Westworld: What does the original 1973 film tell us about the series?

Westworld fans know the story didn’t start with the HBO series, but in fact, with the original film back in 1973.

Westworld is a story four decades in the making dating back to the release of the original 1973 film. Based on Michael Crichton’s novel by the same name, Westworld, in both the movie and series, focuses on an immersive theme park full of robots. Well, that’s the very basic description of it, anyway.

Wealthy guests can flock to the Delos Parks to go buck wild and let loose, and live out whatever fantasies they have. In the HBO series, this goes as far as murder, rape, and everything in between. The foundation of both the movie and show is built on the assumption that a robot revolution will awaken the hosts and cause them to lash out. They’ve been abused, killed, hurt, and sexually assaulted, and when they wake up there will be hell to pay.

Unlike the Westworld film, which focuses more on the actual setting of the story, the series spends a lot of time on the characters. We don’t know as much about the characters from the film as we do about the characters from the show. The 1973 film also introduces viewers to Roman World and Medieval World–both of which we have not seen yet on the show.

Whether or not they’ll make an appearance is yet to be seen, but we have seen Shogun World and Raj World! The series premiere mimics the 1973 film fairly closely with Teddy on a train going into the park. Of course, we soon find out he’s a robot and that changes the course of the series as we know it.

Another similarity between the film and the show is the Man in Black–well, sort of. In 1973, Yul Brynner played the Gunslinger–the robot villain who also wears a black hat. However, in the HBO series, the Nolans reimagined this character as Ed Harris’ Man in Black. Up until now, we presume the MiB is a human and not a host in the series–but after that season 2 finale, who knows.

While the movie ended with the humans merging victorious over the robots, something tells us the Westworld series is going to be the other way around.

Share your thoughts about the 1973 film versus the HBO series below in the comments or on our Twitter, @BeyondWestworld.