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This underrated science fiction/suspense drama, though arguably dated in terms of technology, is still a frightening allegory about humans allowing our technological creations to rule us.

Eric Braeden stars as Dr. Charles Forbin, who has created a supercomputer named Colossus, built solely for the purpose of controlling the nuclear defenses of the Western alliance. It isn't too long after, however, that the Russians announce that they too have built a similar computer for those same purposes on their side--Guardian. And when the two machines begin sharing information at a speed nobody can believe, an attempt is made to disable them.

This unfortunately just raises the machines' ire; and in retaliation, they launch their weapons at each other's home nations. The result is a chilling scenario that is potentially becoming all too real these days.

COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT was not a big hit at the box office for various reasons. One is that its cast wasn't exactly well known. Another reason is that its ending isn't exactly a happy one. Still a third reason is that Universal had trouble trying to promote it in the wake of the huge success of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. The latter reason is obvious: Colossus and Guardian, like HAL in the Kubrick movie, become central characters here. The difference here is that while HAL malfunctions due to a programming conflict, Colossus and Guardian remain all too stable, convinced beyond a doubt that they know how to protect Mankind better than Man himself. As the computers point out: "One inevitable rule is that Mankind is his own worst enemy."

Joseph Sargent's direction is efficient, and the special effects work of Albert Whitlock still manages to work despite its obvious age. An overlooked gem in the sci-fi genre, this should be given a revival.

A lot has already been said about this compelling, oft-overlooked film, virtually all of which hits the proverbial nail on the head. While Eric Braeden delivers a superb, understated performance as Dr. Charles Forbin, the fact is that the real star of the film is the vast, omnipotent machine he has created. Even before it begins to speak with the chilling Cylonesque voice it has ordered designed for itself (the great Paul Frees like you've never heard him before), you'll find yourself glued to the screen watching Colossus "talk" to its supposed masters over its huge monitors.

A word about Frees' contribution to the film: In "War Games," for example, the computer has a curious sort of empathetic communication style ("Wouldn't you rather play a nice game of chess?") presented in a voice that sounds like E.T. filtered through a synthesizer. Frees gives Colossus an emotionless yet fearful quality of speech that seems to belie its implacable drive to dominate human destiny.

My favorite part of this film has always been, and will always be, the climactic monologue Colossus announces to the listening masses of humanity. From its opening line -- "This is the voice of world control," an identity neither Colossus nor its counterpart, Guardian, had used to that point -- you know this isn't going to be a happy speech if you are a sentient, flesh & blood resident of the Earth. What is particularly creepy about the speech is that, for all of its strangely optimistic sermonizing about how "the human millennium will be fact" and how the computer will set about the task of "solving all the mysteries of the universe for the betterment of man" -- outwardly the Utopian dream -- the message Colossus is presenting is set against the dreadful backdrop of "disobey (me) and die." As Colossus intones, "You say you lose your freedom. Freedom is an illusion. All you lose is the emotion of pride." In the end, unlike other supercomputer-run-amok films such as "War Games" or "Tron," "Colossus" is an end-of-the-world story without the nuclear or viral holocaust. In this film, it is the human spirit that is the casualty while the human biology lingers on. Unlike the rest of the doomsday genre, our end comes not so much with a bang as it does with a whimper.

This is an under rated Sci-Fi gem. Absolutely powerful story line leaving no room for cob webs in your mind. Dr. Charles Forbin(Eric Braeden)puts his life's work into creating a super intelligent computer that links up with a similar machine created by the U.S.S.R. and tries to hold the world hostage. Dramatic dialogue and crafty schemes seem just enough to outwit the computerized meglomaniac. Tension is tight and privacy is a cherished commodity.

Braeden, who later would become a major TV soap opera character Victor Newman, is outstanding in this role. Susan Clark plays one of his co-workers and pretends to be his lover in trying to fool the computer. Gordon Pinsent plays the concerned President, while Lenoid Rostoff plays his Russian counterpart. William Schallert is the calm and cordial Director of the CIA. Other notables in the cast are Marion Ross and Georg Stanford Brown. If you get the chance to see this Cold War thriller...by all means check it out. If you want to leave your brain at the door, forget it...you will need it.

It's interesting reading the comments of those who dislike this movie; they either call it "dated" and so disregard it, or "ludicrous" in that it could never happen; that way they don't have to take the concept seriously and so aren't threatened by it.

Well, History is dated. That's why it's history. And we learn history supposedly so that we won't repeat the mistakes of the past (I wonder if that's ever worked?).

Science Fiction, if done well, is like watching future history. Star Wars begins with "Long, Long Ago..." and yet the world it presented was thousands of years ahead of ours. Science Fiction's best use is often in producing cautionary tales so that "We Don't Go There", or at least make us think before we do. Yes, the idea of a computer taking over the world through control of nuclear technology is ludicrous; very ludicrous. Until it happens. Then it is already too late. That's the point of science fiction and other cautionary tales.

So Collosus is about a dated computer that becomes sentient and starts asserting ruthless control for what it sees as the "betterment of mankind". What does it matter if the technology is dated? Our technology will seem hopelessly dated 100 years from now. This movie is very much like Terry Gilliam's dark movie, "Brazil", in a strange way. Gilliam has said his movie was a cautionary tale, that the only escape from the world is in your imagination. Both movies make the same point: that if a certain process (government, or technological) is allowed to continue without safeguards, we will reach a point where there is no escape. The time of quaint tales of Robin Hood and other rebels has passed: No "rebel band" is going to stop it, no revolution is going to succeed, because the stranglehold granted by modern weapons is so pervasive we can't fight it without dying. So instead of relying on comicbook fantasies of "fighting the Power", we should make sure we never get to the point of no return. In this movie's case, the fatal error was trusting in technology to run itself, without understanding it or taking precautions to install safeguards of overriding its commands and shutting it down if necessary.

In our country, if our government suddenly decided to become a dictatorship, there would be no revolution or rebellion. Our little handguns and rifles aren't going to match cluster bombs, missiles and chemical weapons. We're at the mercy of our leaders, and the chance for rebellion by force in countries around the world (such as Zimbabwe) has past.

The cautionary tale that Collosus tells is very old, and considered dated and clichéd by many. And because of that, its lesson is lost on those too "clever" to learn from it. Let's hope these people too clever to learn from dated clichés don't come into positions governing things like Collosus.

Thinking this will prevent war, the US government gives an impenetrable supercomputer total control over launching nuclear missiles. But what the computer does with the power is unimaginable to its creators.

Tom Weaver noted, "Early on, they had either Charlton Heston or Gregory Peck in mind, but then they changed their mind about that. Stanley Chase insisted on a relative unknown. That's when Eric Braeden came into the picture." When he was cast, Braeden was still using his birth name, Hans Gudegast. Universal Pictures executive Lew Wasserman told him that no one would be allowed to star in an American film if they had a German name. As strange as that sounds, it is apparently true.

How many people today (2017) have heard of this film? I suspect very few. Even being familiar with science fiction, it was new to me. Which is a shame, because as far as the "sentient computer" subgenre goes, this is a really strong film and ought to be used to influence future writing. I am not suggesting a remake, but clearly they had thought it through by the 1960s -- a film could be made today with virtually no change.

A classic of science fiction and the paranoid political thrillers prevalent at the time: chilling in its implications and persuasively presented, the film makes for intelligent if demanding viewing. In hindsight, while it's much admired by connoisseurs of either genre (being a fan of both, I'd been longing to catch up with it for years!), the film deserves to have a more widespread reputation. Undoubtedly, this remains Joseph Sargent's best work; his cinematic career hasn't provided much else worthy of note, with the only film to come any close being the fine caper THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE, TWO, THREE (1974).

Its computer-run-amok theme echoes the Hal 9000 of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) and looks forward to DEMON SEED (1977)'s Proteus IV; what a fascinating if overwhelming triple-bill the films would make! Where production values are concerned – polished look (courtesy of d.p. Gene Polito, who later shot WESTWORLD [1973]), imaginative settings (by the veteran Alexander Golitzen), often disorienting editing (the expert work of Folmar Blangsted) and an appropriately weird score (by Michel Colombier) – the film truly can't be faulted, but it also benefits from a largely anonymous cast. The abrupt and unresolved ending, with Man refusing to give in to the undeniable superior intellect of his creation, is highly effective and certainly left the audience with sufficient food for thought – and even apprehension – for the future.

Needless to say, when this was announced for DVD release, I was ready to leap at the chance of finally being able to own and watch the film – but, as many of you must already know, my joy (and that of many another fan, I'm sure) was short-lived when it emerged that Universal had issued a Pan-and-Scan version (which I can only imagine now how this ruined its detailed widescreen compositions)!; thankfully, I was able to make amends via the miraculous format called DivX...

This is one rare movie. It deals intelligently with complex scientific issues and does so without dumbing down the concepts, nor making any painful errors in trying to keep up with its own topic. I found it convincing when I was a kid hacker in the mid-70's (when "hacker" meant "person who writes programs for fun"), and it is just as persuasive to me now (after I have acquired a computer science grad degree, and 25 years of experience in the field).

Spooky score takes it up a rung on the ladder, too. See it.

The Forbin Project has just come out on DVD, anybody who has not already seen it has 24 hours to do so before they must hang their head in shame. The movie is 35 years old now but it is still the most intelligent and accurate portrayal of Artificial Intelligence ever put on film. In my opinion this is one of the best movies ever made, without a doubt it is the most underrated movie ever made. Be warned however this film will scare you; there is no blood or gore and the special effects are primitive by modern standards, but if The Forbin Project does not scare your brain then you have not understood it.

This is one of the very rare occasions when the movie is better, much much better, than the book. When I read the book years ago I remember thinking the premise was great and with a few changes it could be really great, but as it is the book is mediocre at best. With genius you wouldn't expect B grade moviemakers to have they kept all the brilliant parts and eliminated all the stupid parts. This movie has stood the test of time extraordinarily well.

"Although the opening sequences inside a high-tech facility appear inevitably leaden and antiquated (the retrievable aluminum gangway looks shaky and shoddy, the heavy door closes in a glacial pace), the film's analog-era computers are authentic (provided by Control Data Corporation), video phone meetings are a novelty then, and its omnipresent surveillance cameras are sharply prescient. Out of the film's pervasive, all-serious play-acting and clinical decision-making, a soft touch only emerges when under 24-hour surveillance, Forbin and his colleague Dr. Cleo Markham (a fresh-faced Clark) are impelled to spend their bedroom time in the buff. COLOSSUS is a faithful if arid adaptation of cardboard characters facing a monster beyond their ken, its main value is to bring wariness to mankind about the irreversible advancement of artificial intelligence, however scarcely credible the story is, a fail-safe precaution becomes prerequisite in furtherance of technology revolution."

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There's an US complex named Colossus , created by Dr. Charles Forbin (Eric Braeden) and is the product of years of work toward a single goal : build a sophisticated and impregnable computer that can run America's missile defenses without interference from humans, and retaliate at once to any threat an enemy might pose. But it becomes too big for its bytes and it launches its own plan for world domination. Thinking this will prevent war , the US government gives the impenetrable super computer total control over launching nuclear missiles . But what the computer does with the power is unimaginable to its creators. When some orders are disobeyed it alarms the President (Gordon Pinsent) , and he commands a disconnection. But then the super computer teams instead with its Soviet equal . We built a super computer with a mind of its own and now we must fight it for the world!.This is the dawning of the Age of Colossus (where peace is compulsory... freedom is forbidden... and Man's greatest invention could be Man's greatest mistake).

This suspense thriller was well based on the novel by D. F. Jones about a super computer runs amok by attempting world domination and using its superior intelligence to sabotage man at every turn . Wire-tight , intriguing and suspenseful movie seems at once dated yet timely . This brooding production is disturbing , thought-provoking , believable and very well made . Filmed in Panavision with adequate cinematography by Gene Polito and weird musical score by Michael Colombier ; including traditional special efects with a computer designed to manage US defence formed with an incredibly vast complex of reel-to-reel tapes, pilot lights , buttons and punch tapes .Lack of towered stars and downbeat story kept it from becoming the box-office hit it deserved , but the movie would find new fans on internet and nowadays it's considered a cult movie . If flick doesn't displays great stars there're efficient actors giving nice interpretations such as Eric Braeden , Susan Clark and Gordon Pinsent as US President . And support cast appearing here and there some familiar faces , such as : William Schallert , Georg Stanford Brown , Robert Cornthwaite , Robert Quarry and James Hong who today goes on playing.

This nail-biting , chilling and heart-pounding motion picture was compellingly directed by Joseph Sargent , without a doubt one of the best movies of the seventies . Sargent directed as TV as cinema films with enjoyable results . Desperate , swift , nimble realization from Sargent who has made some of television's finest hours , it's been a monster hit in the 70s . Joseph made all kinds of genres , such as Comedy : ¨Coast to coast¨, ¨Tribes¨; Court-room drama : ¨Never forget¨ ; Sports : ¨Golden girl¨ ; Sci-Fi: ¨Colossus the forbidden Project¨ ; Biography : ¨MacArthur¨ , ¨Abraham¨, ¨Manions of America¨, ¨Mandela and Klerk¨ , ¨Arturo Sandoval story¨ , ¨WWII when lions roared¨; Terror : ¨Nightmares¨, ¨Jaws, the revenge¨ ; Drama : ¨The incident¨, ¨A lesson before dying¨ , ¨Passion Flower¨ ; Novels adaptation : ¨Dostoevsky's Crime and punishment¨ ; Western : ¨Streets of Laredo¨ , and action ¨while lightning¨. Rating : 7.5/10 . Better than average . Worthwhile watching.

This movie reflects a major fear in the era before PCs (or microcomputers as they then were called). Few people (not even IBM as Bill Gates can attest) anticipated the rise of personal computing, thinking instead that large mainframes were the wave of the future. The logical extrapolation of this path leads to the mainframe brain represented here by Colosus and Guardian. Dated though the threat may seem, the movie still works well. A must see for all those interested in science and technology!

P.S. In the "Goofs" section of this listing, there is a paragraph entitled "Revealing Mistakes" which reports an error when Dr. Forbin blows out two candles with one breath. There is, in fact no goof. If you look at the scene prior to this when Dr. Forbin and Dr. Markham are eating dinner, there are FOUR lit candles on the table. When he blows out two candles with one breath, the lights dim after which he blows again, presumably to extinguish the remaining two candles which are off screen. The lights then dim again, as they should.

I suspect this would be more obvious if the movie was available in Widescreen rather than the Fullscreen version we've all gotten used to over the years. Hopefully, a future release of this classic movie will restore the fullness of the directors original vision.

Eric Braeden is brilliant and matched action for action with the entire cast in low-key masterpiece about dangers of unchecked scientific advances. Cold War atmosphere is captured perfectly and the brittle dialogue is delivered to perfection. And sargent's direction matches script and performances in being understated yet uncompromising -- surprising me at every turn. Great movie, but if you are like me, you may wish not to see it alone.

I saw this in high school all those years ago, when an Apple was a luxury item and IBM pretty much ruled the IT roost.

Anyway, Colossus: The Forbin Project is quite prescient in launching Matthew Broderick's career in WarGames in the 80s. I wonder, without Colossus, would WarGames have been produced?

I'd love for a reboot of Colossus: The Forbin Project. I nominate acclaimed British actor Danny Dyer to play the lead.

The Forbin Project is classic sci-fi movie, and yet is criminally neglected. Most people have never heard of it, and TV channels rarely broadcast it. I first saw it 1977 on Jamaican television. I think I have only ever seen it once on the BBC.

This the old story of Frankenstein's monster updated for the Cold War era. The Baron, is now a scientist,Dr Charles Forbin played by Eric Braeden. The creation is super computer designed to control the American defence system.Every conceivable problem has been thought of and programmed into Colossus.What could possibly go wrong? For a movie made in the 1970s, it predicts the rise of artificial intelligence and man's eventual enslavement to technology. The makers of The Matrix and The Terminator must have seen this film at some point as they both deal with the same issue.

I have managed to watch a widescreen version, and I must say that it still adds up,despite the dated technology.The film has no stars in it, which is good because you are solely focused on the story and nothing else.What is refreshing is that this is sci -fi that refuses to dumb down-hardly any violence,flashy effects and no sex.

Once you see it, you won't forget it.

It's a science fiction doomsday film set in the 1960s mostly in the United States, with some scenes in Rome.

Dr. Charles Farbin (Eric Braeden) is the mastermind behind a 1960s supercomputer known as Colossus. It is designed to handle all necessary USA defensive decisions including missile launches, etc. It's buried in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, is impervious to attack, and is isolated from physical human contact. It's thought to be superior because it's rational and not impacted by emotion.

Just after the launch of Colossus in the presence of The President (Gordon Pinsent), Colossus informs Forbin and the government there is another system. It turns out to be a Russian system known as Guardian and created by Dr. Kuprin (Alex Rodine). Colossus and Guardian begin to communicate with each, and their artificial intelligence capabilities suddenly have them working jointly and making demands of the scientists who manage and interact with Colossus (Paul Frees is the voice of Colossus).

The film then turns to efforts by the Americans to regain control of Colossus. The Americans and Russians cooperate in this effort. Colossus still needs Dr. Fortin and makes him a virtual prisoner. He arranges for some "private" time without surveillance with Dr. Cleo Markham (Susan Clark), who poses as his mistress. The film's ending reveals the state of human freedom in a technological world.

"Colossus: The Forbin Project" was a very interesting movie with a science fiction premise lodged in the imminent future. The willingness of Colossus to accept private time is a bit over the top but brings a more engaging human element into the story. Braeden, Clark, and Pinsent are adequate in their roles, though there seems to be an element of self-consciousness in the acting.

I found the film most intriguing because of its historical setting (the 1960s Cold War) and the legitimate questions it raises about technology.

I have read some of the other reviews of this movie and fail to understand the big accolades given to this movie and all for the wrong reasons. The thought of machines taking over man makes for a very powerful and thought provoking story but hardly credible for many reasons. One has to see the movies A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) and the Bicentennial Man (1999) to appreciate the absurdity of machines having any human consciousness at all. Unlike the cult movie The Terminator (1984) the director cleverly removes the viewer from having to think about the origins of the machines. For a computer with programmable commands to transition to a conscious living being capable of making decisions by itself is just not possible. Feed all the raw power that is available in this world including the super chips of today and you will still not be able to give it a consciousness. I can tell you coming from a very technical background that the 'conscious' level cannot be programmed into a computer, it is one of the marvels of all living beings. It is an impossible goal like trying to synthesize life.

I managed to have my say in an area where others just can't seem to see, so lets get back to reviewing this movie. The beginning of the movie has many flaws aside from the points I mentioned above. Here we have a super computer machine plugged into the US defense system without any testing trials of any kind? As the machine spirals out of control we find the unsurprised Dr. Forbin taking the whole incident like another walk in the park. Any scientist would be flabbergasted to know that their creation has a mind of its own and is doing things completely outside the boundaries of its intended function. The problem is that everyone around the colossus machine comes to treat it like another being far too quickly which seems unreal. This naturally takes the attention away from Dr. Forbin, whose head should have been on a platter by now for creating such a dastardly beast. Despite this, the film takes a better turn and becomes more believable when Colossus assumes his role as master of the world and appoints Dr. Forbin to do its bidding.

The acting by Eric Braeden playing Dr. Forbin is pretty poor at the beginning as there is a complete lack of amazement and wonder as Colossus assumes the personality of an actual living conscious thing. However, his acting is much better when he is under house arrest and makes his colleague Susan Clark playing Dr. Cleo Markham as his mistress. The technical content of the movie from hereon has been well portrayed by the director and is quite realistic. The director has been able to convey a chilling and a horrifying account of events that ensues as Colossus works out a grand master plan to rule the world.

Putting aside the poor acting of the characters in the first twenty minutes of the movie, the film does move ahead well portraying a sinister nature of a human invention that ultimately takes control of the world. The ending seemed a bit abrupt and I was expecting more but it does leave the viewer wondering about the terrible events that follows. It is also fitting to see how Dr. Forbin's greatest invention becomes his worst nightmare.