If Arrow’s Westworld already sits on your shelf, the question is whether its lesser-loved sequel deserves a place beside it. Released in 1976, Futureworld trades the original’s Wild West thrills for a science-fiction conspiracy, with some fascinating ideas that don’t always translate into an equally fascinating movie.

MGM originally considered producing the sequel but passed on it in favor of Logan’s Run. American International Pictures eventually picked up the rights, reportedly paying MGM and Westworld creator Michael Crichton $100,000 each, though Crichton had no creative involvement. Producers Paul N. Lazarus III and James T. Aubrey hired Richard T. Heffron (I Will Fight No More Forever) to direct from a screenplay by Mayo Simon and George Schenck. Simon had previously written the wonderfully strange Phase IV, making him a promising choice to continue the Delos story.

This time, Delos has reopened for business, promising that its deadly malfunctions are a thing of the past. The newest attraction, Futureworld, offers space-age adventures instead of cowboy shootouts. Reporters Chuck Browning (Peter Fonda, 3:10 to Yuma) and Tracy Ballard (Blythe Danner, I’ll See You in My Dreams) are invited for a VIP tour, but Browning arrives with a tip suggesting something sinister is happening behind the scenes. Company representative Duffy (Arthur Hill, The Andromeda Strain) is all smiles and reassurances, but the further the reporters investigate, the more suspicious the operation becomes.

The production itself is almost as interesting as the movie. Working with roughly $2 million and a four-week shooting schedule, Heffron transformed Houston into a futuristic playground. NASA opened the doors to Johnson Space Center, including Apollo mission control, while the Hyatt Regency and an airport tram helped create the illusion of an elaborate resort. Even a bar set from Logan’s Run found a second life here. Most impressive is the film’s place in visual effects history, featuring early 3D computer-generated hand and face imagery developed through the pioneering work of Ed Catmull and Fred Parke at the University of Utah. 

Unfortunately, the movie never quite lives up to all that ingenuity. Fonda and Danner make an appealing investigative team, and there’s something deliciously unsettling about a corporation inviting journalists inside while hiding a potentially horrifying secret. The setup has plenty of promise, but the mystery takes too long to develop. Instead of building suspense, much of the 108-minute runtime feels like an extended tour of futuristic technology while we wait for the real story to kick into gear. Even Yul Brynner’s return as the Gunslinger amounts to a brief dream-sequence cameo. It’s his final film appearance, and he’s gone almost before we’ve had a chance to enjoy seeing him again.

What keeps Futureworld interesting is its vision of a future where technology and corporate power become increasingly difficult to separate. The film doesn’t explore those ideas as effectively as it could, but there’s enough here to appreciate beyond its connection to Westworld. It even earned an unusual place in cinema history when it became the first American film shown to general audiences in the People’s Republic of China in 1979.

As a thriller, Futureworld never matches the tension or ingenuity of its predecessor. As a wonderfully odd snapshot of how Hollywood imagined tomorrow in 1976, however, it still has its charms. It’s an imperfect sequel with an interesting history, some terrific production ingenuity, and just enough personality to make that second trip to Delos worthwhile.