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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Reviews    Movie, Television and DVD Reviews  ›  Westworld Moderators: Nixon
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  Author    Westworld  (currently 7636 views)
leitskev
Posted: October 3rd, 2016, 8:23pm Report to Moderator
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Holy holy holy holy holy crap!

Brilliant! Brilliant, wow, holy crap, brilliant.

And perfectly done to challenge us in what it means to be conscious, self aware, what we think is meaningful in our lives.

Just brilliant. Get thee to HBO.
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James McClung
Posted: October 3rd, 2016, 9:05pm Report to Moderator
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I'm pretty impressed thus far. I should note, however, that I had no expectations or any serious interest leading up to the premiere. My interest was peaked when I learned of the Michael Chricton connection, but that was at the very last minute, hence my anticipation didn't have time to gestate.

Solid performances. In particular, I think Evan Rachel Wood is one of the best actors of her generation and she certainly lived up to that sentiment here. I'm excited to see what she does with her role, as it is somewhat against-type for her. I've always been a big fan of Jeffrey Wright, but I think here, he finally has a role pivotal enough where he can garner the attention of the mainstream. I don't think he's ever gotten due credit on that scale, especially taking into account how much he was wasted in The Hunger Games.

I think the high concept and worldbuilding is enough not only to keep the series compelling going forward but also to potentially become a hit with the mainstream, even a huge one. I enjoyed Stranger Things, but not nearly to the extent of everyone else, as I found it a little too warm, accessible, and comfortably familiar for my taste, even with its darker elements. Westworld feels much more adult, and there's a particularly sinister undercurrent to some of the plot elements that really appeals to me.

Stoked to see where they take things...


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Warren
Posted: October 3rd, 2016, 9:13pm Report to Moderator
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Watching it tonight, I can't wait!


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leitskev
Posted: October 3rd, 2016, 9:15pm Report to Moderator
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I don't think it will be the next Game of Thrones, which they are hoping. I'm not even sure in the end it will be successful enough to justify the budget. It lacks many of the elements that will lead to wide appeal. I worry this is one of those series they might leave unfinished, like Carnivale.

But wow, brilliant writing, brilliant thematic exploration. Bold decision to write this primarily from the POV of the robots. Very, very powerful, and done in such a sophisticated and subtle way. Brings to mind Matrix like questions about the nature of reality, and of what it means to be self-conscious, to have a soul.

Not sure how they can sustain this for multiple seasons. The world just isn't big enough. But I suspect it might take a Planet of the Apes type direction. I mean we can't spend multiple seasons in a western theme park.
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oJOHNNYoNUTSo
Posted: October 3rd, 2016, 9:22pm Report to Moderator
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I agree, it was a good start. The premiere left me in a weird place, and that's a good thing. Really had no clue about the original Westworld, and still don't, but there's enough mystery sprinkled all over the place to hopefully get some great payoffs as the season unfolds.

One of those mysteries has got to be Ed Harris' character. Playing off a Groundhog Day type scenerio we get two sides of one bad mofo, and I gotta say, it's chilling. **SPOILERS**I love how that was written too, showing us the pure evil in one scenerio then a gentlemen in the next. And then this crazy bastard leads the show into its cryptic arc.

Great score too. Every location looks really good. Acting meter is solid.

Reminded me of Lost in ways. It's a polarizing start, but I enjoyed the ending.
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leitskev
Posted: October 3rd, 2016, 9:29pm Report to Moderator
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Loved how the father demonstrates a robot becoming self aware, and he expresses those thoughts and his growing emotions by using old dialog still in his system from when he played a school teacher. A stimulating idea about the mind, how it recycles words and concepts into new meanings in order to express a new thought or emotion.

And what is making these robots question things and begin to rebel? Made me consider how human societies persist in the same patterns for uncounted generations, until one day subtle changes add up and they rebel against the norm and break into a new state of affairs.

Tons of thought provoking stuff.
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James McClung
Posted: October 3rd, 2016, 9:35pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from leitskev
I don't think it will be the next Game of Thrones, which they are hoping. I'm not even sure in the end it will be successful enough to justify the budget. It lacks many of the elements that will lead to wide appeal. I worry this is one of those series they might leave unfinished, like Carnivale.


I considered this. I don't think the budget would be as much of an issue if it weren't for Game of Thrones, which is expensive enough already. With GOT only two years from the finish line, perhaps they're pushing their luck kicking off such a high-budget new series so soon. I think it has way more appeal than Carnivale, though, which was super slow, esoteric, and had two separate storylines that were barely related to each other. I haven't watched it in almost a decade, but I remember thinking it was a piece of shit.

SPOILERS...


Quoted from leitskev
But wow, brilliant writing, brilliant thematic exploration. Bold decision to write this primarily from the POV of the robots. Very, very powerful, and done in such a sophisticated and subtle way. Brings to mind Matrix like questions about the nature of reality, and of what it means to be self-conscious, to have a soul.


Less interested in this and more interested in the human implications. I'm intrigued by the idea that the design of the robots as mostly friendly and helpful seemingly makes the guests even more inclined to do bad things to them, as well as the fact that a company would exploit this instinct. Of course, this makes the robots more sympathetic, as they're more susceptible to abuse, and complicates the bigger questions that you mentioned.


Quoted from leitskev
Not sure how they can sustain this for multiple seasons. The world just isn't big enough. But I suspect it might take a Planet of the Apes type direction. I mean we can't spend multiple seasons in a western theme park.


Several human characters make reference to ulterior motives on the part of the company that runs the park. Not sure where they're going with that, but it's certainly something to explore outside of the park itself. Also, apparently in the original film, there are two other parks owned by the company that are similar in concept. Once again, this calls budget issues to mind, but narratively, I think they got places to go, especially if they put a cap on the series sooner rather than later.



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James McClung  -  October 3rd, 2016, 9:48pm
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leitskev
Posted: October 3rd, 2016, 9:46pm Report to Moderator
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SPOILERS

Yes. exactly. I was thinking maybe those references to a larger conspiracy hint that this will broaden into the real world, like the dinosaurs escaping Jurassic, but much more complicated than that. For example, there could be an AI outside that is behind it. All I know is they can't stay in Westworld for too long. I can't even really imagine them staying there a whole season. But the writing and storytelling was so competent, I trust they know what they're ding.

Oh, Stranger Things, yeah, I agree. It's very good for a no-budget Netflix production. I actually read the original script many years ago. Back then it was called Montuak, and it takes place in Montuak, Long Island, an area 51 one kind of place in the popular mythology(supposedly where the govt create Lyme disease with the grassy knoll crowd). Placing the story in the 80s was brilliant because they capitalize on the whole nostalgia thing. In my bar owning days, people were obsessed with the 80s even though they were too young to remember them! Stranger Things is good storytelling, but as you said, not very adult.
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Warren
Posted: October 4th, 2016, 2:40am Report to Moderator
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Quoted Text

Holy holy holy holy holy crap!

Brilliant! Brilliant, wow, holy crap, brilliant.


x 2

How good was that!

Not sure how they would get a lot of seasons out of it but will enjoy it for what it is, and it's amazing.


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eldave1
Posted: October 4th, 2016, 10:35am Report to Moderator
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Good to here - it is on my watchlist


My Scripts can all be seen here:

http://dlambertson.wix.com/scripts
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Dreamscale
Posted: October 4th, 2016, 5:02pm Report to Moderator
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I'm probably 1 of a very short list that actually saw the original film in the theater, way back when.  I always have been a big fan and have been waiting for a reboot.

I actually wasn't een aware of this, as I don't get HBO at home anymore, but since I'm travelling, and my Marriott properties have HBO, I was bale to watch the premier Sunday night.

I was impressed and may even get HBO to keep watching, but I can't say I was totally blown away.  It appears to be "deep"...or at least, it's trying to be, which can be both a good thing and a not so good thing.

We'll see where it goes and my hope is that it stays on track and doesn't go overboard as most of Abrams stuff tends to do.

Grade - B...a solid B, that is.
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leitskev
Posted: October 4th, 2016, 5:45pm Report to Moderator
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I actually agree with much of that. I hope this doesn't turn into a typical Abrams type story. It doesn't seem like it so far.

And I do think I am banking on the the set up paying off, but who knows.

Though I was still blown away...and that's rare for me. We'll see if the series can keep it up.
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Grandma Bear
Posted: October 5th, 2016, 12:39pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from leitskev

Though I was still blown away...and that's rare for me. We'll see if the series can keep it up.

I read Carson's review of it today. Did you read it? He was pretty far from impressed. Especially with the writing. I guess I have to try to watch it now. See who's right.   The premise is great though, so we'll see.  


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Demento
Posted: October 5th, 2016, 12:56pm Report to Moderator
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I thought it was good. Nothing groundbreaking, but okay.

I thought the lady in charge of security and the young British bloke were miscast. I didn't even like those characters.

Sans that, I wasn't a fan of the repeatable timeline, groundhog day thing. However, the idea of the Ed Harris character and the levels things was good. I liked that.

There's something to work with here. Not a bad start.

But I don't see too many seasons of this thing.
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leitskev
Posted: October 5th, 2016, 1:58pm Report to Moderator
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Carson also thinks Game of Thrones is awful, just a bunch of people talking, he says. I kind of can't respect his opinion on work after that. Not that someone has to like GOT, they don't, but the writing and storytelling is so high quality that a writer should at least be able to recognize it.

As for Westworld, I do agree that there are the kind of problems that will probably prevent it from really taking off. Both the brilliance of the story and the problems are centered on one thing: the fact that the POV is mostly told from the robots perspective. The brilliance in that is that it allows an exploration of what it means to be human: what is the roll of memory? How much of us is programmed? Are we limited in expressing our feelings to the language that we inherit? What do we do when we learn the world isn't what we think it is?

It's also more of a challenge for us to get to know characters that don't have a real history. They only have what has been programmed into them. And the danger to them is different, since they can always be rebooted. That lowers the stakes.

As far as the head of security and the British programmer, I agree that this is the weakest part at this point. But they are really just tools at the moment to build some intrigue about where this is ultimately going.

I liked it overall because it's daring. It's what sci fi should be, at least at its best anyway. I mean there is plenty of room for Abram's fun but silly Star Trek films, nothing wrong with pure entertainment...but there should always be sci fi that challenges us to think too.

One last comment: because it's a season based show, not an episodic tv show, we have to be patient and give it some rope. I think week one at least earned that for now.

Thanks for the discussion!
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