This past Sunday, Westworld premiered on HBO. The remake of an original movie directed by Michael Crichton, is a series produced by J.J Abrams and created by Johnathan Nolan and Lisa Joy which tells the story of Westworld a futuristic theme park where people can go to fulfill their wildest desires of the west. If you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, check out the trailer below.
Now the first episode was…interesting, in that it didn’t lay the foundation, entirely, for this show. We were introduced to some characters, Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) who created Westworld, Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) who is still keeping the park running, The Man in Black (Ed Harris) who seems to have an interesting relationship with the park, one that I haven’t quite figured out yet, and Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood, Teddy Flood (James Marsden), and Maeve Millay (Thandie Newton) who are all robots who exist in Westworld and don’t know it.
The pilot was strong and the second episode appears to explain how Westworld works and what The Man in Black is searching for, I presume. I’m a fan of the show and I’m interested to see where it goes, my only concern, and it is kind of a big one.
The depiction of violence, notably female violence was quite prominent in the first episode and I’m concerned for this show, moving forward, that there will be more of that. Don’t get me wrong, I think they handled it well, BUT, I am concerned for this show moving forward and how it deals with these issues.
Despite that, the show does seem strong and I’m intrigued as to where it will go. What’s The Man in Black’s role in all of this? How does this park work? And, what happens if the robots become self-aware? The show looks like it’s going to ask some interesting questions and I’m eager to see what those answers are.
Did you watch the first episode and if so, what did you think? Comment below to let me know!
Written by cwm on Oct 5, 2016
Old Bill was the "second host ever made". Who was the first, couldn't figure that out?
bring on Samurai World and Roman World!!!
CWM, you should go ahead and comment on the season 7 The Walking Dead opening episode already - there you have a case I'd say, even though it's just "violence".
"Female violence"? I say like Wynn. As the story is depicting an age when violence against was more common than now, I suppose you could expect some of it. But I have yet to see anything troublesome, really. Also HBO has put an age rating on the show, if you're concerned about children watching it.
Actually, I'm slightly concerned about your conservatism here. Why make films or tv at all if we can only show people teddy bears that are hugging.
“Public libraries should be open to all—except the censor." ~ October 29 1960, John F. Kennedy
i didnt notice any female violence. so im not sure what bullshit you are trying to stir up.
Very well put, Billo :)
"If you like sci-fi, Anthony Hopkins, robots/androids, westerns, special effects, corporate intrigue, desert scenery, sociopathic, rude and callous technicians, or a combination of any of the former combined with an interesting story than you might want to check it out."
And who doesn't ;)
It has been a long time since I watched the original Westworld so memory is a bit fuzzy on most of the movies details. I generally remember it being okay. It was pretty sanitized with a PG rating. Not unusual for a 1970's movie that wanted to appeal to a wider audience. The movie wasn't trying to be deep and insightful, (it was a sci-fi western after all). But, for anyone who got past the superficial layers of the movie it did raise some moral and ethical issues about killing and having sex with an android that, to the guests, were mostly indistinguishable from another human being.
When should entertainment be allowed to cross the boundaries of what polite society considers to be "fun" to fulfilling someone's darkest desires in the form of sadism, torture, rape, murder, and general mayhem? The answer to that is, at least based on the Westworld created in 1973 and the latest incarnation on HBO, sometime in the future.
I grew up reading Isaac Asimov's books where robots and androids were frequently the central characters (I, Robot as an example), so the idea that a robot or android could become self-aware wasn't something new. Artificial intelligence is occasionally in the media either being touted as a solution to what ails humanity or as an apocalyptic doom. The concept within the Westworld mythos takes a different approach. A.I. is neither; it is just another way to make money.
When I heard this remake was being released, I was a bit leery since most remakes rarely surpass the originals. I think this one already has. First, and a no-brainer, since the original came out in 1973, special effects are light years ahead of what they were then. However, there's not much need for CGI special effects. In the Westworld “park” you see what you would expect in most westerns, wooden buildings, dusty streets, horses, lots of deserts and mountains (and there are many great shots of these), and the people (whether human or android) look like people. Inside the command center, there's futuristic gadgetry, but it is not overdone. Second, the acting is excellent. Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris are great as always, but it is Evan Rachel Wood that was the standout in the pilot. There is a large cast and many good actors among them. Third, it is a series that looks like a movie. That is good as long as the series doesn't get bogged down. With so much more time to fill there is always a risk of the story losing focus and forward momentum.
The one thing that the 1973 Westworld movie could not do was go into much detail about much of anything, and after watching the first episode of the HBO series, it appears that drilling down into details is what this new incarnation will be doing. Someone watching this that had never heard of the movie Westworld might be a bit confused on some points. However, the first episode covered most of the basics while still leaving some questions unanswered for future episodes.
As far as "Female violence" is concerned, I think the most violent scene was around 59 minutes into the show when one of the female outlaws guns down about 11 men and women in less than a minute. That is the most Female violence I saw.
Violence against women? In our 2016 society, it is a bad thing, and it's unacceptable (but still occurs). In the old West when women were second class citizens according to political, religious, and societal customs, it happened. However, in this pilot HBO episode, the violence was gender neutral and violence against women (as opposed to violence against men) was not the focal point of the storyline. While violent, the show did not single out one gender over the other to pick on.
After only one episode it is tough to know if this is a remake or a revisioning of the original story. I am leaning towards the latter since HBO’s Man in Black is not a robot (at least I don't think he is...).
While there is western style violence (it is a sci-fi western after all), there is also the potential of a great story that will dig deeper into the how, what, and why that weren't entirely answered in the original movie. Plus, who knows, the original Westworld was part of Devos which was made up of Roman World, Medieval World, and Westworld. Maybe there's an opportunity to get a peek inside the other two "parks."
If you like sci-fi, Anthony Hopkins, robots/androids, westerns, special effects, corporate intrigue, desert scenery, sociopathic, rude and callous technicians, or a combination of any of the former combined with an interesting story than you might want to check it out.
The show started amazingly, hopefully they can keep this up, if so, we have a new classic :)
"Female violence"? There's much more "male violence" if you will, and the violence part in general is not nearly as rough as in many other series/movies. Furthermore it's a premise for the entire show. But seriously, try to name the scenes you find "bad", cwm. I've watched the first episode twice now, and can't really figure out which you're referring to.
But aye, I'm definitely going to watch the rest of this show as well. Was positively surprised by Sidse Babett Knudsen as Theresa Cullen on top of all the other great perfomances. Westworld can be very much recommended as it's both the most refreshing and one of the most thorough ones out there atm.