The future, as dreamt of in the golden age of science fiction during the fifties, sixties and seventies, has been something of a let down. Where is my jet pack? Where is my lunch in pill form? Most importantly, where is my robot companion? This last idea was explored in Michael Crichton’s cult 1973 sci-fi classic Westworld, which envisioned a robotic theme park where wealthy tourists could interact with sophisticated mechanical characters in a variety of different ‘worlds’. Brilliant.

But unfortunately a glitch somewhere meant things went a bit wrong and the robots ended up killing all the tourists. Woops. Essentially the film is Jurassic Park but with robots instead of dinosaurs. Nobody knows why the robots decided to start killing people. They just did, okay?

The 1976 sequel Futureworld, just released by Optimum Entertainment, picks up where Westworld left off. A couple of years after the tragic mechanical massacre the ubiquitous robot creators, the Delos Corporation, are – rather implausibly – still in business, with four popular ‘worlds’ in operation: Medievalworld, Romanworld, Spaworld and, of course, Futureworld, which replaces the now defunct Westworld. Basically imagine The Crystal Maze populated with bosom-heaving Scarlett Johansson-bots and you’re halfway there.

On the surface everything seems fine. People continue to arrive and enjoy the pleasures Delos has to offer, be it fighting android gladiators, slaloming down Martian ski slopes, or seducing comely robotic maidens. To be honest, most people seem to really be there for the seducing of the maidens. And astronauts. And Roman chicks. According to one Futureworld punter, “Once you had sex with a robot, you won’t ever want anything else!” The implications of this are quite interesting. While ostensibly billed as an adventure holiday park, is there any doubt that in reality the Delos experience would be anything other than a synthetic brothel for millionaires?

Anyway, a couple of media types – paranoid paper journo Chuck (Peter Fonda) and glamorous TV presenter Tracy (Blythe Danner) – suspect something untoward may be happening with the suspicious Delos group and get themselves invited by the corporation to visit the site so they can snoop around. Without really giving anything away – because, let’s face it, if they found nothing it would be a bit rubbish – the curious duo uncover evidence of a shocking conspiracy behind Delos’ benign veneer that nods very specifically in the direction of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Stepford Wives.

While in many ways a more ambitious effort than its predecessor, Furtureworld lacks the simple, high-concept premise – theme park robots go bad and kill everyone! – that made Westworld such fun. Also, while the original carried some genuinely chilling imagery in the form of a malfunctioning Yul Brynner as a soulless, homicidal cowboy, Futureworld lacks anything comparable.

Futureworld is an acceptable sequel that falls short of its predecessor but is still an interesting, enjoyable watch, and a must for fans of kitsch seventies classics like Death Race 2000 and The Warriors. All these movies are ripe for big-budget Hollywood remakes, and a re-imagining of Westworld has been scheduled for release in cinemas later this year.

Words > Andrew Tipp