“No cause for alarm, Bernard. Simply our old work come back to haunt us.”
–Dr. Ford

By now it’s become cliché to note the remarkable number of reboots and re-imaginings Hollywood has doled out—to varying levels of success—in recent years. Riding the nostalgic remix wave, HBO has served up the visually stunning and thought-provoking Westworld, a reworking of Michael Crichton’s 1973 techno-thriller.

Nostalgic reboots make up a booming market, if not one marked by much artistic creativity. 2015...