Futureworld
Encyclopedia
Futureworld is a 1976 sequel to the 1973 science fiction film
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...

 Westworld
Westworld
Westworld is a 1973 science fiction-thriller film written and directed by novelist Michael Crichton and produced by Paul Lazarus III. It stars Yul Brynner as a lifelike robot in a futuristic Western-themed amusement park, and Richard Benjamin and James Brolin as guests of the park.Westworld was the...

. It was written by George Schenk and Mayo Simon
Mayo Simon
-Select filmography:*The Man from Atlantis pilot episode, *Futureworld *Phase IV *Marooned *I Could Go On Singing -External links:...

, and directed by Richard T. Heffron
Richard T. Heffron
Richard T. Heffron was a film and television director.He worked on many television series such as The Rockford Files and films including Futureworld , Foolin' Around , the 1982 Mike Hammer film I, the Jury, Pancho Barnes , and La révolution française .-External links:...

. The cast included Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...

, Blythe Danner
Blythe Danner
Blythe Katherine Danner is an American actress. She is the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.-Early life:...

, and Arthur Hill
Arthur Hill (actor)
Arthur Edward Spence Hill was a Canadian actor best known for appearances in British and American theater, movies and television...

. There is also a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

 by Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...

 in a dream sequence
Dream sequence
A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other element. Commonly, dream sequences appear in many...

. Other than Brynner, none of the cast members from the original film appear in this one.

The film attempted to take the plot in a different direction from the Westworld movie, but it was not generally well-received by the critics. The film was deemed as lacking in action and the acting was not engaging. It was made by AIP
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...

 (its predecessor was made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

, which later bought AIP's successors Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...

).

Plot summary

Two years after the WestWorld tragedy in the Delos amusement park, the corporate owners have reopened the park following $1.5 billion in safety and other improvements. For publicity purposes, newspaper reporter Chuck Browning (Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...

) and TV reporter Tracy Ballard (Blythe Danner
Blythe Danner
Blythe Katherine Danner is an American actress. She is the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.-Early life:...

) are invited to review the park. Just before the junket is announced, Browning arranges to meet with a Delos employee who promises he has dirt on the corporation. At the meeting, the tipster is shot in the back and dies with an envelope in his hands.

At the resort, guests can choose from a range of themed parks: MedievalWorld, RomanWorld, and FutureWorld (WestWorld has been completely abandoned). Browning and Ballard choose to visit Futureworld, which simulates a trip to an orbiting space station. Robots are available for sexual exploits as well as amusements like a boxing game, where the humans control robot boxers. They are guided through the resort by Dr. Duffy (Arthur Hill
Arthur Hill (actor)
Arthur Edward Spence Hill was a Canadian actor best known for appearances in British and American theater, movies and television...

). Duffy graciously shows them the marvels of Delos, demonstrating that all the problems of Westworld have been fixed.

The reporters are stunned to find that the control center, overseen by Dr. Schneider (John P. Ryan), is staffed entirely by robots. This revelation confirms Browning's suspicion that something is wrong at the resort. That night, their dinners are drugged, and while they sleep, Delos runs exhaustive tests on them. The tests will enable Delos to make clone duplicates of the reporters. In addition to Browning and Ballard, a senior Russian general and a Japanese politician are also singled out for cloning. After they are returned to their rooms at 2:30 a.m., Ballard awakes in a fright, thinking all the medical tests were a nightmare. Browning has awoken as well, and the pair sneak out to explore the resort's underground mechanical areas.

They end up triggering a cloning machine which generates three deadly samurais. Just as they are about to be captured by the samurais, a mechanic named Harry (Stuart Margolin
Stuart Margolin
Stuart Margolin is an American film and television actor and director.-Television:Margolin is best known for his role on the television show The Rockford Files, playing Evelyn "Angel" Martin, the shifty friend and former cellmate of Jim Rockford...

) saves them. He takes them back to his quarters, which he shares with a faceless robot he's named "Clark" (after Clark Kent, as he was known as "The man of steel"). It is implied but unconfirmed that Clark is the body of the Gunslinger from Westworld. The reporters interview Harry about Delos, but Schneider interrupts them and insists that they return to their rooms. The following day, while Ballard is testing out a dream recording device that Delos has designed, Browning sneaks out to see Harry.

Harry takes Browning to a locked door that he has never been able to enter, although another technician - a robot - routinely enters. Realizing the key is in the robot's eyes, Harry destroys the robot and steals its face. They return with Ballard and open the door. Inside, they see the clones of themselves as well as the Russian and Japanese leaders. The clones are fully functional and are in the process of being coded through subliminal messages; they are instructed to always work for the good of Delos and to destroy their originals. Browning explains that his tipster's envelope was filled with clippings about establishment figures from around the world, realizing that Delos must be cloning the rich and powerful.

The trio decides to flee the resort on the next plane. Browning and Ballard return to their apartment where Duffy is waiting for them, who explains that by cloning world leaders they can ensure that laws are not passed which are harmful to Delos' interests. By cloning the two reporters, they would ensure favorable coverage which would help people forget the Westworld tragedy and popularize the new resort. Duffy also reveals that he believes that humans will destroy the planet if left to run it themselves. In the ensuing struggle, Duffy easily overpowers Browning with an unnatural strength. Ballard manages to shoot him twice. To confirm his suspicions, Browning peels back Duffy's face to reveal that he is a robot. As Harry makes his way through the tunnels to meet up with the reporters, he runs into Browning's clone, who kills him. Ballard and Browning are then beset by their own duplicates, who separate them and chase them through the facility, all the while taunting them with details about their lives (of which they know everything). Eventually, one of each pair is killed in the two-fold struggle, though which one is left unclear. When the surviving Browning and Ballard meet, he seizes her and kisses her.

In the end, Browning and Ballard are leaving the resort with the other guests. Schneider stops them on their way out to make sure they are the clones. The reporters confirm that they will be generating positive press for Delos, but just as they reach the exit, Ballard's badly beaten doppelgänger stumbles towards him, and Schneider realizes too late that he has been fooled. On the jetway, Browning tells Ballard that his editor is running the expose on Delos and the whole world will know what they are up to, and that kissing her was his idea to figure out whether or not she was a duplicate.

Technical

Futureworld was the first major feature film to use 3D computer generated images
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...

 (CGI). CGI was used for an animated hand and face. The animated hand was a digitized version of Edwin Catmull's
Edwin Catmull
Dr. Edwin Earl Catmull, Ph.D. is a computer scientist and current president of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios. As a computer scientist, Catmull has contributed to many important developments in computer graphics....

 left hand. The movie also used 2D digital compositing to materialize characters over a background.

Shooting Locations

Much of the film was shot in the greater Houston area, including Intercontinental Airport, Jones Hall, and the Johnson Space Center.

Alternate versions

For its initial television broadcast, an alternate version of the scene towards the end where Chuck Browning extends his middle finger to Dr. Schneider was shot. Instead of extending his middle finger, Browning performs a sanitized-for-TV bent elbow gesture, where the right hand is placed in the elbow crook of the left arm, then the left arm is raised (fist clenched) in a smooth and continuous motion.

LaserDisc/DVD/Digital Releases

As of 2011, "Futureworld" was released on VHS and LaserDisc in the U.S., and on DVD from MGM on December 2010, as well as released in a number of foreign territories in the DVD format. "Futureworld" is available to rent via Amazon, and available to rent or purchase from iTunes. The digital release is in the widescreen format. As of 2011 "Futureworld" is also now available from Netflix's Watch Instantly service for subscribers.

Critical reception

Variety called it a "strong sequel." Richard Eder panned the film in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, quoting Ballard's line from the movie, "This is about as exciting as a visit to the water works." Coining his own variation on the phrase, Eder also claimed the film is "as much fun as running barefoot on Astroturf". He found the film entirely predictable and devoid of much dramatic tension. Writing that Danner and Fonda have "absolutely nothing to do" in the film, he concludes that "starring in Futureworld must be the actor's equivalent of going on welfare."
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