Based on the little-known 1973 film of the same name, HBO’s latest high-budget production Westworld( HBO’s biggest premiere in 3 years), is a highly ambitious and brilliantly written show, which absolutely deserves your attention.
Westworld is a high-concept sci-fi/western which centres on a unique amusement park, which allows wealthy guests to live out their fantasies in an artificial recreation of a western town, filled with life-like artificial beings who are designed to fulfill the guests’ every desires. Inevitably, things begin to take a turn for the worst. Westworld features an all-star cast including Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jeffery Wright (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Casino Royale), Evan Rachel Wood and Ed Harris and features a ton of sex, nudity and violence, much like the highly-popular Game of Thrones.
The premiere episode of the series, created by Jonathan Nolan and produced by JJ Abrams, wastes no time in introducing viewers to the expansive and incredibly detailed world created by Anthony Hopkins’ Dr Robert Ford. The episode focuses heavily on Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores (one of the many artificial beings, who are referred to as ‘Hosts’) as she lives out a similar day again and again. It’s only later in the episode, that Dolores begins to notice her father’s odd behaviour, which occurs due to a programming malfunction.
From the get go, Westworld delves deep into the idea of artificial intelligence and the moral and ethical complexities that accompany it. Additionally, the show also poses questions about human desires and what it means to be truly human.
Westworld is an incredibly hard show to fully explain and must be watched to completely understand. However, I will say this: HBO appear to have a massive hit on their hands that could potentially rival Game of Thrones. Stop what you’re doing and get on the Westworld bandwagon. Now.
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