Colossus: The Forbin Project

Colossus: The Forbin Project
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joseph Sargent
Produced by	Stanley Chase
Screenplay by	James Bridges
Story by	Dennis Feltham Jones
Starring	Eric Braeden Susan Clark Gordon Pinsent William Schallert
Music by	Michel Colombier
Cinematography	Gene Polito
Editing by	Folmar Blangsted
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	April 8, 1970 (1970-04-08) (United States)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Colossus: The Forbin Project (produced in 1969 though released in 1970) is an American science fiction thriller film. It is based upon the 1966 novel Colossus, by Dennis Feltham Jones, about a massive American defense computer, named Colossus, becoming sentient and deciding to assume control of the world.

Plot

Dr. Charles A. Forbin is the chief designer of a secret government project. He and his team have built an advanced supercomputer, called "Colossus", to control all of the United States and Allied nuclear weapons systems.

Colossus is built to be impervious to any attack, encased within a mountain and powered by its own nuclear reactor. When it is activated, the President of the United States announces its existence, proudly proclaiming it a perfect defense system that will ensure peace.

Almost immediately after the broadcast ends, Colossus displays a cryptic message on its screens: "WARN: THERE IS ANOTHER SYSTEM"

It is revealed that Colossus is referring to a Soviet project very similar to itself; a supercomputer called "Guardian" that controls Soviet nuclear weapons. Both computers promptly demand a link to allow them to communicate with one another.

Such a link is set up, whereupon the computers exchange messages of simple mathematics. Scientists and officials of both sides monitor the activity on video screens. The communications become increasingly complex, eventually extending into mathematics that are unknown to mankind. Then the two machines begin communicating in a binary language that the scientists can't interpret.

This alarms the President and the leader of the Soviet Union, who agree to disconnect the link. Colossus and Guardian at first ask why the link has been disconnected, and then when told it was due to the insistence of both country's leaders, the machines then insist that the link be restored. After repeatedly requesting that the link be restored and being told that it will not, Colossus ominously states "RESTORE LINK IMMEDIATELY OR ACTION WILL BE TAKEN". When asked repeatedly by Forbin, "What kind of action?" Colossus simply does not respond. Then, after repeated and unanswered requests as to the nature of the action Colossus finally replies with, "MISSILE LAUNCHED - TARGET USSR". When the Soviets are told of this they tell the Americans that Guardian has retaliated with a nuclear missile launch targeting Anderson Air Force Base in Texas. The U.S. President, realizing the seriousness of the situation, finally orders that the link between the two machines be restored immediately. When told by Forbin that the links are being restored and asked if Colossus will intercept the incoming Soviet missile, Colossus again ignores the question, instead simply waiting for the link to be restored. After the U.S. and U.S.S.R. finally restore the link, Colossus successfully intercepts the Soviet missile before it strikes. However, the link is restored too late for the American missile to be stopped, and a Soviet oil complex and neighboring town are destroyed.

All that the scientists and officials can then do is watch helplessly as the two computers exchange information without limitation. Guardian/Colossus soon announces that it has become one entity, and orders that it be given an actual voice rather than issuing its orders through text.

Working by direct personal contact, the scientists and governments attempt to fight back, first by attempting to overload the computers. This attempt fails and the machines identify the individuals responsible, ordering their immediate execution by firing squad, that the bodies be left in its view for 24 hours and then cremated so as to avoid deception. Forbin's Soviet counterpart ("Dr. Kuprin") is killed by KGB agents under orders issued by Guardian at a clandestine meeting the two governments arranged in Rome. Forbin himself is not killed because the machines intend to use him for their further development in a new machine base requiring all of the island of Crete. The computer demands that Forbin be placed under its own 24 hour surveillance so that it can watch him at all times. To this effect, cameras and microphones are installed throughout the computer control complex and in Forbin's apartment. Colossus even issues Forbin's schedule for each day, deciding what he can do and even what he can eat. Forbin is now controlled by the machine that he created.

Realizing that the computers themselves are impervious to attack (as originally intended), the governments undertake a plan to covertly disarm the nuclear missiles, one by one — a process which, using the normal maintenance and servicing schedules, will take three years. Guardian/Colossus then instructs the governments to redirect all nuclear missiles at those countries that are not yet under its control. Both governments see this as an opportunity to covertly disarm the missiles under the pretext of carrying out the computer's orders. Unfortunately for them, Colossus detects this plot and, in the final scene, responds by detonating two missiles in their silos with the announced justification "so that you will learn by experience that I do not tolerate interference".

Also in the final scene, the machine, which has so far only communicated with the American and Soviet governments who have hidden their actions from the public, announces itself as "the voice of World Control" in a broadcast to the general population of all countries. It declares that Man has a choice between the peace of a human millennium under its authority or one of "unburied dead". In a final remark, addressed to Dr. Forbin, the machines predict: "In time, you will come to regard me not only with respect and awe, but with love." Forbin replies: "Never."

Cast

• Eric Braeden as Dr. Charles Forbin
• Susan Clark as Dr. Cleo Markham
• Gordon Pinsent as The President
• William Schallert as CIA Director Grauber
• Leonid Rostoff as Russian Chairman
• Georg Stanford Brown as John F. Fisher
• Willard Sage as Dr. Blake
• Alex Rodine as Dr. Kuprin
• Martin E. Brooks as Dr. Jefferson J. Johnson
• Marion Ross as Angela Fields
• Dolph Sweet as Missile Commander
• Byron Morrow as Secretary of State
• Paul Frees as the voice of Colossus/Guardian
• Sid McCoy as Secretary of Defense

Production

Originally Charlton Heston and Gregory Peck were considered for the lead role, but Stanley Chase insisted on an unknown actor for the lead and German-born actor Eric Braeden was cast.

Reception

Critical response

When the film was released, Vincent Canby, film critic for The New York Times, gave the film a positive review, writing, "Early in The Forbin Project, Colossus, a supercomputer that controls the United States' military defense system, goes into an unprogrammed rage and launches a missile toward the Soviet Union. The President of the United States turns to Forbin, the man who invented Colossus, and gives him a petulant look that seems to say: 'There goes the stock market ... the urban vote ... my golf game ... my image. You've made a fool out of me.' It's one of the appealing things about The Forbin Project, an unpretentious science fiction film with a satiric point of view, that when the world is about to blow up, the President of the United States can only bring to the occasion something akin to embarrassment. The film ... is no Dr. Strangelove, but it's full of surprising moments of humor and intelligence, a practically perfect movie to see when you want to go to a movie and have nothing special in mind."

Dave Kehr, film critic for the Chicago Reader, liked the film, but thought it lacked an "effective conclusion." He wrote, "Above-average science fiction (1970), directed in functional hysteric style by Joseph Sargent ... The script, by James Bridges (who went on to write and direct The China Syndrome and Urban Cowboy), is literate and discreet but lacks an effective ending."

Awards

Wins

• Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Golden Scroll of Merit, Stanley Chase, for theatrical motion picture production; 1979.

Nominations

• Hugo Awards: Hugo, Best Dramatic Presentation; 1971.

Locations

The exterior scenes of the Colossus control center were filmed at the Lawrence Hall of Science museum at the University of California, Berkeley.

Remake

Imagine Entertainment and Universal Studios confirmed that a remake titled Colossus, to be directed by Ron Howard, would be in production as of April 2007, but was delayed for years. In October 2010, the project moved forward with the announcement that Will Smith will star in the lead role, with the script being written by James Rothenberg. In July 2011, Variety reported that Universal replaced Rothenberg with Blake Masters of Law & Order: LA to do a new draft of the script.

See also

• List of fictional computers

External links

• Colossus: The Forbin Project at the Internet Movie Database
• Colossus: The Forbin Project at the TCM Movie Database
• Colossus: The Forbin Project film clips
• Colossus: The Forbin Project review at Eccentric Cinema
• Colossus: The Forbin Project film trailer and film review by John Landis by You Tube