Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)

Best movie ever!

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The acting in this movie is really good.

This movie came out pre-Star Wars, and is a more cerebral, content based story. No shiny, flashy explosions here, just solid writing. I still watch it several times a year to remind myself of what we'll-written science fiction once was. Eric Braeden is a solid lead, and I consider this one of his best roles.

Yes, the movie came out in 1970, so the computer stuff and general surroundings are dated. But, luckily, legendary Visual Effects artist Albert Whitlock is on hand to provide some very key effects at the beginning to help us buy into the film's premise of a very powerful computer just going online.This computer, Colossus, is given complete control over the United States' defenses. As you can imagine, that doesn't end up being the greatest decision ever made!What follows is for you to see. This really is a great movie, and needs to be seen for not just Sci-Fi fans, but thriller fans.Director Joseph Sargent helmed many good films, my favorite of which is another thriller, "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three." That also should be seen!All the attributes work: film score, cinematography, acting, etc. And, the ending has quite a nice kick. Recommended!******** (8 Out of 10 Stars)

Much neglected seminal science fiction film that needs more love, or at least more acknowledgment from science fiction aficionados. Dr. Charles Forbin (Eric Braeden) has designed a super computer called Colossus, which is put in charge of the American nuclear arsenal to prevent human error in case of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. However, the Soviets have constructed a similar computer system nicknamed Guardian with the same purpose, and when the two computers merge on their own accord, they manage to conquer the world so they can fulfill their programming to their fullest extent by ruling the human race for its own good. Forbin himself is put under permanent house arrest by his own creation, and a race against time begins to stop the reign of the Forbin Project. Can the American and Soviet governments co-operate to bring Colossus down and liberate humanity? Spoilers! It turns out they cannot, and in full accordance with the grim look on science and the future in the depressing Seventies cinema of science fiction, of which this film was one of the kickstarters, the computer wins the day and enslaves humanity as its benevolent but uncompromising protector. A sequel involving the uprising of mankind against its new artificial overlord was once planned, but soon scrapped. Since few people seem to remember this intelligent and worthwhile (though overly slow paced) film, it might need a remake, though I dread the result present day Hollywood would deliver. Perhaps the movie doesn't actually need one, since it's surprisingly similar in narrative to I, Robot (2004) at times (though without robots) and also served as a possible inspiration for the Terminator franchise. However, if you get the opportunity to watch this flick sometime, you should definitely check it out.

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.