The critics have spoken and Westworld is can't-miss television. Following the release of a new trailer, the embargo has lifted (on the first four episodes) and reviewers can't contain their enthusiasm for what HBO has crafted. The first episode (of ten) airs on Sunday, October 2 @ 9 PM. Will you be tuning in? If you're on the fence, check out a few review below:
IGN: "HBO's Westworld makes a strong first impression with its excellent premiere, as a theme park provides the setting for a fascinating exploration of the human -- and not so human -- psyche." [9/10]
TV Fanatic: "Westworld is a wide, sweeping drama re-introducing us to the world Michael Crichton brought to life once before for the big screen in 1973. It's a compelling and thrilling look at what it means to be human in this technologically driven world. The stories revolve around the Gods, or park creators and engineers, the park employees, the hosts (AI) and the guests, called newcomers by the AI. " [5/5]
Nerdist: "We’re overdue for a series that explores the idea of reality and what constitutes something as “real” in this way: the labyrinthine nature of desire and excess and creation and morality, when thrown into the frontier (both literally and metaphorically) challenges the audience to see themselves—and the human race—for what we maybe are or could be. " [5/5]
The Guardian: "But for those of us who just like story – lots and lots of story! – Westworld will hit the spot as hard as GoT ever did. Gosh, there’s a lot going on. There’s the real world full of robot-wranglers, some of whom are jostling for position inside whatever just-possibly-malevolent company owns the park, others of whom are busy tinkering with their charges’ software and trying to decide whether to make the skinjobs more realistic or quit while they’re ahead."
Collider: "Like Game of Thrones, Westworld is a sprawling story, but it’s never as disparate as the world of Westeros and what lies beyond the Narrow Sea. What matters here is the notion that everything is contained, intimate, and carefully crafted, and fans of Crichton will immediately feel the familiarity with his most famous stories’ themes: where what we overly-confident Homo sapiens create and try and control quickly spirals out beyond our abilities." [4/5 - Very Good]
ABOUT WESTWORLD
Westworld is an upcoming HBO drama executive produced by Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Buck. It's based on the 1973 film of the same name, which was directed by Michael Crichton and starred Yul Brynne, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin. A sequel, Futureworld, was released in 1976 and a tv series, Beyond Westworld, premiered in 1980. The new series is scheduled to premiere on HBO at 9PM est on Sunday, October 2. The cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Woods, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Rodrigo Santoro, Ben Barnes, Luke Hemsworth and Clifton Collins Jr.
OFFICIAL HBO SYNOPSIS: As another day of fantasy plays out in Westworld – a vast, remote park where guests pay top dollar to share wild-west adventures with android “hosts” – top programmer Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) alerts park founder Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) about incidents of aberrant behavior cropping up in some recently re-coded hosts. Meanwhile, in the Westworld town of Sweetwater, a rancher’s daughter named Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) encounters a gunslinger named Teddy (James Marsden) in the street – but their predictable narrative is upended by the appearance of a ruthless Man in Black (Ed Harris) and, later, by a supporting host’s unscripted encounter with an artifact of the outside world.