Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)

Thinking this will prevent war, the US government gives an impenetrable supercomputer total control over launching nuclear missiles. But what the computer does with the power is unimaginable to its creators.

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writers:

James Bridges (screenplay), D.F. Jones (novel)

Stars:

Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Forbin is the designer of an incredibly sophisticated computer that will run all of America's nuclear defenses. Shortly after being turned on, it detects the existence of Guardian, the Soviet counterpart, previously unknown to US Planners. Both computers insist that they be linked, and after taking safeguards to preserve confidential material, each side agrees to allow it. As soon as the link is established the two become a new Super computer and threaten the world with the immediate launch of nuclear weapons if they are detached. Colossus begins to give its plans for the management of the world under its guidance. Forbin and the other scientists form a technological resistance to Colossus which must operate underground.

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Plot Keywords:

super computer | technology gone amok | computer | scientist | cult film | 

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Taglines:

This is the dawning of the Age of Colossus (where peace is compulsory... freedom is forbidden... and Man's greatest invention could be Man's greatest mistake).

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

M

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

8 April 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Day the World Changed Hands

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally Charlton Heston and Gregory Peck were considered for the lead role, but Stanley Chase insisted on an unknown actor for the lead and German-born actor Eric Braeden was cast.

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Goofs

When the equations are scrolling past when Colossus and Guardian are "talking" to each other, you can see that they do not actually get ever more complex as the dialogue suggests. Instead, they repeat the same sequence of calculus and trig identities on a repeating loop.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in Futurama: Leela and the Genestalk (2013)

User Reviews

Mankind is his own worst enemy

This underrated science fiction/suspense drama, though arguably dated in terms of technology, is still a frightening allegory about humans allowing our technological creations to rule us.

Eric Braeden stars as Dr. Charles Forbin, who has created a supercomputer named Colossus, built solely for the purpose of controlling the nuclear defenses of the Western alliance. It isn't too long after, however, that the Russians announce that they too have built a similar computer for those same purposes on their side--Guardian. And when the two machines begin sharing information at a speed nobody can believe, an attempt is made to disable them.

This unfortunately just raises the machines' ire; and in retaliation, they launch their weapons at each other's home nations. The result is a chilling scenario that is potentially becoming all too real these days.

COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT was not a big hit at the box office for various reasons. One is that its cast wasn't exactly well known. Another reason is that its ending isn't exactly a happy one. Still a third reason is that Universal had trouble trying to promote it in the wake of the huge success of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. The latter reason is obvious: Colossus and Guardian, like HAL in the Kubrick movie, become central characters here. The difference here is that while HAL malfunctions due to a programming conflict, Colossus and Guardian remain all too stable, convinced beyond a doubt that they know how to protect Mankind better than Man himself. As the computers point out: "One inevitable rule is that Mankind is his own worst enemy."

Joseph Sargent's direction is efficient, and the special effects work of Albert Whitlock still manages to work despite its obvious age. An overlooked gem in the sci-fi genre, this should be given a revival.