Futureworld — Futureworld( UHD/ Blu Ray)
From the mid-1970s, Futureworld was the sequel to one of the key sci-fi/ action films of the decade, Westworld. It’s set two years after the first film, where the park has reopened, and thinking-on-his-feet newspaper journalist ( Peter Fonda) and popular TV anchorwoman (Blythe Danner) are seemingly given no bars held access to the back & front of the park. The film is largely a conspiratorial / investigation thriller, with touches of sci-fi, light comedy, and action, but it has an intriguing/ eventful unfold.
From Arrow Video, both in the UK & Stateside, is a reissue of the film, coming as either a UHD or Blu-ray. It features a new HD scan of the picture, a new commentary track, and a few new/ archive extras.
Futureworld appeared in the year 1976, three years after the release of Westworld; it featured no returning cast aside from a brief scene with Yul Brynner as the cold-eyed, gunslinging robot from the first film. It was directed by Chicago-born Richard T. Heffron- who, between the 70s and mid-90s, had forty-one credits to his name; many of these were either TV movie or TV series credits, but he did have six feature credits- the other five being cop action/ drama Newman's Law (1974), tough-edged thriller Trackdown (1976), country music-focused comedy drama OutlawBlues(1977), physical comedy/ romantic drama Foolin' Around ( 1980), and crime thriller I, the Jury (1982).
The film opens showing us Ron Thurlow (Jim Antonio) winning the big prize on a game show- it takes in a big cheque and a holiday at the Delos Corporation theme park, which takes in the following- Spaworld ("where old age and pain have been eliminated"), Medievalworld, Romanworld and Futureworld. These, like the worlds in the first film, are all manned by realistic-looking humanoid robots.
Also invited along to get full front stage/ back stage accesses are newspaper reporter Chuck Browning(Fonda)- who broke the story about the Westworld killings. And TV anchorwoman Tracy Ballard (Danner)- initially, she wasn't too keen on going with Chuck- also on their flight to the park are leaders/ spokesman from around the world.
Ron, Chuck, and Tracy all go into Futureworld, which starts with them seemingly being launched up to a space station, where they can play holographic chess, ski on Mars, etc. The Ron character works as a cheerful/ if randy, everyman, adding light touches of humour to the first quarter of the film, though sadly at one point he’s just dropped/ forgotten- as the film's focus purely goes on to the two journalists.
Tracy tries to enjoy the whole experience, but Ron is doubtful/ cynical and starts digging…and here I leave my plot outline. I’ll just say there’s an intriguing mystery running through the whole thing, and in the last quarter there are some action/ chase elements brought into the mix.
The film runs at one hour and forty-seven minutes, largely remaining engaging throughout. Both Fonda and Danner have great chemistry, playing their roles well. Also worth a mention are John P. Ryan as the cold-eyed/ creepy doctor in charge of the back of the theme park, and Stuart Margolin as a long-term worker at the park who may have answers.
Futureworld is a decent sequel- yes, the action elements are played down, with conspiratorial/ behind the scenes thriller. There is a good feeling of building intriguing/ tension, with some neat ideas/ concepts- such as a dream recording machine.
The release offers up a new HD scan of the film- this is full of bold colours and generally excellent picture definition. With a good/ even balance between the dialogue and score.
On the new extras side, we get two things- first is an audio commentary by filmmaker and film historian Daniel Kremer; he did the track for Arrow’s release of Westworld, and does a good job here again- with a mix of information & interesting observations. He starts by pointing out details in the game show pre-credits, as well as giving brief bios of the two actors. He talks about the high-concept credits and touches on the film score, which he says is much more formally harmonic compared to the first film's score. He discusses the original script for the picture, which was completed a year after Westworld, and it was fairly different from the film we now have- for one thing, it saw the return of Richard Benjamin from the first film. We find out the film had triple the budget of Westworld, and that big chunks of the movie were shot at NASA in Houston. Later on, he talks about how the film has a great cast, and that the film has a different visual feel from the first film. We get reviews from critics of the time, and much more. Well worth a play track. The other new extra is Future Present ( 23.29), an interview with producer Paul N. Lazarus III
On the archive side we have: NASA: Science Fact and Fiction (7.34), a 1976 behind-the-scenes short film chronicling filming at the Johnson Space Center, presented in high definition for the first time on home video. Theatrical trailer, TV and radio spots, and Image gallery.
It’s great to see Futureworld getting the Arrow treatment, and if you enjoy more conspiratorial sci-fi, it’s a must. With the release taking in a great HD scan and interesting extras.