SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Iseerphia All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

rsvp321 Very thought provoking, and still relevant. I remember seeing this, and The Forbin Project, 1970 (also 8 stars, imo), many years ago, and found them both far above average. After recently acquiring a DVD copy of this, it was really nice to see it again.Hollywood writers are obviously drained from new ideas for the most part, especially for science fiction, so dusting off the classics is a great way to get a refreshing new fix for the rookie aficionados!

sddavis63 No less a figure than Stephen Hawking has warned about the potential implications and dangers of artificial intelligence. So, with Hawking's comments as background for today's viewers, you have to admit that there's a certain relevance to this film, and that the basic plot is perhaps not as far fetched as it might appear at first glance to be.A super computer named Proteus IV imprisons a woman (its creator's wife) in her own home and essentially decides to rape her, because it wants to impregnate her in order to create offspring that will allow it to know what it is to be human. Interesting thought. I can give some credit to the writers for that. For the scenes depicting Susan's imprisonment, I thought that director Donald Cammell did an effective job of giving the viewer the sense of being trapped. It was easy to understand at least that part of Susan's plight. But I have to be honest and say that what brings this movie down mostly is its depiction of the future.The movie was made in 1977. I'm not really sure what year its set in, but I have to assume that it's somewhere in the future. It doesn't appear to be too far in the future. There are, for example, only minor tweaks to things like cars that give them a more futuristic appearance but means that they're still cars as we know cars. So a few decades into the future? That would be my guess. I don't remember a date being mentioned. But Proteus - as much as it brought to my mind Hawking's warning about AI - just didn't work for me. Those who developed the plot seemed to make the assumption that as they became more and more complex, computers would become physically larger. Proteus, for example, seems to be a truly huge computer system. Of course, we know that the trend is the opposite. As computers become more and more complex they seem to get smaller and smaller. I can't really blame the writers for getting that point wrong (in 1977, how would they have known?) but neither can I say that - looked at in 2016 - it gives the movie any credibility. AI may turn out to be a dangerous development a la Hawking, but I can't see this as a realistic scenario.Add on to that some performances that I thought were uneven (Julie Christie was decent enough as Susan, but Fritz Weaver didn't really grab me as her estranged husband Alex, and they're the main cast members in this) and it meant that the movie just didn't hit home with me. It missed the mark. Not by too much, perhaps, but it did miss the mark. I'm going to give it a 5/10.

sunznc Oh boy,.......this movie is terrifying and mesmerizing!! When I first saw this way back when, it was too slow for me. Tonight? It gave me goosebumps. Proteus is built by a scientist on the verge of divorce. In fact, he is moving out of the house and separating from his wife. Unfortunately, he has left the house under the command of a computer who is later borrowed by Proteus. Inhabited by Proteus. Proteus is a HUGE brain and can figure out things the human mind cannot. But when Proteus decides he wants a child, he decides that the scientist's soon to be ex-wife will do as the mother and begins to imprison her so he may impregnate her!!!Absolutely creepy and terrifying!! Frightening. Die hard computer fans will be quick to point out how dated the computer terminals are but there is no denying the fear that this film instills!

dbacke1 This is a truly classic science fiction film, and it was actually way ahead of it's time when it was released back in 1977. The topic of artificial intelligence is still very relevant today, and just one look at Eagle Eye is proof enough. Everything about this film is top notch: directing, acting, script, score, cinematography, etc. are all first-rate. I was very sad when I looked for it on DVD a few years back and could not locate it. Fortunately, it is now available in DVD format. I also echo the sentiments of another reviewer who commented on the sad demise of director Donald Cammell, who was extremely talented but misunderstood. Another interesting film directed by Cammell in his later years is White of The Eye, which was released in 1987. It is a suspense thriller about a serial killer on the loose in Arizona, and it stars David Keith in a great performance. Check it out, and definitely check out Demon Seed if you haven't seen it already. You won't regret it. 8 Stars.