UNCUT - Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
Added 2025-10-04 14:00:10 +0000 UTCOUR FAN MAIL ADDRESS: PO BOX 420 Avon, OH 44011
Comments
The guy who played the president seems like he was cast partly because he looked like JFK. He was also pretty good in the role.
Mark Simonson
2025-10-07 22:57:20 +0000 UTCI'd heard of this but never seen it until recently after getting the Blu-ray. Great reaction. The premise is kind of hard to swallow: They create this project in secret, seemingly untested (they seem to just assume it will work), with no public input about whether it's a good idea or not, with one guy who seems to be the only one who really understands it to the point where he doubts it can be stopped every time they try, yet he has the hubris to switch it on. On the other hand, the underlying premise—a cautionary tale about unintended consequences—is pretty solid. Because of when it was made, the story depends on ideas about computers that would be obsolete in a few years, such as the idea of just a couple of monolithic, centralized computers somehow taking over the world. The computer network they're tied into on the map only shows three nodes in the US and a few others around the world. Stories like this probably led to the development of microcomputers/personal computers in the mid seventies, with the idea of taking computing power away from large institutions (like the ones depicted in stories like this) and putting it into the hands of ordinary people, Similar sentiments led a couple of decades later to the rise of the internet, again a decentralized effort, like the personal computer. And yet, in spite of all this, things have taken a turn where stories like this are still relevant.
Mark Simonson
2025-10-07 22:27:02 +0000 UTCA movie you should watch is WARGAMES (1983). It has almost the same premise as this one. I think you'd enjoy it.
Michael Figueroa
2025-10-06 02:03:52 +0000 UTCI really love this movie but once again: I WAS WRONG!!! I truly thought the guys would not care for it, and maybe hate it. It is slow, relies on the cold war as a main element, and has a lot of techno babble. All things that can turn the guys off on a movie (can). I also think the acting is very subtle, subdued. The guys generally like theater style acting, a bit over the top (hence the love for brent spiner when not data), just not to far over. SO I was wrong. I am glad the guys liked it as it is a classic core movie in the time when Sci Fi was moving from mainly B-movies to more seriously thought of movies.
Prof Moff
2025-10-06 01:05:08 +0000 UTC
