Colossus: The Forbin Project
| Colossus: The Forbin Project | |
|---|---|
| File:ColossusTheForbinProject.jpg | |
| Directed by | Joseph Sargent |
| Written by | James Bridges, D.F. Jones |
| Produced by | Stanley Chase |
| Starring | Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert, Leonid Rostoff, Georg Stanford Brown, Willard Sage |
Release date | 1970 |
Running time | 100 min. |
| Language | English |
Colossus: The Forbin Project is an apocalyptic science fiction movie based on the 1966 novel Colossus by Dennis Feltham Jones. It tells of a massive defense computer which becomes sentient and decides to take control of the world. Although not very successful when it was released, the film is generally well respected by science fiction fans and critics.
Plot
Template:Spoiler Dr. Charles A. Forbin (Eric Braeden) is the chief designer of a secret government project. He and his team have built a gigantic and fantastically 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 Kennedy-esque President of the United States (Gordon Pinsent) announces its existence, proudly proclaiming it a perfect defense system that will ensure peace. Almost immediately, however, Colossus displays a cryptic warning: "There is another system".
It is revealed that Colossus is referring to a Soviet project very similar to Colossus; a supercomputer called "Guardian," which controls Soviet nuclear weapons. Both computers request a link to allow them to communicate with one another. A link is set up, and the computers start exchanging messages of simple mathematics, as the scientists and officials of both sides monitor the communication on video screens. The communications become increasingly complex, eventually extending into mathematics formerly 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 insist that the link be restored, or "steps will be taken." When this threat is ignored, Colossus and Guardian each launch one of their nuclear missiles. The U.S. and U.S.S.R. quickly restore the link, and Colossus intercepts the Soviet missile before it strikes. The link is restored too late for the American missile to be destroyed, and a Soviet oil complex and neighboring town are destroyed. The scientists and officials watch helplessly as the two computers exchange information without inhibition. The computers then announce they've joined, and become a single, even more powerful computer, taking the name Colossus.
Guided by Dr. Forbin, the scientists and governments of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. try to fight back, first by attempting to overload Colossus, and then by secretly disarming the nuclear missiles, one by one. These attempts are easily thwarted by Colossus, who detonates two nuclear warheads in retaliation, killing millions.
At the film's end, Colossus broadcasts a speech to all countries, declaring itself the ruler of the world. It says that under its authority, war will be abolished and problems such as famine, disease and overpopulation will be solved. "The human millennium will be a fact." In its final remark, addressed to Dr. Forbin, Colossus chillingly predicts: "In time, you will come to regard me not only with respect and awe, but with love."
Colossal trivia
- After the release of the movie, Jones wrote two sequels to Colossus: The Fall of Colossus (1974) and Colossus and the Crab (1977). Neither of these books have been optioned for adaptation to film.
- At the time of production of this movie, IBM was scrapping many IBM 1620 computers. About a dozen front panels from 1620s were purchased and used in various orientations for the front panels of Colossus. A Control Data Corporation magnetic tape drive also seems to be in evidence, as is a Tektronix RM503 oscilloscope.
- This movie could be seen as an influence on the Terminator films. It has been rumored that director James Cameron is a big fan of this movie. This quotes from Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day illustrate this, as it clearly recalls Sargent's story:
- SARAH: Uh huh, great. Then those fat fucks in Washington figure, what the hell, let a computer run the whole show, right? - TERMINATOR: Basically. The Skynet funding bill is passed. The system goes on-line August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn, at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. eastern time, August 29. In a panic, they try to pull the plug. - SARAH: And Skynet fights back.
- Colossus provided the inspiration for the track "Obey" by UK Manchester centred band SkinjoB
- The logo for Colossus is a blue triangle with a C in the middle and an atom in the middle of the C. The Triangle represents the mountain containing Colossus, C stood for the machine, and the atom was the nuclear reactor running Colossus. It bears a resemblance to the old AOL symbol.
- The exterior scenes of the Colossus Programming Office were shot on location at the then newly built Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, California.
See also
- "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison
- Cybernetic revolt
- Golem XIV
- List of fictional computers