Plot hole: There is a barely credible explanation for the fact that a guest cannot be injured or killed by being shot in Westworld, but what about the vicious fistfight we see in the bar? People are injured or killed in bar brawls all the time, and this one was incredibly violent. How do they prevent guests from being injured or killed by the cutting and stabbing weapons we see in Medieval and Roman World? Guests are supposed to fight each other, not just robots - they cannot be 'programmed' to lose! Delos is going be sued into bankruptcy within a week of the first guest arriving. Quite apart from the legal position, think about the bad publicity! Who is going to pay the huge fees demanded by the parks owners when the media is constantly reporting on the guests who wound up dead or with life changing injuries?
Continuity mistake: Shortly before Sol's death, Thorn rushes into the suicide center and talks to him from the control room above. When Sol pleads Thorn to listen, there's interference on the intercom. Now watch the control panel: The earphone cable on the left side dangles back and forth each time the "speaking permitted" sign flashes on and off, blatantly revealing the cheap trick they used to make the display flashing - they simply toggled the "on" and "off" frames. (01:17:30)
Audio problem: In the shop scene at Ginsberg and Cohen's, when Miles replies, "Something simple," he never opens his mouth to do so.
Continuity mistake: The driver of a carriage is racing along a road during a rain storm. In long shot, it is pouring buckets & buckets of water. Close-up of the driver & it is a light rain. Back to long shot, buckets again. Close-up, light rain.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Ka and Bee jump over the "wall" towards the end after attaching the bomb to the boat, they have nothing on their backs; but when they jump into the water, the 'holder' of the bomb is seen on their backs again and the woman takes it off then.
Revealing mistake: Near the beginning, Megalon steps out from behind a mountain. It's obvious the "mountain" is a cardboard cutout.
Other mistake: As the Governor looks at the gorilla sentries, he is looking about forty-five° across the aim of the cannon next to him. When the cannon is fired at the gorillas, they are directly downrange of the cannon. After they're killed, he's again looking across the cannon's aim.
Suggested correction: The explanation given in the TV show would seem to easily apply to the original film as well: guests can be injured, but not to the point that it would leave a lasting mark. The park has access to futuristic medical techniques, so they can heal most non-life-threatening injuries easily. Also the guests almost certainly sign waivers, so in the event of serious injury the park isn't liable.
Suggested correction: It's easy to nitpick the factual details of "Westworld," the screenplay of which was written on-the-fly on a fairly limited budget, even by early 1970s' standards. Author Michael Crichton (who also wrote "The Andromeda Strain," "The Terminal Man," "Congo," "Sphere," "Jurassic Park" and several other technological thrillers) himself acknowledged that Westworld was more a visual story (like a comic book) than a cerebral piece of science fiction, and he learned on this movie that suspension of disbelief outweighed technical or even factual details, if he wanted to expedite the story in an hour-and-a-half. Crichton said he was having more fun and devoting more time to shooting the film than actually writing it, comparing the experience to playing cowboys and indians as a child. So, yes, Westworld is not much more than an adult fantasy with a number of plot holes that we are supposed to gleefully overlook, rather than analyze.
Charles Austin Miller
Except for blatant continuity mistakes you just invalidated every single entry on this site.
Suggested correction: Westworld ensure that any interactions with the robots are entirely safe for the patrons of the park. They cannot prevent humans fighting amongst themselves, just as Disneyland can't prevent people fighting there. People are also injured or die all the time in horse-riding accidents, but that won't lead to people suing Westworld. Due to the nature of the park, all the guests likely sign a waiver stating that any injuries are not the fault of the park.
Utter rubbish. Guests who were completely innocent bystanders could be killed or injured by the actions of other guests, notably in the bar brawl or by the explosion used in the jailbreak. We see one guest smash a barstool against the back of another guest - not a robot - which could easily have broken his spine. There is no question whatever that the owners and managers of the park would be held liable in this and many other cases, just as amusement park owners and managers nowadays are held liable when roller coasters or other rides go awry, injuring or killing guests.
The most plausible explanation would be a waiver that visitors to the park have to sign. The waiver would explain that while the robots cannot harm humans, other humans can, and the park is not held responsible. In the event of death or serious injury, the guest who caused it would face criminal charges and possibly a civil lawsuit. But a waiver would protect the park. Also, the rules of the park may be similar to those in the HBO Westworld series, where the robots cannot cause a "permanent mark", meaning they can injure guests as long as the injury is repairable.