DVD review (region 2)
Directed by Michael Crichton
Starring Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin
Release date Out now

Peter (Benjamin) and John (Brolin) head out to state-of-the-art theme park Westworld, where the Wild West is perfectly recreated with robot bartenders, robot gunslingers and robot prostitutes. But then the robots malfunction - including one especially menacing gunslinger (Brynner)…

An obvious influence on both The Terminator and Crichton’s later Jurassic Park, Westworld remains a lean and gripping sci-fi thriller 35 years after it first chilled audiences.

From Coma to Jurassic Park, Crichton’s best work has often simultaneously celebrated and cautioned against the dangers of science, and with Westworld he depicts a slick corporation that exploits cutting-edge technology in order for clients to live out their wildest fantasies - with deadly results. But the movie is almost like a theme park ride itself - beginning gently, descending into terror, and all within the safe confines of your own home!

Crichton builds up the tension magnificently from the playful early scenes to the eventual robot-on-the-rampage stalkathon; it seems a pity he gave up his directing ambitions after just a handful of movies (though subsequent efforts never topped this).

1970s cinema staples Richard Benjamin and James Brolin are endearing as the businessmen forced to adopt the violent practices of the Wild West as events spiral out of control. But the film belongs to Yul Brynner as the unforgettable killing machine, and the story takes delight in twisting his Magnificent Seven image. James Skipp

VERDICT: 9/10
Terrific robo-chiller with Brynner at his taciturn best.