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Futureworld
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Shout! Factory Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (22nd June 2013). |
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The Film
 In general, sequels to a successful film will go one of two ways – they get bigger, or they get smaller. I know that might seem obvious, but by and large when a nice return is made on the initial investment the producers of the next film will either massively up the stakes, or they’ll try to tone it down, cut some corners (i.e. the budget), and hope audiences will still come back anyway. The latter is more or less the concept behind “Futureworld” (1976), the sequel to 1973’s well-received futuristic theme park disaster film “Westworld”. That film was a fantasy-turned-nightmare adventure, where you weren’t sure who you could trust outside of our main characters. And Yul Brynner’s memorable Gunslinger was every bit as indefatigable and relentless as the Terminator. I think it holds up wonderfully, unlike many other retro-future sci-fi flicks of the 70's. But when we come to “Futureworld”, made a mere three years later, it’s clear that the producers tried to do something a little different. It’s admirable, but when you strip away the aesthetic value and robotic shenanigans what’s left is a film about hard journalism. I guess that’s in keeping with the trend of political spy films and investigative reporting that was a popular theme at the time. Don’t get me wrong here, “Futureworld” isn’t a bad movie; it’s just not a very exciting one, either. After the debacle at Westworld, the parent company, Delos, is ready to re-open their parks thanks to a costly overhaul of their robotics systems. In an effort to quell public concerns reporter Chuck Browning (Peter Fonda) and TV newswoman Tracy Ballard (Blythe Danner) are invited to the park to cover the festivities. Just before they embark, Chuck receives an urgent message from a dying man, warning him of Delos’ intentions. Like a mouse to cheese, Chuck starts to snoop around behind the scenes at Delos almost as soon as he arrives. He’s convinced that the higher-ups at the company are hiding something, despite them offering him total transparency in his reporting and giving him access to many off limits areas. But as you’d expect, Chuck’s suspicions eventually lead him to discover a plot to clone world leaders and guests, including Chuck and Tracy themselves. With the help of a weary mechanic, Harry (Stuart Margolin), they’ve got to escape from Futureworld and report their findings before the team of scientists at Delos has them killed and replaced by robotic clones! Despite how unfavorable some of the above comments are, “Futureworld” isn’t a bad movie. Sure, it’s plenty slow in terms of getting to exactly what the whole “nefarious plot” is, but fans of these films will just enjoy the ride. There’s a certain kind of magic that exists in the sci-fi films of the 1970's; they share a common visual style, a retro aesthetic that is evident in everything from the hairstyles to the architecture to the wallpaper right on down to common things like signage and font. It’s like watching a time capsule that seems so representative of a specific period. That might not seem like much, but you’ve got to have something to go on because if you think about the on-screen action too much you’ll start to realize there isn’t a whole lot of it. Like I said, this is really a movie about hard journalism. In “Westworld”, we had the wonder and excitement of entering this fantasy world with our main characters, wondering which robots will go haywire and when. And furthermore, how are they going to get out of there? Here, we’re with two reporters who know about Delos and think they’re still up to no good, so they spend all of their (read: our) time trying to figure it out. There’s really no sense of wonder – we’ve seen all of this before. Ok, so now the controls are manned by robots, but is that supposed to be a shock? The film acts like it is. There aren’t any real revelations until we’re deep in the movie and, honestly, once they do start getting into substantial plot territory it’s so ridiculous that I almost with they’d just kept it ambiguous until the credits rolled. And there’s zero tension. It’s like they didn’t even try to match the intensity produced by Brynner’s Gunslinger in any way. Speaking of which, do you see how Yul Brynner has a prominent billing position? Box around his name, looking all fancy and important. Well, he’s in the movie for a couple of minutes, somewhere near the end, and it’s in a dream sequence. And it’s also terrible. I don’t understand why they even bothered. His inclusion is an insult to the original character and wholly unnecessary. I admit it was great to see him, just not like that. He deserves better.
Video
The 1.85:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded image isn’t likely to bowl anyone over, but it does evoke that gritty, grain-heavy aesthetic of the late 70's pictures that some film fans just love. I am one of them. There’s a moderate layer of grain that adds to the filmic appearance. This isn’t a clean, shiny picture. It lacks depth and there’s a lack of fine detail that leaves the image looks a little rough. The print looks to be a bit worn, leaving some spots looking faded. Black levels do the job well enough, but occasionally succumb to looking hazy. I have no means to compare this to the old MGM VOD DVD, but I can likely assume there is an appreciable upgrade in resolution and color reproduction. I like my 70's films to look like they would’ve back in an old theater many moons ago, and this disc certainly holds true to that kind of image.
Audio
I didn’t expect a whole lot out of the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track. And, as expected, I didn’t get much other than a perfectly serviceable track that sounds endemic to the period. You’ve likely heard at least a few simple 70's scores on Blu-ray; this is more of that. It’s mostly a clean track free from hiss, pops, and crackling. Dialogue is centered and well-balanced. The bass has a minimal response. I can’t complain about the lack of a more “full” audio experience because, honestly, this fits the production of the film just fine. It ain’t exactly action-heavy. Subtitles are included in English.
Extras
There isn’t a ton to get excited about down here in the extras department. It’s mostly just promotional stuff, really. A theatrical trailer, a couple of radio spots, and an image gallery with some cool ephemeral items covers it. The film’s theatrical trailer (1080p) runs for 2 minutes and 49 seconds. Two radio spots are included, running for a total of 1 minute and 6 seconds. Finally, the still gallery (1080p) is a bit mislabeled, since it isn’t actually still from the film (as I suspected); it’s got storyboards, concept art, and domestic & international posters. It runs as a brief slide show for 57 seconds.
Packaging
The single disc comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keep case. Dig on that classic cover art, and there’s also a nice case-length shot of Brynner adorning the inside. As always, Shout! does things right.
Overall
While this is a considerably slow film in comparison to its predecessor, fans of 70's sci-fi tech flicks will surely find something to enjoy here. It lumbers about for most of the running time, but the retro visuals and Blythe Danner’s incredible beauty make it an easy viewing.
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