*****CYBERNETIC SPOILERS!*****

Written and directed by the late Michael Crichton (“Jurassic Park”), 1973’s “Westworld” told the story of a high-end amusement park staffed with android playthings who provide wealthy guests with an immersive experience in several recreated worlds of the past; “Medieval world,” “Roman world,” and the titular “Westworld.” It’s in Westworld where a recently divorced lawyer (Richard Benjamin) goes to forget his troubles, only to wind up in a life or death struggle when the androids of the resort malfunction and go on a killing spree.  Basically, it’s Jurassic Park with killer robots instead of dinosaurs. That simple idea was later reworked into an overly ambitious HBO TV series (2016-2022) that explored the concept well beyond its earlier limitations. 

But before HBO saw gold in them there hills, “Westworld” spawned a feature film sequel and even a short-lived 1980 TV series (“Beyond Westworld”). The mid-1970s was the era of ‘bionic’ shows (“The Six Million Dollar Man,” “The Bionic Woman”) and 1976’s “Futureworld” added a conspiratorial angle to the potential wonders and dangers of lifelike robotics.  Written by Mayo Simon & George Schenck and directed in a decidedly made-for-TV manner by Richard T. Heffron (“North and South,” Book I), this first sequel throws in a pair of investigative reporters seeking to uncover the truth behind the reopening of the Delos amusement parks, following the deadly robotic uprising seen in “Westworld.” 

Having seen “Westworld” cinematically as a kid (Yul Brynner suitably scared the hell out of me), I would catch “Futureworld” on TV in my early teens, and I honestly thought it was a made for TV-movie until I later learned it did have a theatrical release.  For fairness, I rewatched the film in a darkened room on a 7 ft collapsible screen projected digitally from a BluRay to give it the most theatrical presentation I could for this review.  Under these conditions, I returned to this ‘future world’ that never was…

“Futureworld” (1976)

Set two years from the robotic rampage seen in 1973’s “Westworld,” the sequel sees the Delos corporation reopening their robot-hosted resort parks, with Westworld now permanently closed, but with Romanworld, Medievalworld and two new additions. The first new park is Spaworld, which promises a fountain of youth for elderly/infirm guests, while the second, Futureworld, promises a simulated solar system cruise to the moon and Mars. Desperate for positive media coverage, Delos bigwig Dr. Duffy (Arthur Hill) invites a pool of reporters to attend a Delos press junket.  

Among the reporters in the pool are two former rivals, Chuck Browning (Peter Fonda) and Tracy “Socks” Ballard (Blythe Danner).  Chuck is a tenacious truth-seeker who works as an investigative reporter for a big newspaper, while Tracy is now a TV interviewer whom Chuck believes has sold her journalist’s soul for a cushy gig. Unknown to his Delos host, Chuck is acting on a tip from a late resort mechanic named Frenchy (Ed Geldart) who was shot in the back while passing on a packet to Chuck containing critical information about Delos.  A hint of attraction is shown to exist between the two reporters, as Chuck affectionately refers to Tracy as “Socks” because of a pair of bright red socks she wore once (a weak-sauce excuse for a nickname, but okay…).

Note: The characters of Chuck and Tracy are patterned after the screwball romantic comedy pairings popular in the 1930s-1940s (as clumsily mentioned in dialogue), while their jobs as investigative reporters going after the ‘real story’ seems inspired by the famed journalistic duo of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the two Washington Post reporters who broke the full story behind a burglary at Democratic convention Headquarters at the Watergate hotel in June of 1972. That story led to the pair’s book and movie, “All the President’s Men,” as well as the resignation of disgraced US president Richard Nixon in August of 1974. 

As Chuck and Tracy head into the Delos arrival terminal, they meet a game show winner named Ron Thurlow (Jim Antonio), an obnoxious yokel and would-be swinger who’s all too eager to have sex with one of the fembots of Delos, because it seems that once you go mech, the rest can go to heck. Ron’s also eager to be an interview subject for Tracy’s upcoming TV profile on Delos, which she’s willing to give if only he could stop leering at her for five seconds…

Note: The game show host who congratulates Ron on his big win is real-life 1970s game show host Alan Ludden (1917-1981) who, until his death, was the real-life spouse of beloved TV actress Betty White (1922-2021). Ludden was White’s third husband, and despite her great renaissance in popularity after his passing, White never remarried. Actor Jim Antonio, who plays the obnoxious Ron, is the brother of actor Lou Antonio, who famously played the half-white/half-black alien “Lokai” on the famous (or infamous) Star Trek episode, “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” (1969).

International VIP guests enter the resort as well, including high-profile Japanese guests Mr. Takaguchi (John Fujioka) and his aide (Dana Lee), who are both checking into Medievalworld.  And despite repeated warnings not to take photos within the resort, Takaguchi’s aide sneaks his own camera into the park under his layered costume.  There’s also an aging Russian general named Karnovski (Burt Conroy) and his wife (Dorothy Konrad) who seek a week of youthful bliss in Spaworld, where they can temporarily escape their current ages and relive their lost youth.

Note: While the exact processes of Spaworld are not clearly explained, the guests’ youthful rejuvenation appears to be a combination of hallucinatory drugs and holography, rather than cybernetics.  Also of note, the über-racist stereotyping flies fast and furious with the arrival of the international guests.  Takaguchi unnamed aide’s sneaking a camera into the resort stokes the hoary cliché of Japanese tourists and their cameras. Sadly, such ethnic clichés are as close as the movie gets to representation, and it’s a solid fail. I can think of any number of more meaningful roles within the film that could’ve been played by non-caucasian actors and simply weren’t. 

Meanwhile, Tracy and Chuck are fitted into bulky spacesuits as they sit through a brief orientation on their resort choice of Futureworld.  The two androids giving the orientation are ‘Eric’ (Darrel Larson) and ‘Erica’ (Nancy), who look like they just waltzed out of an ABBA concert, circa 1975. Tracy and Chuck are to ‘fly’ their mockup rocketship to rendezvous with a simulated “Voyager” starship in ‘orbit.’ Contest winner Ron is assigned to work the rocketship’s radio during liftoff. During the orientation, nobody is briefed on how to handle their equipment (granted, it’s not real, but what about authenticity…?).   Soon, they ‘blast-off’ and are on their way to dock with their make-believe mothership while learning the controls along the way…

Note: Much of the movie was shot in Houston Texas, which included the Johnson Space Center. Filming at the JSC allowed access to the Skylab space station interior mockup, which was used for the interior of the Delos “Aries” rocketship. The Skylab mockup was also used on the original “Battlestar Galactica” TV series (1978-9) as the central core of a Cylon base ship in the episode “The Hand of God” (not to be confused with the reboot’s same-named episode).  Futureworld’s space hardware seems to be a not-so futuristic hodgepodge of Apollo, Skylab and even Mercury space capsules—apparently anything the production could get their hands on.  One of the movie’s most impressive set pieces is a large-scale set with the single-stage Delos rocket staged in the center of its blastoff pit.  This was achieved through a combination of Johnson Space Center locations combined with miniatures, matting and forced perspective techniques.  The Delos rocket looks not too unlike something created by SpaceX or Blue Origin today.

After docking with their “Voyager” mothership, the Futureworld guests disembark and enjoy a relaxing voyage to the moon and Mars aboard their ‘cruise ship to the stars.’ As would-be swinger Ron does his best to sample the ship’s assorted sexbots, Chuck and Tracy try their hand at various futuristic games, including a holographic chess board, which uses lifelike (and painfully slow) pieces who slay opposing pieces, which disappear from the board after a capture. The pair then try their hand at boxing using proxy robotic boxers.  By fitting their hands into large red and green analog controllers, Chuck and Tracy can make corresponding moves using two lifelike robotic boxers, who even sweat. Meanwhile, Chuck is still trying to find who killed Delos informant Frenchy by showing his photo to the cruise spaceship’s robotic bartender (Judson Pratt). Unfortunately, the bartender is unable (or unwilling) to help.

Note: The holographic chess game seen in this film preceded the holographic chess game we see played by Chewbacca and R2-D2 aboard the Millennium Falcon in George Lucas’ “Star Wars” by a full year.  The chess pieces of “Futureworld” are clearly just actors within an oversized black set, but the holographic chessboard idea was established there first. The two robot boxers seem to be a life-sized, realistic variation of the once popular kids’ game “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots,” which I very much enjoyed as a kid. Of the entertainment options seen in this movie, the robot boxers look like they’d be the most fun to play. 

Chuck and Tracy are then rejoined by Dr. Duffy, who offers to take the reporters on a guided tour through the rest of Delos, which they accept. Chuck then realizes he didn’t get his photo of Frenchy back from the robotic bartender.  When he asks for his photo back, the bartender lies and tells Chuck he gave it to him.  A steely-eyed Chuck then directly accuses the robot of lying, before he bluffs by mentioning he has another photo.  Duffy seems only mildly fazed by Chuck’s accusations, as he takes the two reporters through an employee exit, where a slightly disoriented Tracy realizes their ‘starship’ never left Earth. 

Note: Actor Arthur Hill (1922-2006) is better known to sci-fi fans for his work in 1971’s “The Andromeda Strain” as well as his narration work in 1983’s adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” Hill also made a guest appearance in Irwin Allen’s “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” TV series (1964-1966). 

Wishing to appear fully transparent for the press, Duffy takes Tracy and Chuck on a tour through Westworld, an abandoned section of the resort where the troubles with the robots began a few years earlier.  This is also the site where the gunslinger robot (Yul Brynner) pursued guest Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) in a “most dangerous game.”  While Tracy keeps Duffy busy with her brand of softball questions, the more tenacious Chuck sneaks off by himself—taking advantage of Duffy’s transparency offer.

Note: It doesn’t make sense that Delos would choose to close down only the Westworld section of the resort and not Romanworld or Medievalworld; all three sections were affected by the same ‘computer virus’ that caused the robots to turn murderous. I also find Duffy’s earlier admission that 55 people died to be a bit of an understatement, since the original film showed all the resort’s guests (save for Richard Benjamin’s “Peter Martin”) as well as the service support teams were killed either by rampaging robots or suffocation inside of the computer-locked control rooms. That had to be more than 55 people. 

Going off on his own within Westworld, Chuck finds the abandoned hotel and brothel, where he stumbles across a disembodied robotic arm. Chuck also locates an underground service hatch beneath the wooden floor.  Opening the hatch, he crawls down inside, where he finds a complex catacombs of machinery, pipes, conduits and gauges beneath the rustic, Old West facade above…

Note: The disembodied robotic arm seems like an expensive piece of hardware to be left behind so carelessly. Then again, no other resort guests were allowed into Westworld, so it’s not as if a guest could find, steal and have that expensive arm reverse-engineered…unless they were Chuck, of course.

Dr. Duffy later takes his two reporters on a tour inside of Delos’ Mission Control Center, which monitors all operations and phases of the resort’s parks, as well as their guests. Chuck is mystified by the blank stares of the controllers at their various consoles, and he asks “Socks” if she could try flirting with one of the controllers.  Tracy is aghast, until Chuck doubts her ability to “turn them on.”  Naturally Chuck’s sexist challenge is accepted, and Tracy sets her wiles to work on one of the controllers, who coolly calls her ‘ma’am’ and rejects her repeated advances, leaving her confused and indignant.

Note: The Delos Control Center is actually NASA’s real-life Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas. This area wasn’t in vigorous use back in 1976 since there were no US manned spaceflights in operation during that time, which was post-Apollo (1967-1975) and pre-Space Shuttle (1981-2011). Director Ron Howard wanted to use that same location during production of “Apollo 13” (1995), but he found the since-upgraded room no longer looked as it did during the Apollo era, so he recreated the vintage Mission Control Center as best he could on a Hollywood soundstage; getting it so right that even real-life astronauts who acted as technical advisors for the film reportedly felt disoriented after leaving the stage—thinking they were back in Houston, Texas and not Los Angeles, California.

Duffy then introduces Chuck and Tracy to the head of the parks’ control center; a creepy, surly man named Dr. Schneider (John Ryan) who tells the reporters that all of his controllers are robots—which comes as a shock to the two reporters.  Duffy seems surprised by their reaction, insisting he told them about the resort’s robot staffers during their earlier briefing, but Chuck and Tracy don’t seem to remember.  After their extensive tour, the two reporters are escorted back to their room, which is the size of a split-level condominium rather than a suite (complete with hideous, 1970s shag carpeting…yech). Duffy promises they’ll see more of the resort tomorrow.

Note: Playing devil’s advocate for a moment, what if the controller Tracy flirted with was simply gay, asexual or just not that into her?  Any of these alternatives are reasonable explanations for the lack of interest in her feminine wiles.  Secondly, exactly why are Tracy and Chuck so astonished by robots staffing the control center, anyway?  The orientation briefing for their own Futureworld ‘flight’ was given by matching robots Eric and Erica, so why is it a surprise to them that robots could man the control consoles too? 

After unwittingly dining on drugged food and drinks in their room, Tracy and Chuck are soon fast asleep and are carefully abducted from their beds by hazmat-wearing staffers (probably robots) who take them to a room filled with various machines that take exacting measurements of their faces, bodies and even internal anatomies (oh, what a lawsuit that would make…). The still-unconscious reporters are then returned to their beds.  As Chuck sleeps, Tracy screams, which wakes him up.  Rushing into her room, Chuck finds Tracy having a nightmare about being abducted and examined. Chuck immediately suspects they were really abducted, and wants to return to the underground service catacombs he found earlier.  With no doubt a conspiracy’s afoot, Tracy insists on going with him…

Note: The ‘high tech’ examining devices are no more than 20th century x-ray machines and other standard hospital equipment, but it works well enough for a movie made in 1976, when advanced technology included microwave ovens and Pong. On the plus side, the computer graphics used to simulate the contour mapping of their faces (which are crude by today’s standards) were impressive for the time.  

Chuck and Tracy then return to the catacombs Chuck found earlier and are unwittingly detected by security monitors.  For some bizarre reason, a trio of samurai warriors are inexplicably generated from thin air (three white stuntmen in shockingly bad and offensive Asian makeup), and they immediately set about stopping the intruders with samurai swordplay.  Chuck and Tracy are able to keep this not-so-formidable security system at bay, but not before they run out of chambers in which to escape.  They’re given unexpected aid by a gruff systems mechanic named Harry (Stuart Margolin) who takes Chuck and Tracy deep within the maze of machinery, where he lives with a bald, faceless robot he calls ‘Clark’ (James M. Connor).  

Note: Wow! If you thought the Japanese delegate sneaking in a camera was racist, wait till you see the three caucasian stuntmen (one of whom is blue-eyed) in shockingly awful Asian makeup. It almost makes the late John Belushi’s gibberish-speaking samurai character from SNL seem progressive by comparison. And just how did the Samurai robots or holograms come into existence, anyway? They appeared to be holographically-generated out of thin air, so just how did they have the necessary mass to attack Chuck and Tracy? And if they weren’t holograms, how were such complex fighting robots created so quickly? 

Harry then introduces Chuck and Tracy to Clark, the former sex model robot who remains faceless because Harry got tired of removing the faceplate to service Clark’s electronics, so it’s kept off.  Clark is, of course, named after “Clark Kent,” the human alter ego of Superman; the ‘man of steel.’  Harry repurposed Clark as an assistant, but he admits Clark doesn’t always do so well.  When Chuck presents his concerns about a conspiracy with Delos, Harry is reluctant to get involved.  Tracy softens Harry up by agreeing to interview him for her TV program. Just as she begins, the ‘interview’ is broken up by Dr. Schneider with a team of security guards, who insist on escorting the ‘guests’ back to their room. Chuck reminds Schneider they’re reporters, not ‘guests.’ 

Note: Clark’s faceless maze of circuits is a visual callback to the first film’s unmasked robots, and the fright value that effect once had on audiences back in the 1970s. “The Bionic Woman” used that effect repeatedly when Jaime Summers (Lindsay Wagner) took on the “fembots” in several episodes of that series. However, for this film, the unmasked “Clark” is a sympathetic character—a robotic Lenny to Harry’s George (“Of Mice and Men”), or a human-robotic answer to Laurel & Hardy.

The following morning after their eventful night, Chuck and Tracy continue to play dumb with Dr. Duffy, who takes volunteer Tracy into a new attraction of the park; a dream recorder that records one’s dreams into a video for others to see.  A bit worried about having her dreams visible for Chuck and Dr. Duffy, Tracy reluctantly agrees to try the device.  She is lulled into sleep, and begins to experience a bizarre erotic fantasy involving the rogue Gunslinger robot (Yul Brynner) she glimpsed in archival footage of the original Delos disaster.  In her fantasy, the Gunslinger rescues her by shooting the sinister scientists who are strapping her to a table.  She rewards the Gunslinger by lassoing him in red scarves before taking him to bed…

Note: According to the internet (take it with a grain of salt), actor Yul Brynner apparently needed the $75,000 offered for the cameo very badly, which explains his undignified return.  While it is an interesting twist to turn the first film’s nightmare into an erotic dream, I have to wonder exactly why Tracy would agree to go under a Delos mind-probing machine the very next day after her terrifying abduction experience?  It makes no sense for the character or the story.  On a side note, it’s interesting that Blythe Danner and her daughter, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, would both romance ‘iron men’ in movies (Danner’s dalliance with the robotic Yul Brynner and Paltrow’s pairing with Tony Stark in the “Iron Man” movies). 

As Tracy dreams of the Gunslinger, Chuck sneaks away to contact Harry about gaining access to a hidden chamber.  Unable to get in using just the security code, Harry realizes they’ll need one of the robot technician’s electronic eyes to fool the gateway’s scanner.  Chuck douses a robot technician with water, shorting out the automaton and unscrewing its faceplate so that he and Harry can steal its eyes for the scanner.  When Tracy rejoins them, the trio tries once more to gain access and succeeds.  

Note: The robots’ vulnerability to water is a really bad design flaw that needs to be addressed before these things could ever hope to take over human civilization. I mean really, guys. Even my iPhone has better water protection than these would-be world conquerors. Maybe if they teamed up with Skynet…?

Once inside, the trio creep stealthily towards an observation window overseeing a large testing area; there, they see see robotic clones of themselves, as well as the Russian general and the Japanese delegate.  The robot-clones share the thought patterns of their human originals, and are being programmed to give favorable reviews of Delos (via Yelp?), and to destroy their originals once they take their places. Chuck then remembers that Frenchy’s packet contained information on various world leaders whom Delos hopes to lure to the resort and replace. With the conspiracy unveiled, Chuck, Tracy and Harry realize they need to go public as soon as possible.  Returning to their room to pack, they’re met by Duffy, who confirms their suspicions about the robots’ plan to take over the human race.  Duffy tells them humanity is simply too dangerous to be left in charge of the planet (can’t argue that, I’m afraid), and that android duplicates would do a much better job.  Chuck then attacks Duffy, who’s much stronger than he appears. Tracy takes a blaster and shoots Duffy twice before he’s felled.  Chuck confirms his suspicions by removing Duffy’s faceplate—he’s an android, too.

Note: Not exactly a big reveal that the shady Dr. Duffy isn’t human, but I was surprised to learn that creepy mission controller Dr. Schneider is…!

After Harry says his goodbyes to his robot pal Clark, he rushes to meet with Chuck and Tracy.  He then runs into Chuck’s now fully-operational duplicate, who kills the poor mechanic right before he’s spotted by the real Chuck.  Meanwhile, Tracy is pursued by her own doppelgänger out into the ruins of Westworld, where they are evenly matched, since Tracy’s dad taught her to shoot. However, human Tracy is a smidgen quicker on the draw, and her android duplicate is toast.  

Note: It’s a bit odd that both Chuck and Tracy’s robot twins would be wearing the same clothes at the exact same time as their human counterparts. Did Delos employees have to buy duplicates of the reporters’ wardrobe to give their robots fashion options? More likely this was done for convenience of the actors, who wouldn’t have to change clothes between takes before reversing their positions to play their own doppelgängers.

Meanwhile, Chuck and his robot-self prove to be a more even match. Neither one of them can shoot worth a damn (something Chuck’s known since Army basic training), and the android Chuck avoids a carefully set trap by his human ‘brother.’ Eventually, the two Chucks are chasing each other through the high scaffolding surrounding the mockup Delos rocketship. We see the two of them locked in a death struggle before one of them—we don’t know which—plunges to his death at the base of the rocket. 

Note: Shouldn’t the robot Chuck have sparked when he hit the ground with such force? That’s one way to keep the ‘surprise’ ending, I suppose.

After their forced separation, Chuck and Tracy meet again.  They look for signs in the others’ eyes to make sure they’re not robots.  Chuck then takes Tracy in a passionate kiss to prove they’re both human.  We then see the two exiting the Delos terminal, where the shifty Dr. Schneider meets them, to ensure they’re the doppelgängers.  Chuck and Tracy play along, promising to give Delos glowing reviews when they get back.  As they hurriedly walk towards their tram, Chuck tells Tracy he’s already filed his story with his editor and it should be published by the time they return.  Chuck also admits that kissing Tracy was the fastest way to tell if they were both human.  Meanwhile, Tracy’s damaged robotic twin from their Westworld encounter is seen crawling along the floor, and Schneider realizes he’s been duped.  As the evil doctor looks toward the departing reporters, Chuck flips his middle finger at him in defiance.

The End.

Note: Not to douse a happy ending with cold logic, but since the robots of Delos could be programmed for sex, how would kissing Tracy conclusively prove she was really human?  If the robot duplicates shared the originals’ brain wave patterns, then feigning sexual intimacy would be a no-brainer, especially with all the good things game show winner Ron heard about robotic sex.  Also of note, in the edited-for-TV version of the movie that I saw as a teenager, I distinctly remember Chuck giving Dr. Schneider the bras d’honneur (hand over arm) gesture instead, which was somehow deemed more acceptable for US network television in those days…?

Summing It Up

While the special effects and other elements of “Futureworld” don’t hold up so well after 48 years, the movie does deserve a few nods for its forecasting of humanity’s ongoing issues with artificial intelligence (however clumsily), as well as taking the original’s story in a new direction beyond another amusement park breakdown.  In many ways, the far-slicker, mega-budgeted HBO miniseries (which went stale by its third season) owes more to the android conspiracy of “Futureworld” than it does to the spartan 1973 original.  “Futureworld” also boasts early use of computer graphics for its scenes depicting the android duplication processes. The movie’s holographic chess game also beat “Star Wars” to movie theaters by a full year, too.

Beyond the blatant sexism, racist stereotyping and other unfortunate trappings of the time, there are other creative issues afflicting this otherwise decent drive-in movie. The lackluster, TV movie-of-the-week feel from director Richard T. Heffron, whose boob tube-friendly framing, flat lighting and lackluster pacing feel more like a two-parter of “The Bionic Woman” than a feature film; this is in sharp contrast to the eerier vibe and widescreen framing writer-director Michael Crichton gave to “Westworld.” There’s also a made-for-TV sounding musical score by the late Fred Karlin, whose earlier score for “Westworld” was more uniquely inspired than his work for the sequel (save for a few fleeting moments that riff on the original’s spur-jangling pursuit theme).  We also hear an overuse of Star Trek original series’ sound effects throughout the movie that only add to its small screen feel.

The late Peter Fonda (“Chuck Browning”) makes a headstrong lead, in contrast to Richard Benjamin, who played more of an everyman in the original.  Blythe Danner (“Tracy ‘Socks’ Ballard”) does her best with some badly outdated dialogue (though her erotic dream sequence with Yul Brynner’s Gunslinger robot is hilariously awful). Making the two reporter characters a Woodward-Bernstein pairing certainly fit within a post-Watergate 1976, since “All the President’s Men” was both a bestseller book and a hit feature film. Both Arthur Hill (“Dr. Duffy”) and John Ryan (“Dr. Schneider”) provide suitably creepy villainy, while Stuart Margolin (“Harry”) and James M Connor (“Clark”) offer a quasi-futuristic spin on Laurel & Hardy.  All in all, this was a game cast.

As an objectively lesser sequel with a few good ideas, 1976’s “Futureworld” works best for audiences who want to lose themselves in some mid-1970s sci-fi cheesiness. Beyond the cheese, there’s a bit of sci-fi commentary on capitalism and a decent cast, even if the fisticuffs and padded pursuits become a bit taxing.  Like the movie’s dream recording device, knowing audiences can plug into “Futureworld” and enjoy it as a brief, tongue-in-cheek vacation from good taste.

Where To Watch

“Futureworld” can be streamed for free on Tubi and Pluto TV.  The movie can also be rented digitally on PrimeVideo, or purchased on BluRay from Amazon (prices vary by seller).