Before there was the HBO series Westworld, there was the film of the same title. Released in 1973, this sci-fi western didn’t get bogged down in an ever more complicated plot as the show has done. It worked based on a simple premise: a robot malfunctions at a theme park and starts killing the guests. Written and directed by novelist Michael Crichton, you can see the bare bones of what would become Jurassic Park here. Replace a killer android with escaped dinosaurs, and you have pretty much the same plot.
While Westworld wasn’t the colossal success Jurassic Park would be under Steven Spielberg’s direction, Crichton still made an effective thriller that would go on to become a cult favorite. The film succeeds on varying levels, from its clever concept to its interactive quality that we get with other genres, most notably zombie movies. If something was after you, what would you do, where would you hide, how would you fight back?
The best part of the film is Yul Brynner’s performance as the single-minded murderous android. Known simply as The Gunslinger, Brynner’s killer robot in a cowboy hat was a great villain, played with brilliant simplicity. Brynner dresses exactly as he did in The Magnificent Seven, a nod to his past, but that is where the similarities end. Brynner's walk is robotic, but intimidating in its slow, controlled steadiness. He almost never speaks, and his face never changes, portraying only a blank canvas, like a flesh colored mask. Brynner’s greatest trick, however, may have been his ability to shoot a gun without blinking, allowing the Gunslinger to come across as fully robotic.
While the film would go on to inspire Jurassic Park (Crichton wrote the novel) and its own series decades later, it would also influence the creation of two of film’s most iconic villains, Michael Myers and The Terminator. You can see the distinct similarities in the characters themselves, but the Terminator is not a copy of Michael Myers and Myers was more than just a guy in a mask. Both were modeled after Brynner’s work as The Gunslinger.
In 1978, John Carpenter directed the paragon of slasher horror, Halloween. Carpenter readily admits where he got the idea for his Boogeyman. In an interview once with Revolver, when asked about how Michael Myers was developed, Carpenter said, "I have a cheap answer for you. I saw Westworld, the original movie, and Yul Brynner's character was this unkillable robot. I thought, 'That is a really cool character.' That's how I came up with it, but it evolved — it wasn't exactly Yul Brynner."
Michael Myers may be a man and not a robot, but he moves like something inhuman. From actor Nick Castle’s unhurried pace, to his blank faced mask that betrays no emotions whatsoever, Myers as The Shape may as well be an android. He does not speak, and he does not feel, whether it be emotion or physical pain. There’s not only no ounce of empathy or fear shown, but not even anger. It’s what made Myers so scary as The Boogeyman. There was seemingly no motive, but no rage also. We don’t know why he kills, and he might not either.
You can most see the resemblance between The Gunslinger and Michael Myers toward the end of Westworld. We see the villain stalking our hero down dark hallways, switching back and forth between a shot of his stone face and his own POV, just as Halloween did. While searching for his prey in a long room where other androids are being stored, The Gunslinger moves calmly. He doesn’t seethe, yell out, flip over tables. He is single-minded, but determined. There is no reason to be worried, he will find his next victim soon enough. The Gunslinger moves just as Myers does when searching for a hidden babysitter, calm and steady. The two even have the same poised gait. Their eerie tranquility is what makes them so intimidating and scary.
An even more apt comparison for Westworld’s Gunslinger is the cybernetic robot assassin played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in James Cameron’s The Terminator. Cameron was such a fan of Westworld that before filming he told Schwarzenegger to watch the film and model his performance after Brynner’s.
The similarities between the two villains are uncanny. From a non-performance standpoint, we have the similar design of humanlike flesh over a robotic skeleton. Both have infrared scanners in their eyes, and the film often focuses on them using this skill in pixilated POV shots.
Schwarzenegger mimics Brynner perfectly without becoming a ripoff of him. Just as The Gunslinger does, The Terminator rarely speaks, and when he does, it’s with a detached, robotic tone. They are both unstoppable forces, slowly and surely moving after their victim with quiet determination.
The two resemble each other so closely that at times they seem almost the same, for The Gunslinger is himself a Terminator of sorts, just a less advanced one than the futuristic T-800. They’re so interchangeable, one winking at the other, that Schwarzenegger was once in talks to play The Gunslinger in a Westworld reboot.
Westworld as a film has its flaws. It’s a little cheesy and dated. It’s overly long and until the intense third act kicks in, it can be a little dull, taking too long to get to the suspenseful scenes that we remember. Still, it’s a classic that overcomes its shortcomings due to a fun premise and a flawlessly played villain. In 1973, Brynner’s star had started to lose its shine. His unforgettable performance in Westworld put his name back in the lights.
Luckily, Brynner lived long enough to see what he had made become an inspiration behind two more blockbusters. The characters of Michael Myers and The Terminator work on their own, however. They are original enough, and surrounded by such a great story, that they don’t seem like a lazy clone of something else. Still, all you have to do is watch Brynner in Westworld and you can see Myers and The Terminator both so easily. These three emotionless monsters changed cinema, and slowly but surely, they’re coming right for you.