Revisiting FUTUREWORLD in 4k

FUTUREWORLD (4K UHD)

1976 / 108 min

Arrow Video

Review by Mr. Paws😾

This ol’ man seems to remember Futureworld being a lot cooler when he saw it in a theater. Granted, he was a middle schooler who not-only loved Yul Brynner’s Westworld badassery, he had just recently seen Peter Fonda put the pedal to the metal in Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, so maybe there was some residual antihero worship going on.

While time can be cruel to a lot of films (especially sci-fi films), I still get a nostalgic kick out of such antiquated epics as Logan’s Run, Rollerball, and of course, the original Westworld. They may be products of their decade, but viewed in that context, there’s still a lot to love, both narratively and aesthetically. Revisiting Futureworld with adult eyes, I now realize it was never very good in the first place. 

Taking place a few years after the disaster at Westworld, Delos is back in business with a bigger, better resort with four individual parks, including the titular playground. To boost the company’s tarnished image, they invite reporters Chuck Browning (Fonda) and Tracy Ballard (Blythe Danner) hoping to generate good publicity from their reviews. Fortunately for the guests, the robots never turn homicidal this time around. But unfortunately for Chuck, Tracy and a couple of world leaders who were also invited, Delos has something more sinister in store for them. 

While I suppose Futureworld deserves an attaboy for not simply being another rampaging robot rehash, the overall plot is kinda ridiculous. Sure, Westworld was ridiculous too, but still managed to be great, violent fun. But not only is this story dull and slow (with only a few brief bursts of low-wattage action), the shocking discovery of Delos’ agenda is underwhelming. Making things worse is the setting. Despite the premise, we see very little of the park itself. Most of the story takes place in tunnels, hotel lobbies, control rooms and what looks like the bowels of a power plant. 

"You stole that jacket from an English teacher, didn't you?"

Some interesting computer graphics notwithstanding, Futureworld is visually drab, similar to a TV movie-of-week from the same era. With hindsight, I guess that’s not too surprising, since many of those involved behind the scenes worked primarily in television. Even with a pretty decent 4K restoration, it still looks and feels smaller, cheaper and more archaic than the original. As for Brynner…back in the day, I was disappointed that his return was basically a gratuitous cameo and the silliest part of the film. Today, the scene is just a sad reminder of what the film could have been if American-International (taking over for MGM) had put a bit more creative effort into it.

But hey, that's just me. Though I doubt there are too many ol’ geezers out there who seriously believe Futureworld holds a candle to the original, some might consider it a nostalgic blast from the past. For them - or completists who recently grabbed Arrow’s excellent 4K release of Westworld - this might be worth picking up. Though considerably lighter on bonus features and physical goodies, the picture and sound quality is solid.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review. 

FUTURE PRESENT is a new interview with producer Paul N. Lazarus III, who admits the film didn’t end up being all that great.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By filmmaker/historian Daniel Kremer.

FEATURETTE - NASA: Science Fact and Fiction is an archival behind-the-scenes short.

TRAILER, TV & RADIO SPOTS

IMAGE GALLERY