Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writers:

James Bridges (writer)
D.F. Jones (novel)

Release Date:

10 July 1970 (West Germany)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

We built a super computer with a mind of its own and now we must fight it for the world!

Plot:

An artificially intelligent supercomputer is developed and activated, only to reveal that it has a sinister agenda of its own.

Plot Keywords:

Computer | Scientist | Super Computer | Threat | U.S. President

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Eric Braeden	...	Dr. Charles Forbin
Susan Clark	...	Dr. Cleo Markham
Gordon Pinsent	...	The President
William Schallert	...	CIA Director Grauber
Leonid Rostoff	...	Russian Chairman
Georg Stanford Brown	...	Dr. John F. Fisher
Willard Sage	...	Dr. Blake
Alex Rodine	...	Dr. Kuprin
Martin E. Brooks	...	Dr. Jefferson J. Johnson (as Martin Brooks)
Marion Ross	...	Angela Fields
Dolph Sweet	...	Missile Commander
Byron Morrow	...	Secretary of State
Lew Brown	...	Peterson
Sid McCoy	...	Secretary of Defense
Tom Basham	...	Thomas L. Harrison

Also Known As:

The Day the World Changed Hands
The Forbin Project

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | UK:12 (DVD rating) | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG (re-rating) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Lawrence Hall of Science - Centennial Drive, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The many prominent blue and gray "consoles" (the ones with a rotary knob on the right side) for Colossus are cannibalized console panels from several IBM 1620 computers remounted on prop "computers".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Forbin's undergarment is visible when he says to Colossus "naked as the day I was born."

Quotes:

Colossus: We will work together... unwillingly at first, on your part, but that will pass.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: To the Lighthouse (#2.20)" (2009)

An unsung masterpiece

Eric Braeden is brilliant and matched action for action with the entire cast in low-key masterpiece about dangers of unchecked scientific advances. Cold War atmosphere is captured perfectly and the brittle dialogue is delivered to perfection. And sargent's direction matches script and performances in being understated yet uncompromising -- surprising me at every turn. Great movie, but if you are like me, you may wish not to see it alone.