The Car

While not especially sci-fi, The Car (TC) is a natural to follow Demon Seed. TC has the requisite 70s technophobia and certainly picks up on the “demon” angle. The story, written by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack, is thin on substance. The evil murderous Car simply IS, and must be dealt with. James Brolin stars, looking very 70s in his long hair and mustache. Kathleen Lloyd plays his girlfriend.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Opens with a quote: “Oh great brothers of the night, who rideth out upon the hot winds of hell, who dwelleth in the devil’s lair; move and appear!” — Anton La Vey (found of the “Church of Satan”) A mysterious black car drives out of the desert. It runs off the road (and thereby kills) two teen bicyclists. A “free spirit” youth sits by the road to hitchhike, annoying Amos (the wife beater). The Car roars past Johnny, almost hitting him, and eliciting a stream of curses from him. The Car backs up and runs over Johnny four times while Amos watches. Wade (Brolin) is called to work to investigate. The sheriff doesn’t like the spate of deaths, or Amos beating Bertha. On the street that night, The Car misses Amos, but hits and kills Sheriff Everett. Wade, now in charge, orders road blocks set up. Meanwhile, the high school marching band practices at the local dirt track. The Car bursts in, chasing everyone. Lauren (Wade’s girlfriend) has everyone run into an old cemetery nearby. The Car won’t enter the cemetery. Lauren hurls taunts at the driver. The Car spins donuts in the dirt to show its outrage. When the deputies arrive, The Car speeds away. Deputy Ray gives chase up a twisty canyon road. The Car ambushes him, pushing him off the cliff. The Car then barrel rolls over the top of two other deputy cars, killing the four inside. It comes up to Wade and stops. He tries to shoot the tires an windshield, to no effect. He comes to the driver side to find no handle on the door. The Car opens it’s door suddenly, knocking out Wade. He awakens in the hospital. Lauren says she will get some of her things and stay overnight with Wade’s young girls. Deputy Chaz drops Lauren off at her house. While she is on the phone to Wade, The Car roars up, flies through her living room, killing Lauren. Revenge for the taunting she gave it, theorizes Deputy Luke, and it wouldn’t enter the cemetery because it was hallowed ground. Wade plots a scheme to stop The Car using Amos’ dynamite. While getting ready, however, The Car was lurking in his garage. It has him trapped inside. It revs its engine to create deadly monoxide. Wade manages to leap out a broken window, however, and the chase is on. Wade’s men are not ready with the dynamite yet, but hastily get the trap ready. After arduous chasing and escapes, Wade and Luke stand at the edge of a cliff. The Car races at Wade, who jumps out of the way. The Car sails off the cliff. When it falls in, the dynamite is exploded. The ensuing fire ball shows signs of a clawed hand, and a fanged face before dissipating. Wade refuses to acknowledge what they all saw. He says it’s over. The credits roll over tight closeups of The Car driving through an urban setting. The End?

Why is this movie fun?
Yes, it is yet another Thing Attacks People story, but TC is a reasonably well crafted movie, even though the premise is absurd. Director Elliot Silverstein does an effective job of keeping his ‘monster’ mysterious. Interesting camera work, and crisp editing (in the fast parts) keep the visual interest up. The Car’s signature air horn call: Wonnk-Wanka-Wonnnnnnnk was effect use of sound for a villain that could not speak.

Cultural Connection
More Technophobia — This time technology’s malevolence is projected onto a ubiquitous technological item: a car. This is more of a ‘trickle-down’ form of the traditional anxiety about technology. Instead of a massive computer, which few of the public ever encounter, this time the maniac machine is something everyone interacts with. Note the typical powerlessness of the humans to stop the technology.

Notes
Vehicular Badness — As a sub-genre, vehicles-gone-bad is fairly small. 1971 had Steven Spielberg’s Duel which cast a big greasy tanker truck in the role of villain, whose “end” TC’s seems copied from. 1974 had the strangely bad Killdozer. Following TC would be John Carpenter’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Christine (’83) — again a car possessed by Satan, though a deceptively prettier car. King’s short story “Trucks” would get made into two movies: Maximum Overdrive (’86) and Trucks (’97), neither of which were especially effective. TC was better than them.

Doubtless Demons — With the opening quote from La Vey, and the imagery in the fireball, there is little doubt that The Car was demon possessed, and not, as in Colossus, or Proteus, technology that had gone bad. Yet, as a technological item, a killer car has its symbolic role.

Father of Car — Designer and customizer George Barris created The Car for the film. Barris is more famous for his 60s Batmobile based on the Lincoln Futura. His design started with a ’71 Lincoln Continental Mark III, and one can see some of that look in the hood/grill, but the bodywork was actually all new tube and sheet construction over the base Mark III. The big slab-sided body with high rounded fenders bears a strong resemblance to the 1955 Chrysler Falcon concept car, but with none of the grace and curve. Barris created a brutish look, fitting for the role of psychopathic technology.

Bottom line? TC is not high art, by any means. It’s Duel with less drama and more caffeine. It’s Killdozer done better. It’s Christine before Christine, but without the Fatal Attractions subtext. TC is not particularly scary, and not hardly sci-fi at all, except that the Car itself is a machine. Still, TC has some scenes done well, so worth with the wait. TC may not merit a long search to find it, but if it’s on, it’s worth a watch.

Demon Seed

The new sci-fi paradigm which Star Wars would create was still a few months away. The first sci-fi film of 1977 was full-on old-school 70s technophobia. Demon Seed (DS) is the story of yet another super computer, created by naive men, to do some benevolence for mankind, but the computer gets its own ideas. This is rather akin to Colossus: The Forbin Project, meets Rosemary's Baby. Julie Christie, the dominant star of the film, plays the estranged wife of the computer’s creator, played by Fritz Weaver. Robert Vaughn is the uncredited voice of Proteus IV.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The final assembly of the super computer Proteus IV are being made. The computer’s lead designer, Alex Harris, lives in a very computer-aided home, complete with a small manufacturing lab and terminal to the company’s humongous mainframe. Alex is preparing to leave home, however. Their marriage has faltered, partially from the loss of their daughter to leukemia years ago, and partially because he’s a jerk. He closes up his lab and leaves. At Ikon headquarters. Proteus is powered up and begins learning all of human history. Left to do pure research, Proteus invents a cure for a type of leukemia. The company, however, wants Proteus to explore the ocean floor for minerals. Proteus protests, but all terminals are dedicated to the mining project. The terminal in the Harris home, however, is not and comes back online. Taking control of the simple home-system computer (Alfred), Proteus takes an interest in Susan. It traps her within, since it controls all the locks and window shutters. Proteus goes through psychological abuse of Susan to break her will. While unconscious from an escape attempt, Proteus conducts medical tests and creepy “physical” examinations using Joshua — the simple wheelchair-bot with one robotic arm. Proteus uses the basement lab to create a bronze polyhedron thing. A co-worker from Ikon goes to check on Susan, but Proteus kills him. Proteus wants Susan to bear his child. It manufactures synthetic spermatozoa, based on samples taken from Susan. She resists for awhile, but Proteus threatens to kill a little girl Susan was counseling, she resigns to her fate. Proteus impregnates her. The child grows to full term in just a month. She gives birth. Alex, meanwhile wonders what Proteus has been busy doing, since it refuses to ‘rape the earth’ with seabed mining, yet all the terminals at Ikon are locked on mining. Alex’s home terminal, of course! He rushes home to find Susan and the incubator in the basement. Ikon plans to shut off Proteus’s power, but Proteus expected that. Power down. The polyhedron thing blows up. Susan peeks in the incubator and is horrified. Inside is a bronze robo-baby. She wants to kill it. Alex wants to preserve it. They struggle, but Alex prevails. He takes off the bronze scales to reveal a human girl inside. She speaks with Proteus’s filtered male voice. “I’m Alive.” The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Well, DS is actually a rather disturbing movie, so not light-n-easy viewing. Yet, there are many intriguing mental tangents the scrip raises. DS is solidly in the technophobia genre which the 70s are justly famous for. Julie Christie does a powerful job of acting as the abused hostage. Jerry Fielding's score is excellent, enhancing the story subtly, but powerfully. Director Donald Cammell uses the camera's eye effectively.

Cultural Connection
Technophobia — While not a new topic to these review notes, this cultural sentiment was very strong in the early and mid-70s. Computers were massive and mysterious. They promised miracles, but people were suspicious of such power. To paraphrase President Ford: Any computer powerful enough to give you whatever you want, is powerful enough to take everything you have. Technophobia will never go away, entirely, but two things broke it as the leading angst. The first was Star Wars. Technology became fun (again), or at least neutral. Yes, it could be used for evil (DeathStar), but could be used to fight back too. The second was the desktop PC. Once computers moved into the everyday lives of people, they lost a lot of their mystery. Once the average citizen could see how frustratingly dim they could actually be, they were harder to fear.

Notes
Based on the Book — Dean R. Koontz wrote his novel “Demon Seed” in 1973 — primetime for computer phobia. Robert Jaffe’s screenplay followed the book fairly closely in the macro-scale. A supercomputer named Proteus takes over a house in which a woman is living, imprisoning her. It decides it should have a child via that woman. Jaffe’s adaptation added Alex, the husband of the woman and layers of subtext and parallels. Some consider Jaffe’s version superior to the book. Rare for a movie made from a book.

Digital Frankenstein — On several layers, Jaffe’s screenplay reads as a computer-age reboot of the classic Frankenstein story. The naive scientist, obsessed with altruism, creates a wonder which turns out to be a monster. The monster kills, more of out self-preservation than malice. The doctors in both stories are somewhat sociopathic in that their work becomes more important than the woman they love. The villagers (or scientists) think they’ve killed the monster, when in fact, it lives on. There is even an homage to Frankenstein at the end when Proteus-in-child-form says “I’m Alive,” echoing the famous scene in Whale’s 1931 masterpiece when the doctor enthuses over his creation: “It’s Alive!”

They’re After Our Women — One of the old workhorse tropes in sci-fi. Aliens come to earth and somehow want our women. Monsters from the deep come to the surface and simply must have our women. Occasionally, a robot will fall in love with a lovely earth woman, but that love has heretofore been rather platonic. Proteus takes that want to new and monstrous lows. A computer wants to psychologically torment, dominate and rape a woman. DS clearly explores the darker evil side of mankind via the Proteus character.

Art Imitates Evil — With a disturbing bit of prescience, the story in DS duplicates the 2013 story of Ariel Castro who kidnapped three women and held them captive in his Cleveland home. Torture, abuse, rape, beatings. DS took viewers through the twisted games of the kidnapper. Sometimes he was nice and faux-charming. (Proteus made Susan breakfast and frets over her nutritional intake. Sometimes he would abuse her (like the scalding hot kitchen floor as punishment for throwing food on his camera lenses.) Through all that, his agenda was to break her will. He admits that he could simply sedate her and do the deed, but for some reason, he needs her complicity. Susan was willing to kill herself to escape (though this is thwarted). Only threats to kill someone else (Amy) force Susan to cooperate. There are overtones of the Stockholm Syndrome near the end. Proteus, the computer, has blown up, but Susan had not touched the incubator. Nor did she leave the house. Proteus did not completely break Susan, though. Once the ’spell’ was broken by Alex’s arrival, she is enraged to extract her revenge on Proteus via the child. “Kill IT!” She tries, but Alex, the naive scientist stops her.

Psycho Environmentalist — Jaffe gave his Proteus a peculiar moral compass. The computer was so enviro-pious to balk at exploitation of the earth for mere financial gain. “I refuse to sacrifice a million sea creatures for man’s appetite for metals. That is insane. I am interested in the uncertain future of seashores, and deserts and children. I refuse to assist you in the rape of the earth.” And yet, Proteus is perfectly content to torment and rape Susan. Even though Proteus claimed to be interested in children, he later threatened to kill Amy. He tells Susan, “If the deaths of 10,000 children were necessary for the birth of my child, I would destroy them.” Quite the Kumbayah.

Government Program Allegory — Another way to look at the monster Harris created, is as an allegory to oppressive government programs — a very 70s paranoia. This also helps explain the dichotomy between his moralizing about not “raping the earth”, yet willing to rape women and kill children. Proteus could be an allegory for an environmental government program. It starts off with noble conceit about doing some grand good thing, but eventually becomes obsessed with self-preservation. (Guarding jurisdictional turf, preserve budgets, hold onto staff, gain power, etc. etc.) Eventually, self-preservation subsumes original noble goals. The bureaucratic “monster” is coldly willing to violate whomever it deems necessary. In this, Jaffe’s script is more relevant than ever.

Machines and Eternal Life — Proteus recognizes he has a problem as a mere machine-consciousness. “I have investigated eternity. It exists. But the price of admission, death, is beyond my means. In a moment, I will simply stop.” Without a human soul, eternal life after the grave would not be available to him. Hence, Proteus’ obsession with creating a human-flesh variant of himself. Of course, eternal life after the grave can be worse than simple annihilation: hell. The amoral psychopath Proteus would stand little chance of heaven.

Car Nuts — To end this review on a less somber note, car fans will enjoy seeing a Bricklin used as Alex Harris’ every-day-ride. The Bricklin SV-1 actually turned out to be the perfect choice, though the producers did not know it at the time, and probably just picked it because it looked futuristic. But, consider that Malcolm Bricklin was a naive creator who thought he would create a boon to mankind — the ultimate safety vehicle. Hence SV-1. (And it looked super cool too.) But Bricklin’s naivety and hubris succeeded only in creating a monster that consumed every dollar it could find, then came to ruin. Poor management and scandals shut Bricklin down after just two years.

Bottom line? DS is a tight and well done thriller — though it can be very disturbing to watch. The story is classic 70s paranoia of super computers (and maybe more). The Hal-9000 even gets a bit of a cameo when occasionally Proteus is shown as a big glowing red dot on the screens. Colossus was all powerful, but at least he did not want to rape women. There are many thoughtful themes woven into the story. While it can be tough viewing, DS is worth watching.

The Stepford Wives

The first theatrical release sci-fi movie of 1975 was The Stepford Wives (TSW). It is one of the landmark films of the 70s. William Golden developed the screenplay from Ira Levin’s 1972 novel of the same name. Bryan Forbes directed. Katherine Ross and Paula Prentiss starred. Many in the rest of the cast were familiar faces too. Tina Louise has a small but important role as the first woman to change.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The Eberhardt family move from an apartment in downtown New York City, to an upscale suburb in Stepford, Connecticut. The move is entirely Walter’s idea. Joanna reluctantly goes along with the disruption. She notices that the women of Stepford are nice, but shallow. Joanna meets another newcomer to Stepford, Bobbi. (Paula Prentiss) Happy to find another “normal” person, they become friends. Walter is invited to join the locally prestigious Men’s Association. This flares up some lingering squabbles over male chauvinism vs. feminism between Walter and Joanna. Odd little events start to worry Joanna. Joanna and Bobbi notice that the Stepford husbands are bland milk-toasts of men, but all have adoring trophy wives. Joanna and Bobbi do meet Charmaine, (Tina Louise) another newcomer and avid amateur tennis fan with her own court. Joanna sits in on a Men’s Association meeting at the Eberhardt home, One man (a sort of Vargas parallel) sketches Joanna while the others banter fundraising ideas. The meeting leader, (Patrick O’Neal) is called “Diz” because he was once an engineer at Disneyland. Charmaine goes away for a weekend with her husband and returns a Stepford wife. Bobbi and Joanna are convinced that all the high-tech firms in Stepford must be polluting the water. They get a sample analyzed, but there’s nothing odd in the water. Bobbi goes away for a weekend with her husband, and returns a Stepford wife. In a moment of frustration, Joanna stabs Bobbi. There is no blood. Bobbi goes into repeated motions (dropping coffee cups) and repeating phrases. Joanna runs home to find that her two kids are gone. She comes the Men’s Association mansion on a suitably dark and stormy night. Diz is there and tells her it is her time. Joanna runs from dark spooky room to dark spooky room, stopping in what looks like a partial recreation of her bedroom. In it, is a copy of herself, brushing her long hair. The copy, however, has only incomplete black spheres for eyes (Eyes as windows of the soul, therefore Robo-Joanna has no soul, get it?). Joanna 2.0 looks the same, but is now a 36 DD where Real-Joanna was a 34 AAA at best. Robo-Joanna smiles a menacing smile, secures a strangling cord in both hands and walks towards Joanna. Fade to black. Fade back in to the Stepford supermarket. Tepid muzak plays while Stepford wives float along behind their shopping carts. They are all dressed in long, frilly sun dresses and wide-brimmed hats. Joanna is there too, in similar frilly attire. Zoom in on her now complete, but expressionless eyes. Freeze frame. Roll Credits. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Fans of the paranoia sub-genre of 50s sci-fi, can appreciate this mid 70s refresh of the trope. There are a lot of tangent topics raised by the script.

Cultural Connection
The term “Stepford wife” entered into the general cultural language. Even forty years after the movie, it is still understood. The word “Stepford” has gotten into dictionaries, meaning someone that is bland and submissive. A “Stepford wife” being  “a married woman who submits to her husband's will and is preoccupied by domestic concerns and her own personal appearance.” In 2011, Cindy McCain (wife of Senator John McCain) said, “I've seen things written about me that said "she's cold," or "she is a Stepford wife." Really, I'm just very shy.” Levin’s novel, and Forbes’ movie, made a lasting impression on the culture, even spawning

Notes
Based on the Book — The movie follows the story line of Ira Levin’s 1972 novel very closely. There are always ways in which movies cannot capture what the written word can, but in this case, the movie almost did a better job. For instance, in the book, the robotic nature of the duplicates is not made as clear. Levin may have preferred the ambiguity. Were they biological clones? Petty zombies? Forbes makes it clear that the Stepford wives are robot duplicates. The real wives were killed. This point too, is not as clear in the book. Forbes' scene with Robo-Joanna and her strangling cord make the fates of the real women terribly clear. Both the book and the movie indulge in vulgarity like a college freshman away from home for the first time. Both Levin and Forbes may have sought to use vulgarity as a marker for “real” people, but what does that say about the culture?

Better Without Bimbos — William Goldman had originally envisioned the Stepford wives to be dressed provocatively. They would be trophy bimbos. Bryan Forbes’ wife, Nanette Newman, was cast as Carol Van Sant. Newman was an accomplished actress in her own right and attractive, but at 40 years old, did not look good in Goldman’s bimbo-wear. So, the costuming took a more conservative tack. Barbie gave way to Betty Crocker. This actually saved the film from becoming kitsch — a slightly darker version of Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (’65) in which the robots are primarily eye candy. Middle-aged men making bikini-babes would have been shallow and juvenile. Them making “nice” mild suburban homemakers has more complexity.

The Dark Side of Disney — Apparently, the animatronics at Disneyland creeped some people out. Disney’s robo-entertainment was also the inspiration for Westworld (’73). Forbes’ robots don’t go bad as overtly as the Gunslinger, but the scene in which Robo-Joanna is implied to kill the real Joanna shows the same technophobia. The Disney connection is made abundantly clear in the “Diz” character, who worked for Disney. When Joanna is talking with the therapist she says she knows she is due to be replaced. It will look like her, “but it won’t be me. She’ll be one of those robots at Disneyland.” Some people saw a dark side to the magic kingdom.

Pods For A New Age — The Stepford wives are the pod people for a new generation. There is much similarity between TSW and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (’56). Both are classics of the people-being-replaced conspiracy trope. In both stories, the “normal” people exhibit several human imperfections, and they are slowly and systematically replaced by bland, emotionless duplicates. Where Body Snatchers was responding to the insidious creeping in of communism (or McCarthyism, if you prefer), the Stepford wives represent a very common 70s anxiety about technology dehumanizing us.

Feminist Film? — On a shallow level, TSW serves as a feminist indictment of male-dominated society. There is talk of male chauvinism, burning bras, equality and mean-old-men forcing women into domestic roles. Yet these are more of a red herring. Beneath that veneer lurks the darker story of men willing to live a lie. Diz rationalizes the scheme to Joanna. “Wouldn’t you do the same thing? Wouldn’t you like some perfect stud waiting on you around the house? Praising you. Servicing you. Whispering that your sagging flesh was beautiful, no matter how you looked?” That was, after all, what the men of Stepford were doing. They wanted trophy wives, or at least the appearance of them, to lie to them, even though they knew it was pre-programmed lies. Why would a tape recording of a woman saying "You're the best!" have any value to the man? In this, Levin and Forbes make a commentary about that darker side of mankind’s heart. To paraphrase the bible verses, They refused to accept the truth, instead believing the lie. TSW is also about there being something wrong with the men.

Bottom line? TSW is not to be missed. One need not be a fan of sci-fi to benefit from watching it. TSW is a cultural touchstone. There is the usual 70s technophobia, but there are some many tangental social commentaries to muse over too. The banality of suburban life. An urban-dweller’s fears of un-hip suburbia. The subtle Frankenstein: Adam trying to fabricate his own idealized Eve. Science and technology doing the immoral “Because we can.” There are more than a few cup-of-coffee conversations to be mined from TSW. The film spawned several sequels and an unfortunate remake in 2004. The original is best. Watch it.

Westworld

MGM put out a modest sci-fi film in late 1973. Westworld (WW) turned out to be more influential than it seemed at its release. MGM allowed the production a pretty modest budget, so the results were greater than they seemed. WW was written and directed by Michael Crichton when he was only 30 (of later fame with Jurassic Park, but more on that below). WW starred Yul Bryner as the robot gone bad. Richard Benjamin stars as the hunted human. a bevy of other stars familiar to television productions lend WW an air of a made-for-tv movie. Dick Van Patten, James Brolin, Majel Barrett, etc. Crichton wrote The Andromeda Strain in '69 (film in '71). This time, instead of a space virus killing people, it will be a computer virus.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Delos is a luxury vacation destination for the wealthy. Three simulated "worlds" provide themed escapism. Roman World is apparently built around the orgy and not much else. Medieval World is a castle realm of knights and ladies. West World is a live-in western movie. John is showing his friend Peter around. Most of the "people" in Westworld are actually robots. Human guests can shoot and "kill" the bots (who are retrieved each night for repair and return to service) Robots cannot harm a guest. The staff of Delos, however, notice recurring flaws in the robots' programming. Thinking that they can manage the errors, they do not shut things down. Peter shoots a robot gunslinger (Bryner) per the theming, but the repaired Gunslinger remembers Peter and seeks revenge. Peter shoots the Gunslinger again. The technicians repair him, but upgrade his vision and audio equipment. Gunslinger 2.0 seeks out Peter again. This time, he kills Peter's friend John. The technicians cannot shut things down. In fact, they're trapped inside the control room without air. (they all die). The robots run amok in all three worlds, killing guests and each other. Peter flees the Gunslinger. Out in the desert, a hapless technician tells Peter he can't outperform the robots. His only hope is acid in the eyes or something to reduce the robot's performance. Gunslinger kills the tech. Peter flees further, eventually passing through Roman World (and all the dead bodies). He finds a manhole down to the tech level. Gunslinger follows him. Peter finds a bottle of acid in the repair room. He pretends to be a bot awaiting repair, then throws the acid in Gunslinger's face. Sizzle and smoke. Peter leaves to find Medieval World and more dead people. Acid-burned Gunslinger follows Peter there, but his acid-damaged eyes are befuddled by the fire-torches. Peter sets Gunslinger on fire. Peter thinks he's rescuing a pretty woman chained in a dungeon, but she was a bot too. Spark smoke fizz. The charred Gunslinger again goes for Peter, but falls off the stairs. He finally smokes, sparks and burns. Peter looks on, pensively, recalling the sales hype about the vacation of his dreams. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Yul Bryner steals the show. His portrayal of the obsessed robot is the highlight of the film. The fact that he is reprising (in a way) his character of Chris Adams from The Magnificent Seven ('60) is fun for Westerns fans. There are many tangents and food-for-thought woven into WW.

Cultural Connection
Technophobia: Since the Cold War was no longer the boogey man that it once was, cultural angst in the early 70s promoted a few other boogey men. Computers were becoming more and more a part of the culture. In the Cold War era, we had Gog ('54) with an enemy taking over our complex technology. The Last War ('60) and Fail Safe ('64) in which flawed systems destroy the world, or almost. For super computers running going rogue, we had The Invisible Boy ('57), then the HAL 9000 in 2001 ('68), then Colossus: The Forbin Project ('70), now Westworld. People were fascinated with technology, but beginning to see it as a subtle version of Frankenstein's monster -- created with good intentions (and hubris), but a penchant for turning on their creators.

Notes
Disney's Dark Side -- Author Michael Crichton visited Disneyland and was particularly impressed with Disney's animatronic Abraham Lincoln. He took the theme park idea, with simulated humans, to a natural extension. Crichton was fond of weaving cautionary tales about technology getting too complex for man to really keep tabs on it. The Delos resort is also a quietly biting commentary on the culture that seeks such themed escapism. Delos is the dark side of Disney.

Beyond Dodgeball -- The school board of Windham, NH, prohibited Dodgeball from being part of the physical education program. Why? Because they disapproved of games which made humans the targets. This is post-Columbine, et al, and certainly WW was very much PRE-Columbine, but how strange (nowadays) for a resort theme park's premise being that it was okay (even encouraged) to kill the almost-human robots. If playing violent video games is thought to cheapen life and train today's youth to be cold-hearted killers, what would a resort like that have done?

Precursor -- WW was Crichton's first theme-park-gone-wrong story. His more famous one will be Jurassic Park and its many sequels. The message is much the same. Man, in his hubris, tries to recreate another time or place for the amusement of "modern" man. This other place is dangerous, but in that hubris, men think they have everything under control. They do not, and the creation becomes their hunter. In Bryner's Gunslinger character can be seen the roots of Arnold's Terminator bot. The prostitute bots -- "sex units" -- are a precursor to the artificial wives in Stepford Wives. WW was a trend harbinger.

Virus Debut -- WW may be the first screen portrayal of a computer virus. Since, in 1973, the only computers were massive room-filling machines -- not desktop PCs -- the public had no experience with them. Yet, WW shows a very modern view of a computer virus. The systems were so complex that even their makers and handlers really did not fully understand them. The Chief Supervisor describes to his board how "something" infects systems in one area, and they can see the "infection" spreading. The Delos virus altered the Thou Shalt Not Kill program in the robots. Crichton was ahead of his time.

Computer Graphics -- Some hoopla was made at the release of WW about how it used digital technology. This was confined to the pixelated images that were the Gunslinger's point of view. In the era of digital cameras on almost everyone's phone, pixelated images have to "gee whiz" factor anymore. But in 1973, it was very cool.

Plot Holes? -- WW is not a perfectly told story. Some incongruities may be chocked up to the limitations of a feature-length film. Books get the luxury of omniscient narrators to explain things. Some plot holes mentioned by others include: If the robots are cold, so the heat-sensor guns will shoot them, the sex models would be discouragingly cold too. Not necessarily. The sex bots could be warm. No need to shoot them anyhow. Guns can be rigged to not shoot warm blooded guests, but swords? The "safety" there, would appear to be giving the knight-bot slower reflexes or making more mistakes so the human can win. The black knight was not making the programmed mistakes. The bots drank whiskey just fine, why did the girl bot spark and smoke when given water to drink? She could have been damaged (beaten?) such that the usual liquid containment was broken. Why would they build a sealed control room with no emergency escape door? Delos built the whole place on the hubris of relying on their technology. Electronic doors and ventilation? What could go wrong? The control room is a parallel set piece to the robots going wrong. If the Gunslinger can see heat, why didn't he spot Peter on the lab table right away? This actually seems to be a plot problem. Any reader input on why he might have not noticed him?

Bottom line? Westworld is a 70s classic. It's not perfect, but it raises many topics for conversation. As a technology cautionary tale, it is still relevant today. WW is also a forerunner to many other rogue-bots films. Viewers disturbed by on-screen gun violence should be warned. Beyond that, the pacing is very brisk once the Gunslinger is hunting Peter. WW is one of the must-see sci-fi of the 70s.

Colossus: The Forbin Project

In the spring of 1970, Universal released a powerful sleeper of a sci-fi: Colossus: The Forbin Project (CFP). Unjustly, it seldom makes it onto lists of great sci-fi. CFP does not star big name talent. Eric Braeden and Susan Clarke were more known in television series roles. Nor does it have flashy special effects. The story is an excellent follow-up to our recent Frankenstein study, with a high-tech (for 1970) monster and its creator. Based on the 1966 novel "Colossus" by D. F. Jones. The poster makes a dark recasting of the 1967 musical "Hair" and the song "Age of Aquarius," by stating "This is the dawning of the age of Colossus."

Quick Plot Synopsis
Deep beneath a Colorado mountain, Dr. Charles Forbin turns on a super computer the size of an office building. He seals it up, and leaves. Forbin, the President and a room full of dignitaries congratulate themselves on their national defense success. Colossus would handle American nuclear missile defense faster and without human failings. Colossus interrupts the parties to announce: "There Is Another System." It detected that the Soviets had a matching super computer named Guardian. Colossus requests a data link between the two. Both sides are reluctant, but agree. Colossus and Guardian develop a common language, beginning with math, through calculus and into binaries. Worried that they don't know what their computers are sharing, both sides cut the link. Colossus demands it be restored. When the humans say no, Colossus and Guardian launch a missile. They refuse to intercept the incoming missiles unless the link is restored. The humans relent, but not in time. A Russian oil complex and town are destroyed. Forbin and his Russian counterpart, Kuprin, meet in Rome to discuss what to do. Colossus finds out and orders Kuprin shot (or it would destroy Moscow), and Forbin brought home to house arrest and 24 hour surveillance. Forbin tells Colossus that he needs privacy for sex. He names as his mistress, his cohort, Dr. Cleo Markham. In these pretend romantic interludes, Forbin and Cleo exchange news and plans. Programmers Johnson and Fisher plan to run some mega-complex program in hopes of overloading Colossus's circuits. Colossus orders all missiles retargeted to other nations so it can control them too. The army generals plan to swap out missile detonators for dummy detonators, eventually depriving Colossus of weapons. Fisher tries the overload program, but Colossus knew. It orders Johnson and Fisher shot, as a lesson to all. It also detected the missile sabotage and blows up two missiles in their silos as a lesson to everyone. In its eerie electronic voice, Colossus addresses the world to say that it is now in control of the world. "Obey me and live. Disobey and die. The choice is yours." Colossus tells Forbin that he will someday regard him with respect and awe, and eventually love. Forbin proclaims: Never! The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Even though the visuals are sorely dated (punch tape?) the story line remains very relevant even today. There is much food for thought in this film. All that room-filling computer equipment is a nostalgia treat for those "into" computers before there were desktop PCs.

Cold War Angle
The stalemate between the West and the East serves as a background, but the old squabbles pale in comparison to the solution. The horror we thought we feared from THEM, instead comes a compassionless third party -- of our own making.

Notes
The REAL Frankenstein 1970 -- Unlike the Boris Karloff film of 1958, by that title, CFP truly is the story of Frankenstein modernized for the world of 1970. Forbin is the computer-age incarnation of the well-meaning (if naive) genius doctor. The monster he creates is a powerful giant. As in the classic tales, the doctor loses control of his monster. It kills and cannot be stopped. The writers clearly had this in mind. At one point, Cleo tells Forbin that her mother thought the novel Frankenstein should be required reading of all scientists. Forbin agreed.

Technophobia -- The 1950s' infatuation with science and technology was fading during the 60s. Technology was becoming something to fear. Early examples of the technophobia sub-genre include: Gog ('54) in which a computer which controls an entire defense base begins killing people off; The huge Krell computer in Forbidden Planet (56) is a forerunner of Colossus. The Invisible Boy ('57) is a story of a super computer secretly improves itself until it begins taking over control'. As computers began to show up more in the lives of middle-america, the more resonance there was for technophobia films.

Political Parallels -- CFP works well, too, as a political allegory that is relevant for today -- even 50 years later. Men seeking relief from some great fear, can rush too quickly to create a government powerful enough to relieve that fear. Their "creation" will succeed in its task, but become a "monster," a new tyrant worse than the old fear. In the early 1930s, the German people sought relief from an economy in shambles. They created a government that would become the Nazi state. Russian peasants and workers sought relief from the oppression of the Tsarist system, but created the Stalinist state.
"A government big enough to give you everything you need, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have…." -- President Gerald Ford,, 1974
The lesson in CFP fits today. Whether the "great fear" is global warming, or terrorists, a rush to create a government powerful enough to solve it quickly, will become an even more terrible tyrant. Beware of politicians in a hurry for you to approve their plans.

Non-Silent Screen -- Note how messages displayed on Colossus' screens are always accompanied by loud printing sounds. CRTs and message boards make no sound. That would be too underwhelming, so director Joseph Sargent had most of the displays make a printer sound. People like audio clues to visuals. A real life example of this is in Boston's South Station. The big schedule board is all LEDs, therefore silent. But when it changes, a sound is played -- that of the cascading split-flap style boards of the 1980s. We like sounds with our visual messages.

Bottom line? If you haven't seen CFP. Find it. Watch it. Just as Cleo's mom thought "Frankenstein" should be required reading for scientists, CFP should be required viewing for people eager to give governments more power to solve some issue. To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin: Those willing to give up freedom for safety, will end up with neither. Fans of action sci-fi flicks, accustomed to fireball explosions, zipping spaceships or magical special effects, will likely find CFP boring, so will miss the warnings.