Futureworld (1976)

Information

Siskoid
Westworld is such an enduring 1970s SF icon, everyone tends to dismiss and ignore its sequel, Futureworld. Nevertheless, it's got a pretty strong cast, with Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner playing dueling journalists invited to tour the new, refurbished, hopefully non-lethal theme park. Danner is especially fun to watch. While the "ooh! aah!" discovering ____World is out of the first film, it really has its own story to tell. Westworld was a disaster movie that turned slasher. This one is a detective story and a paranoid thriller actually more Stepford Wives than what the original offered. That said, it's got problems keeping its rating to merely watchable. First, it oversells Yul Yul Brynner's participation - that he shot any new scenes at all is total fan service and surplus to requirements. Second, it kind of ends on an extended shoot-out starring Fonda, which I find boring and interminable. Danner has her own action climax and it's shorter, cooler, and better shot (pun not intended). But for what it is, a sequel that uses the same world without retreading every little plot point, it was pretty watchable. 2 years 11 months ago