Westworld - Season 1 (DVD)

The famous and American writer Michael Chrichton (Jurassic Park) wrote and directed the Westworld movie in the early seventies. In a state-of-the-art theme park, guests were able to do pretty much anything they wanted to with lifelike robots. In the dark ages, during the peak of the Roman Empire or even in the Wild West, everyone could be the invincible hero. The movie turned Crichton into a star and it was a major hit in the theatres. It cost slightly over one million dollars to create and brought in over ten million dollars in the box office. It was an original and revolutionary movie, where new digital techniques were used and one of the first references to computer viruses was made. It was appropriate that Jonathan Nolan (Person of Interest) and J.J. abrams (Star Trek and Star Wars) were tasked by HBO to turn the movie into a TV series.

In the new version, Westworld is still a state-of-the-art theme park. This time it is mainly set in the Wild West, with beautiful towns and landscapes. The further away the guests wander from the main storyline, the more interesting and exciting it gets. Of course it has always been the idea that the guests can never be beaten by the robots (known as 'hosts'). Westworld is the property of a large conglomerate, Delos. One of the creators of the park, Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs), still works there and is responsible for various old and new storylines. He does that alongside the head of programming, Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright, Boardwalk Empire), and they try to keep the logic and stories intact, whereas Delos wants to focus on profitability.



The series looks amazing, the scenes of various valleys and mountains are clearly inspired by the classic Westerns made by John Ford. The creators manage to connect these classic pictures to a modern setting, such as the repair rooms for the robots and the arrival room for the guests. The writers take their time to build the story. As a viewer, you are then slowly drawn into the storyline. During the first couple of episodes you're constantly wondering if you're watching an employee of the park, a guest or a robot. This is something the writers manage to keep up until the very last episode. Besides that, the show revolves around whether or not fully developed AI (artificial intelligence) is able to feel things or remember events.

The acting in the show is very good. Besides the previously mentioned actors, there is also the role of Ed Harris as the 'Man in Black' and Thandie Newton (Line of Duty, ER) who portrays the role of the madam of Sweetwater. Sidse Babett Knudsen (Borgen) also has a big role as Theresa Cullen, the representative of Delos who is tasked with keeping an eye on what is going on in the park. I didn't think she was as convincing as the other characters. I was, however, much charmed by Evan Rachel Wood (Once and Again) who stars as Dolores Abernathy, the daughter of a rancher. She is also a robot of the first generation, who is plagued by memories of all the guests that have come and gone. Westworld makes us wonder whether or not mankind is inherently bad and if the robots actually possess more humanity than the humans.

In my opinion Westworld is a great show and one I'd definitely recommend.

In my opinion Westworld is a great show and one I'd definitely recommend. The Blu-ray fits in perfectly. It includes a nice guide for all new employees of Delos and extra information about all the episodes. The disk also contains a couple of documentaries about the first couple of weeks of shooting and how the story was created. The intro theme of the show is also amazing, and on this disk a fifteen minute documentary is shown, displaying exactly how it's made. The longest bonus feature is also the best, it's known as 'Crafting the Narrative' and here the writers of the show provide us with details regarding the story of the entire season.