While not a box office smash, 1973’s Westworld became a decent hit. Three years later this brought a sequel via 1976’s Futureworld.

After robots at the Westworld section of the Delos theme park created havoc, the owners reopen with new themes and alleged fresh safety precautions. Informant “Frenchy” (Ed Geldard) promises damaging material about Delos to investigative reporter Chuck Browning (Peter Fonda) but Frenchy ends up murdered in front of Chuck’s eyes.

Invited by the Delos bigwigs to review the revived park, Browning and TV journalist Tracy Ballard (Blythe Danner) accept. They use this opportunity to find out who killed Frenchy and get to the bottom of matters.

To me, the 1973 film felt like a missed opportunity. While I liked the concept, the execution faltered and made it spotty and undeveloped.

This left room for improvement and I went into Futureworld with some optimism it might live up to the project’s potential. Alas, the sequel fares even worse than its predecessor.

One major issue stems from the film’s sluggish pace. Futureworld spends endless minutes with views of the antics in the different “worlds” at Delos.

Granted, Westworld did the same, but it didn’t work there either. Also, Futureworld runs 18 minutes longer than its predecessor did so the tedium becomes even more obvious.

Futureworld stretches credulity in many ways, and I don’t mean those related to the sci-fi elements. I find it tough to accept that customers would flock back to Delos so soon after the violent mayhem depicted in the first film.

Of course, we hear that the owners tout those supposed additional security precautions, but c’mon. Many people stopped swimming in the ocean because they saw shark attacks in Jaws - if a movie could impact behavior like that, does it really make sense that so many would shrug off real world deaths?

Also, it comes across as a stretch that the Delos executives would invite Chuck – the journalist who broke the story about the mayhem in Westworld – to visit. Admittedly, this makes a little more sense, as I can swallow that Delos would hope the endorsement of the reporter who revealed the resort’s scandal would convince skeptics of its newfound safety.

Still, this feels like a contrivance, as does the manner in which the film brings back its one returning character: the “Gunslinger” (Yul Brynner). The main robot behind the first film’s violence, Futureworld finds ridiculous means to bring his reprise.

Not only do these choices prompt eye-rolling, but also they cause the already slow-paced narrative to grind to a halt. The movie could easily lose everything related to Brynner and no one would notice.

Indeed, anything that helps the flick pick up the pace would benefit the end result, though Futureworld comes with too many problems for editing to solve these concerns. Despite some promising themes, the final result winds up as silly and dull.

Futureworld appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This turned into a solid Dolby Vision presentation.

Overall delineation seemed satisfying. A few wider shots could feel somewhat soft, but the majority of the movie felt accurate and tight.

Neither jagged edges nor moiré effects became an issue, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed natural, and I saw no print flaws.

The movie’s palette usually came across as fairly natural, albeit with a lean toward blue/green at times. The colors felt lively, and HDR added impact to the tones.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while low-light shots appeared well-rendered. HDR gave whites and contrast extra punch. Though still a product of its era, the image worked well.

In addition, the LPCM monaural mix of Futureworld felt perfectly positive for its era. Dialogue sounded natural, as speech intelligible and without edginess or other issues.

Music and effects came across as acceptably clear. They lacked much range but they also didn’t suffer from distortion or other issues. Ultimately, this became a good soundtrack for mid-1970s thriller.

As we shift to extras, we launch with an audio commentary from film historian Daniel Kremer. He provides a running, screen-specific look at the project’s origins and development, story/characters, cast and crew, various production elements, the movie’s reception and legacy.

Kremer digs into Futureworld in fine fashion. He delves into a wide variety of subjects in this well-organized and compelling chat.

Two video programs follow, and Future Present runs 23 minutes, 29 seconds. Producer Paul N. Lazarus III becomes the participant here.

Lazarus discusses his role on Futureworld as well as aspects of the production. Some of this repeats from Kremer’s commentary but Lazarus nonetheless brings enough new info to make it worth a look.

From 1976, NASA: Science Fact and Fiction goes for seven minutes, 32 seconds. It shows us footage from the set along with remarks from Lazarus, producer James Aubrey, director Richard Heffron, visual effects coordinator Brent Sellstrom and actor Blythe Danner.

A basic promo piece, NASA doesn’t provide too many revelations. However, we get some good glimpses of the shoot so it becomes watchable.

Along with a trailer, a TV spot and five radio spots, an Image Gallery provides 199 shots that mix movie elements and publicity stills. It becomes a fairly blah compilation.

Westworld offered a promising story that didn’t pan out and the same holds true for the tedious Futureworld. Despite potential intrigue and drama, the end result proves slow and boring. The 4K UHD comes with very good picture, era-appropriate audio and a few bonus features. This becomes a quality release for a forgettable movie.