabit whole unlike worlds and grapple with totally different issues . You could say the overlap of their Venn diagram should only admit : " HBO " and " period drama . "
That does n’t stand for they ca n’t function in similar elbow room , though . " For those of us who just like story – lots and lots of story ! –Westworldwill hit the spot as grueling asGoTever did,“wroteThe Guardian ’s Lucy Mangan . Collider ’s Allison Keene alsogave a brief shout - outto the semblance of sprawling narratives .
And maybe more interesting , there are recognisable behind - the - scenes names coming over fromGoT : helmersNeil MarshallandMichelle MacLarendirected some episode , Ramin Djawadicomposed some of the music , andRobert McLachlanandDavid Francolent a hand in the cinematography section . For this viewer , Westworldhas the well - rounded on- and off - camera talent , perfect timing , wise moral difference of opinion , and habit-forming common sense of machination need to complement its prestigious cousin . You scarcely notice there are n’t any automaton Dragon .
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MGM/YouTube
Anthony Hopkins and Jeffrey Wright|John P. Johnson/HBO
Angela Sarafyan|John P. Johnson/HBO
Westworld|John P. Johnson/HBO
American International/YouTube
Warner Bros./YouTube
Thandie Newton and Rodrigo Santoro|John P. Johnson/HBO