Image Credit: WireImage.com
Ed Harris is coming to series TV: The Abyss and Apollo 13 actor has signed on as the Big Bad in HBO’s Westworld reboot.
The four-time Oscar nominee’s character is called The Man in Black, and is described as “the distillation of pure villainy into one man.” He joins previously cast star — and fellow series television newcomer—Anthony Hopkins, along with Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, and Shannon Woodward.
The Warner Bros.-produced sci-fi pilot produced by J.J Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, and Bryan Burk updates Michael Crichton’s 1973 classic film about a theme park where androids fulfill dark human desires. Harris’ description might sound like he’s playing the Yul Brynner killer-cowboy robot role, but it seems like actor Rodrigo Santoro was tapped for that part—and online production rumors suggest The Man in Black is actually a human character who sadistically abuses the androids.
Harris will soon be seen the feature film Run All Night, starring opposite Liam Neeson and Joel Kinnaman. Harris won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy for his work in HBO’s Game Change. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
I absolutely love this show, but I want to continue to be surprised. I had no idea this was a reboot until I read this thread a week ago. I have never heard of the original movie. Should I watch it or will that ruin anything for me?
The original is a bit of 70s cheese now, but you should watch. It wouldn't ruin anything from the series. The series is a lot different other than the basic premise
Yul Brenner makes quite a menacing and creepy robot gone haywire [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
I absolutely love this show, but I want to continue to be surprised. I had no idea this was a reboot until I read this thread a week ago. I have never heard of the original movie. Should I watch it or will that ruin anything for me?
You should definitely watch the original movie. It won't ruin anything. I am hoping that the insurrection referenced in the TV show is actually based on the events of that movie. But only the first movie, the second one was garbage. [Reply]
Originally Posted by listopencil:
You should definitely watch the original movie. It won't ruin anything. I am hoping that the insurrection referenced in the TV show is actually based on the events of that movie. But only the first movie, the second one was garbage.
I watched Westworld on TV as a kid several times and I was excited when Futureworld popped up a bit later...but I don't think I even watched the entire thing. It was such crap. [Reply]
Here is something kind of fun from the wiki page on the original Westworld movie:
The technicians running Delos notice problems beginning to spread like an infection among the androids: the robots in Roman World and Medieval World begin experiencing an increasing number of breakdowns and systemic failures, which are said to have spread to West World. When one of the supervising computer scientists scoffs at the "analogy of an infectious disease," he is told by the Chief Supervisor (Alan Oppenheimer), "We aren't dealing with ordinary machines here. These are highly complicated pieces of equipment, almost as complicated as living organisms. In some cases, they've been designed by other computers. We don't know exactly how they work." [Reply]
Im pretty sure the actor Jimmi Simpsons character is just the younger version of the man in black. I also dont think he raped her in the 1st episode in the barn but he us a little jaded & gives less f**** about short term violence. Hes looking at the overall goal & may even end up as a protagonist. I think he told her something that will be revealed later when they were in the barn that activated something. Pretty sure we will see alternate timelines [Reply]
I'm just happy it's back on tonight. I hadn't watched it at all until last week, so this was the first time I had to wait a week in between shows. It was awful. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
Im pretty sure the actor Jimmi Simpsons character is just the younger version of the man in black. I also dont think he raped her in the 1st episode in the barn but he us a little jaded & gives less f**** about short term violence. Hes looking at the overall goal & may even end up as a protagonist. I think he told her something that will be revealed later when they were in the barn that activated something. Pretty sure we will see alternate timelines
For those who believe in alternate timelines, how do you explain that the hosts (Dolores for instance) appear to be at the same level of technology 30 years apart for that to be true? Not just the gears versus guts but even the level of AI? [Reply]
The one thing that came to my mind would be that the 'past' storyline is actually just Dolores recalling events to Ford and Bernard at some point in the 'present' after a psychotic break/major plot event/unavoidable question of sentience. So if Dolores is being held under a sort of house arrest while they figure out what to do with her, and the 'past' storylines are just her interpretations of events, then the story could be distorted because they are being told from her point of view. Other than that I still don't buy the multiple timelines. [Reply]