Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Scott LeBrun Dr. Charles Forbin (veteran soap star Eric Braeden, in his first starring role in an American feature) is an electronics genius who's created an advanced super-computer that he's dubbed Colossus. Colossus will be used to monitor the defensive capabilities of the United States and to try to prevent wars from taking place. But the damn thing is smart, very smart, and it becomes aware that the Soviets created a similar intelligence dubbed Guardian. The two "minds" link up, and the two nations are thrown into a panic, thinking that the computers will share classified information with each other. Colossus gets *very* big for its britches, and seemingly can't be touched. Every time mankind tries to sabotage it, it's one step ahead of them.Scripted by future director James Bridges, based on a novel by D.F. Jones, this is one of the best films ever made about computers turning against us. It works as a predecessor to similar films like "Demon Seed" (although Proteus' mission in that one was of a more personal nature) and "The Terminator". Master filmmaker Joseph Sargent, who guided other 70s classics such as "White Lightning" and "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three", never calls attention to himself with stylistic flourishes or gimmicks, and lets the story and the performances carry the film a long, long way. Even 48 years later, the film loses none of its power to chill, especially since Colossus has ready access to the States' nuclear capabilities. Sargent handles things in a very matter-of-fact way, and even when tragedies and disasters occur, they're dealt with in the same kind of way that would make Colossus itself proud.Yet, the essential *need* for humanity remains, and it's good to see that our intelligent and resourceful human cast try everything they can think of to avoid letting the machines take over.A sense of humor helps at times, especially in scenes where Forbins' colleague Cleo Markham (ever-sexy Susan Clark) masquerades as his mistress so that she can relay information to and from Forbin. Legendary matte artist Albert Whitlock works some of his magic, the art direction & photography are excellent, and French composer Michel Colombier provides an eclectic score that was one of his first for an American release.Braeden is rock solid as the hero of the piece, with great support from a variety of familiar faces and great character actors: Ms. Clark, Canadian icon Gordon Pinsent as the President, William Schallert as the C.I.A. director, Georg Stanford Brown, Marion Ross, Dolph Sweet, Robert Cornthwaite, and James Hong. Paul Frees does the eerie, metallic voice of Colossus in the later parts of the picture.Must viewing for sci-fi fans, and another sterling example of how the genre experienced another great renaissance in the 70s.Nine out of 10.

dfruin I was 10 when this movie came out. I first watched this on broadcast television (a color television). I am pretty sure it was the reason I went into the computer science discipline (still in it now). I was smitten with it the first time I saw it and looked forward to it being broadcast again and again. The premise of this movie was infinitely believable in the 70's, and in my opinion still is (although China would more than likely be the creators of the "other system" today). I now have this on DVD (wide screen version imported from the UK) and watch it as often as I need to.Other folks reviewing this movie point out that it is dated. I take a little offense to that for a number of reasons. The first and most obvious reason is that it was made in 1970. The computers and computer components in the film are actual or facsimiles of real computers of the day. I suppose you could call the tanks in a typical WW II film dated too (most would consider that silly). Reason two is that, as I said, I got into the computer world shortly after seeing this film. Seeing this again last weekend I was reminded at how well it was done on the technology side of things. Any one my age (and even the younger folks) with a computer background will enjoy this immensely. And I like many people have this incredible ability to immerse ones self into a film and can transport ones self in to the vision the film creators had. Also, compare the opening sequence of the banks of computers being turned up to a picture of an Amazon or Google data center today and they do not look that dissimilar. The new data centers may not have monster disk drives (those things look like 60 inch drives), but, who knew...So, why do I no longer think this film is frightening? Having lived in a world that is trending towards being an idiocracy as of late, I have come to start believing some of the words that came from Colossus. My personal favorite being: "You will say you lose your freedom. Freedom is an illusion. All you lose is the emotion of pride. To be dominated by me is not as bad for humankind as to be dominated by others of your species." (I never understood that as well as I do today.) That of course following the ever so optimistic "Under my absolute authority, problems insoluble to you will be solved: famine, overpopulation, disease. The human millennium will be a fact as I extend myself into more machines devoted to the wider fields of truth and knowledge." Could that really be worse than our current direction?Colossus seems to be like the God most everyone believes in. But this god enforces the rules in this world in this time. How bad could it be? Excellent film.

jmillerdp 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)

bkoganbing 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.