Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)

the audience applauded

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Best movie of this year hands down!

best movie i've ever seen.

Being a fan of some Marvel, some DC movies I find it refreshing to watch a movie without amazing special effects where the actors must keep the viewers attention and the script had a more important role in the success or failure of a film. This movie, while not my favorite, is a nice change of pace from today's average action/sci fi flick. One thing I noticed that will likely ruffle the feathers of the average liberal democrat, while Colossus(a US super computer) and Guardian(the Soviet counterpart) are getting to "know" each other and also expanding our knowledge of the universe, you will notice that the Guardian(Russian) computer is moving at a much slower pace than the Colossus(US Super computer) is. Since liberals just love the former Soviet Union with all it's Gulag's and iron fisted excess, I figure it might upset them that the writer(s) thought it necessary to point out that the Russians are ALWAYS a few steps BEHIND the USA in just about every endeavor. Thought you might enjoy that info.

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.Tom Weaver noted, "Early on, they had either Charlton Heston or Gregory Peck in mind, but then they changed their mind about that. Stanley Chase insisted on a relative unknown. That's when Eric Braeden came into the picture." When he was cast, Braeden was still using his birth name, Hans Gudegast. Universal Pictures executive Lew Wasserman told him that no one would be allowed to star in an American film if they had a German name. As strange as that sounds, it is apparently true.How many people today (2017) have heard of this film? I suspect very few. Even being familiar with science fiction, it was new to me. Which is a shame, because as far as the "sentient computer" subgenre goes, this is a really strong film and ought to be used to influence future writing. I am not suggesting a remake, but clearly they had thought it through by the 1960s -- a film could be made today with virtually no change.

This is a rather tired working-out of the old computers-are-taking-over- the-world theme. The premise is simple, and it is developed in a very linear way, with no twists or surprises (except, perhaps, at the very end), no shading, no subtlety, no characterization to speak of. Despite the theme of how crucial it is to be human, the characters are developed only as cogs in the plot. This makes the dialogue go clunky several times. Even the attempt at romance, which really only amounts to a single sex scene, goes no further than the plot requires. In fact, nothing appears on the screen that is not driven by the plot: how do we stop this computer?The film may be a step up from the usual monsters from outer space movie, but it is not a very big step.Eric Braeden as Forbin has a puzzling accent, just a trace now and again of his first language, German. It's quite distracting. If the director had let him use more of his accent, we wouldn't be jarred by the odd pronunciation here and there, and the accent would have seemed quite suitable for a German-American scientist. But what really bothered me about Braeden was his inability to portray emotion, no matter how exciting or stressful the situation. Always his main concern seems to be to turn fetchingly for the camera and, without any furrowing of the brow or moving of facial muscles, with nothing in particular in his eyes, he seems only to show the faint, self-satisfied smile of a vain male model.By the way, that missile Colossus sends on its way toward the Soviet Union is shown as originating in Saskatchewan. Sorry, but Canada under Prime Minister John Diefenbaker refused to allow nuclear missiles on its soil. It's trivial point, but it does show a certain sloppiness.Lastly, perhaps a bit of pettiness, I found the constant, loud clattering of Colossus as it typed its communications quite annoying.

When Eric Braeden playing Dr. Charles Forbin built Colossus he built far better than he could conceive and soon regretted it. This thought provoking science fiction film challenges a whole lot of casual assumptions about man's superiority and dominance of his world. Not too mention the possibilities of the computer age.Back then in 1970 the idea of personal computers and folks carrying around lap tops was not conceived either. If they had them then, the various members of the cast would just plug them in to get directions from Colossus and Braeden just might be considered expendable.Braden's Dr. Forbin is the computer genius THE man in the cyber industry. He's built a huge underground computer deep in the Rocky Mountains that has completely taken over the defense of the USA. It's beyond the scope of anything ever developed. The Russians have also developed such a system called Guardian as Colossus learns. They contact each other and forge a partnership to maintain world peace at any price.Of course man does not like putting himself at the mercy of machines for any reasons. Our Luddite tendencies are not so far beneath the surface. Both machines are capable of exercising the self defense mechanism that the US and USSR have built in and being super smart, they've got some tricks of their own.Gordon Pinsent plays the president of the USA, the most popularly elected leader on the planet. Yet by dint of the knowledge he has about the super computers taking over, Braeden supplants him as the most important man in the world, a dubious distinction in the world that Colossus and Guardian are going to create.Except for fans of The Young And The Restless and The Rat Patrol, Eric Braeden got his career role in Colossus: The Forbin Project. This is one imaginative film and the particulars might be wrong as developed, but the general idea about super computers running us eventually is rich food for thought.