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.
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Title: Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Eric Braeden | ... | Dr. Charles Forbin | |
| Susan Clark | ... | Dr. Cleo Markham | |
| Gordon Pinsent | ... | The President | |
| William Schallert | ... | CIA Director Grauber | |
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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 | |
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Lew Brown | ... | Peterson |
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Sid McCoy | ... | Secretary of Defense |
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Tom Basham | ... | Thomas L. Harrison |
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. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
A classic of science fiction and the paranoid political thrillers prevalent at the time: chilling in its implications and persuasively presented, the film makes for intelligent if demanding viewing. In hindsight, while it's much admired by connoisseurs of either genre (being a fan of both, I'd been longing to catch up with it for years!), the film deserves to have a more widespread reputation. Undoubtedly, this remains Joseph Sargent's best work; his cinematic career hasn't provided much else worthy of note, with the only film to come any close being the fine caper THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE, TWO, THREE (1974).
Its computer-run-amok theme echoes the Hal 9000 of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) and looks forward to DEMON SEED (1977)'s Proteus IV; what a fascinating if overwhelming triple-bill the films would make! Where production values are concerned polished look (courtesy of d.p. Gene Polito, who later shot WESTWORLD [1973]), imaginative settings (by the veteran Alexander Golitzen), often disorienting editing (the expert work of Folmar Blangsted) and an appropriately weird score (by Michel Colombier) the film truly can't be faulted, but it also benefits from a largely anonymous cast. The abrupt and unresolved ending, with Man refusing to give in to the undeniable superior intellect of his creation, is highly effective and certainly left the audience with sufficient food for thought and even apprehension for the future.
Needless to say, when this was announced for DVD release, I was ready to leap at the chance of finally being able to own and watch the film but, as many of you must already know, my joy (and that of many another fan, I'm sure) was short-lived when it emerged that Universal had issued a Pan-and-Scan version (which I can only imagine now how this ruined its detailed widescreen compositions)!; thankfully, I was able to make amends via the miraculous format called DivX...