Review of Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) by Rachel T — 16 May 2012

Dr. Charles Forbin and his team of scientist have just debuted their new electronic computer system, Colossus, a super-computer designed to take control of America's missile defense system. Underestimating the computer's ability to learn and adapt, Colossus takes control of the country and ends up communicating with the Russian equivalent, Guardian, in an attempt to take over the world, for what it perceives as, better for man kind.

This is a very well done film, and as far as the Machines vs. Mankind genre goes, it's one of the better ones out there. Made on a low budget, the film relies heavily on its ingenuity to create this Supercomputer and the world around it.

It's very well done, and I would argue that the lack of budget actually helped the film in a lot of ways. The story is very tight, mostly focusing on Dr. Forbin, the man responsible for the computer, who is now tasked by Colossus to be the representative of the human race.

Lots of great tension and paranoia follow as Korbin attempts endlessly to stop Colossus, even while being under constant surveillance. All this is great stuff but what makes this film so effective for me is how socially conscious it all is.

Coming out in 1970, the Cold War was in full effect. The film shows how the Russians and Americans in an attempt to defend themselves from each other (in the fact that they both build these super computers) end up, in essence, destroying the world for all mankind.

It's a case for humanities need to unite as one; hell, even the president in the film has a striking resemblance to JFK.