Westworld - Remake vs Original
The basic premise of Westworld is the same for both. Set in the future, wealthy human guests can pay to live out whatever fantasies they want in some Disney style theme parks (albeit built around some adult twists!) Westworld is set in the Old West with cowboys and all that comes with that.
We don’t see the other theme parks until Season 2 of the HBO series. There is only a glimpse of them in the sequel of the original, Futureworld. While both are set in a time where robots are so advanced to resemble humans, how the plots unfold is considerably different.
In the original Westworld movie we are provided a lot of exposition on how the world offering the wealthy such decadent delights works. We see things mostly from the human guests’ point of view.
The Westworld HBO series more or less throws us into its world and what is happening from the perspective of a robot named Dolores (played by charismatic actress Evan Rachel Wood, see below). A lot of the story slowly unfold as a mystery, and there is a lot of timeline jumping for the purpose of narrative.
The Man in Black – Westworld Original vs Remake
Whereas the Man in Black from the original Westworld movie (played by Yul Brynner) is the lead antagonist, we are not sure what he (played by actor Ed Harris) is in the HBO series. Not only is there a lot of mystery around the Man in Black for the series, his character seems to be a human this time.
SPOILER ALERT: In fact, a HUGE reveal is that the Man in Black is actually a major character we see throughout the series. With the way things play out this is a startling revelation.
Up to that point the other character William seems to be in love with Dolores. She seems to be a central character that is trying to leave the park. Part of the mystery revolves whether this is a glitch (which the original Westworld makes clear,) or something within her programming.
Unraveling the Mystery Behind the Westworld HBO Series
While the original film has some top performances from the likes of Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin, the topnotch cast really make the HBO series what it is:
Sir Anthony Hopkins
Thandie Newton
Jeffrey Wright
James Marsden
Tessa Thompson ..and more!
(..plus, soon to join in Season 3: Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad)
Whereas the 1973 original movie has a “in your face” robots on the loose premise, we are really not sure what is going on for the HBO series. There are a lot of clues along the way of first season as things unravel.
Then, in Season 2 we see the larger world of what is happening with the Delos Corporation. While this mirrors the Futureworld sequel as mentioned, the resemblance quickly evaporates as we dive a lot deeper into additional characters added to the series.