Westworld (HBO/Sky Atlantic) [** Spoilers **]

channelsurfer2

I thought it was alright but not epic. Maybe its because they tried to build it up as the new GOT with all the hype. I will continue to watch for a few more episodes but cant see how it could run for 5 series.

BlitzKrieg

silverharp wrote: »

I was watching a review and they suggested this would run for 5 series. how would that work , its basically the Simpsons episode where Itchy and Scratchy park goes into meltdown :pac:

which was a parody of the original westworld (with some jurassic park and disney elements)

silverharp

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

which was a parody of the original westworld (with some jurassic park and disney elements)

nothing new under the sun :pac: . but whats the plan? will it be the same group stuck in this and it just plays out over 5 seasons?

BlitzKrieg

silverharp wrote: »

nothing new under the sun :pac: . but whats the plan? will it be the same group stuck in this and it just plays out over 5 seasons?

Doubt that the first episode has clearly shown the story is following a different playbook to the original film. I expect a lot more elements dealing with identity, past memories and traumas etc.

Remember its 5 seasons of the same length as Game of Thrones, not so much 5 full series seasons so use that as a yardstick for how much content will be covered in the series.

channelsurfer2

apparently it got 3.3 million viewers in the US - HBO's biggest premiere audience in 3 years since true detective

ricero

Excellent tv. Ed harris is a scary man

expectationlost

Lovely Bloke wrote: »

I found it hard to really care about any of the "hosts" as we know they are robots, pretty much rebooting each night. So while the gunfight was cool, it ultimately meant nothing.

Are some of them becoming sentient? Is that the play here? Is one, or some, of them going to start "remembering" and trying to hide it? Is Dolores already doing that?

Again, why should we even care, if the management can just turn them off at will?

I don't think its the last we've seen of them do you?

Rfrip

Well this will fill the gaping big hole game of thrones has left

alchemist33

Excellent stuff. Hope it keeps up the intrigue and doesn't blow it like Wayward Pines

readyletsgo

alchemist33 wrote: »

Excellent stuff. Hope it keeps up the intrigue and doesn't blow it like Wayward Pines

There has been a massive push for the show over the past few months, and after watching this tonight I felt, kinda meh about it all. Maybe it was too much of a build up? I'll watch a few more episodes, give it a chance.

Leftovers can't come back soon enough for me tbh

nc6000

I thought it was good and Mrs NC6000 despite not wanting to watch it absolutely loved it and can't wait for next week.

Sam Kade

Great scenery but the story and acting is all over the place, hopefully it will improve over the next few episodes.

johnpatrick81

I thought it was a fantastic start. Anyone else think Borgen lass(Hopkin's 2nd in command) is a robot?! Can't wait for more.

homerun_homer

johnpatrick81 wrote: »

I thought it was a fantastic start. Anyone else think Borgen lass(Hopkin's 2nd in command) is a robot?! Can't wait for more.

I thought that too when watching it.

silverharp

I watched it last night with my wife , she kept asking what the deal was with the flies , worth watching for sure. Love the scenery backdrop. it seemed a bit forced that the guy was annoyed that his character was killed before giving the speech. surely part of the fun would be taking part in the gun fights.
what it missed I think was the "newcomers" being given an orientation, like are they supposed to play along if they get shot etc. maybe they will get to it.

Roar

Sam Kade wrote: »

Great scenery but the story and acting is all over the place, hopefully it will improve over the next few episodes.

The English guy (The "writer") annoyed the ****e out of me tbh.

Other than that, loved it. Paint it Black was just awesome.

ManOfMystery

Watched this last night and thought it was brilliant, one of the best pilots EPs I've seen. Great cast, great premise, great acting, lots of questions and intrigue, and enough shocks and brutality and otherwise to keep you hooked.

Few thoughts below (spoilers!)

[*]Loved the casting, particularly the fact that some of the lead cast members have been in other roles involving a simulated reality.
- Ed Harris - Played the man behind the Truman Show concept in the film of the same name, who was essentially 'God' to Truman and set up the simulated reality he lived in. Dressed in black in that too. In this he's playing almost a polar opposite.
- Jeffrey Wright - was the brains behind the simulated reality in Source Code.
- Anthony Hopkins - played a man living 2 realities in Slipstream.


[*]As a Soundgarden fan, I loved the instrumental version of Black Hole Sun on the player piano in the bar which was played near the end of the episode. Chris Cornell has said he wrote the song as a kind of 'surreal dreamscape', which makes it quite apt for inclusion in this. They also had Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones, a song about death and depression.


[*]The multiple instances of the robots pouring milk out, which provokes a kind of 'spilling blood' imagery - the liquids and fibres their bodies are constructed from are white just like milk


[*]There was a very blatant reference to humanity having the means to fix any ailment or disease, and a further reference which Hopkin makes about maybe being able to bring back the dead soon. Which I thought had to have some deeper meaning. I wonder if the overall purpose of the park (though marketed as recreation) is to progress and develop the robots to such an extent that their bodies and minds are imperceptible from humans - at which point there may be a means of transferring our consciousness into their bodies, and defeating ageing/death. We know that Dolores has been in the park 30yrs but hasn't aged at all. The entire park may be a giant testbed for humanity's future.


[*]The notion of Ford introducing glitches to the robots (allowing them to remember certain behaviours which should actually be wiped clean each time they're reset) reminded me of the simulated reality in the Matrix, where the Architect tells Neo that the first incarnation of the Matrix was, as he deemed it, - 'perfect'. And because it was perfect, humanity rejected it. They had to actually make it imperfect for the Matrix to work satisfactorily.


[*]Loved the opening scene with Ed Harris shooting down James Marsden's character. We're led to think initially that just like the original Westworld, Harris' Man in Black is a robot turned bad, and Marsden is a human visitor who came in on the train and dies as a result. So it's quite jarring to realise that Marsden is the robot, and Harris the human. Even flipped around, the scene still works - in fact it probably works even better as you have arguably more sympathy for Marsden as a long-suffering robot than a rich human indulging his whims.

I'm sure there's lots more things but I'm still processing it all and will need a rewatch. I can already tell this is going to be one of them rich, rich shows which just keeps on giving when it comes to picking it apart.

FunLover18

Roar wrote:

Other than that, loved it. Paint it Black was just awesome.

Found it on iTunes, part of an album the London Symphony Orchestra did, so is just bought the whole album. If the rest is as good Paint It Black, money well spent.

Oafley Jones

Roar wrote: »

The English guy (The "writer") annoyed the ****e out of me tbh.

Other than that, loved it. Paint it Black was just awesome.

He was probably the worst thing in it. He wasn't helped by the writing in those scenes, nor the workman like direction. The control scenes looking particularly like pedestrian TV fair. Scenery did help the park shots. He also distracted me from Jeffrey Wright, the one note master of glasses acting.

Like the twist with Harris and Marsden. Love the fact that "quests" are served to the guest in the same ****ty way that RPGs do. There's a lot to take in and a lot of world building and exposition, so it's impossible to judge on this episode. Felt the last ten minutes really helped it. Abrams influence with his mystery boxes clearly in evidence here. I'm wondering will this be more Lost rather than BSG.

I still miss Deadwood.

Mc Love

Loved the wide panoramic shots - amazing cinematography

alchemist33

johnpatrick81 wrote: »

I thought it was a fantastic start. Anyone else think Borgen lass(Hopkin's 2nd in command) is a robot?! Can't wait for more.

I thought that too. I also have a hunch they've made her and the English writer unlikeable so we won't mind when they get killed...

ricero

Im a bit lost with how we know ed harris is a human ? Anyone care to explain

Effects

ricero wrote: »

Im a bit lost with how we know ed harris is a human ? Anyone care to explain

James Marsden's character shot him and he didn't die or get injured. If he isn't human, it could be a glitch with the new update that he's exploiting, one that we don't know about yet.

jcsoulinger

ricero wrote: »

Im a bit lost with how we know ed harris is a human ? Anyone care to explain

Marsdens character tries to shoot him but gun didn't work on him, if he was a robot it would have.

AMKC

Lovely Bloke wrote: »

I found it hard to really care about any of the "hosts" as we know they are robots, pretty much rebooting each night. So while the gunfight was cool, it ultimately meant nothing.

Are some of them becoming sentient? Is that the play here? Is one, or some, of them going to start "remembering" and trying to hide it? Is Dolores already doing that?

Again, why should we even care, if the management can just turn them off at will?

Now, I was very intrigued by the real people, and I especially love the acting of Jeffrey Wright, I thought he played the over the top Valentin Narcisse in Boardwalk Empire excellently, but the more understated Bernard here to a "T". I think Bernard has a certain sympathy for the old man Ford, and I think he's going to be his main ally.

Ye same here why care when they are just rebooted the next evening. What is the milk about is that there drink or is it what they are made from it looked like that.
Can,t say I enjoyed it in fact I found it rather dull and repetitive. Same think each time just slightly different. Just seems to be a bunch of bored scientists playing a digital board game. I also had to laugh at one of them saying that they can do almost anything now so whats the point anymore as they still don,t seem to be able to make reliable computer software for there robots so they are not as brilliant as he seemed to think they are.

ManOfMystery

Effects wrote: »

James Marsden's character shot him and he didn't die or get injured. If he isn't human, it could be a glitch with the new update that he's exploiting, one that we don't know about yet.

ricero wrote: »

Im a bit lost with how we know ed harris is a human ? Anyone care to explain

jcsoulinger wrote: »

Marsdens character tries to shoot him but gun didn't work on him, if he was a robot it would have.

Plus he doesn't seem to get taken in at the end of each day like the others, seems to have more knowledge of the reality of what the park actually is than the robots there, and also says a line about it being good to 'be back' - indicating he's been out of the park.

But this could all be misdirection. Perhaps he's a well informed robot who's been out of service, and the show is making us think he's human. Will be an interesting reveal no matter what.

Mc Love

ricero wrote: »

Im a bit lost with how we know ed harris is a human ? Anyone care to explain

And apparently he said he pays enough money to be there giving another clue. What other purpose is there that the park exists, and is that what Harris is trying to establish?

ManOfMystery

Mc Love wrote: »

And apparently he said he pays enough money to be there giving another clue. What other purpose is there that the park exists, and is that what Harris is trying to establish?

Yeah I forgot that line - "I didn't pay all this money because I wanted it to be easy".

But then again .......... this is interesting

http://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Westworld-Theory-About-Man-Black-42498697

Birneybau

silverharp wrote: »

I watched it last night with my wife , she kept asking what the deal was with the flies , worth watching for sure. Love the scenery backdrop. it seemed a bit forced that the guy was annoyed that his character was killed before giving the speech. surely part of the fun would be taking part in the gun fights.
what it missed I think was the "newcomers" being given an orientation, like are they supposed to play along if they get shot etc. maybe they will get to it.

Was is not the writer that was annoyed?

claiva

Why has no one mentioned the black family that Dolores bumped into whilst she was out painting ?
They seemed different from the usual "Guests".......
It was almost as if they were there illegally ?
Skulking around in the background off the beaten track.....
Who are they and what are they doing there ?