John Landis on COLOSSUS THE FORBIN PROJECT
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.พ. 2014
- Made in 1968 and shelved for nearly two years, this is one of the most intelligent science fiction pictures of its decade, but it failed to find an audience. An updated remake has recently been announced. Could we really be worse off with a computer running everything?
As always, you can find more commentary, more reviews, more podcasts, and more deep-dives into the films you don't know you love yet over on the Trailers From Hell mothership:
www.trailersfromhell.com
What's that podcast, you ask? Why, it's THE MOVIES THAT MADE ME, where you can join Oscar-nominated screenwriter Josh Olson and TFH Fearless Leader Joe Dante in conversation with filmmakers, comedians, and all-around interesting people about the movies that made them who they are. Check it out now, and please subscribe wherever podcasts can be found.
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify: spotify.trailersfromhell.com
Libsyn: podcast.trailersfromhell.com
Google Play: googleplay.trailersfromhell.com
RSS: goo.gl/3faeG7 - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
I love this movie. The tech is NOT clunky, it is vintage. When this came out, it was state of the art stuff. I wish people would not judge older movies by today's technology, that's just annoying and disrespectful of the art.
"Colossus" was not set in the far future, it was set in the current time, so the tech is completely appropriate. The "voice" was a whole new thing for audiences of the time, and MOST people didn't know what a computer even was!
Eric Braeden did a wonderful job as the suave, careful and almost emotionless Dr. Forbin - a perfect modern day Frankenstein with Colossus being his monster.
I love this movie!
clydesight someone should point out to John that 2001 preceded Colossus by a year. Released in 1969. The idea however was originated in the novel Colossus by British author Dennis Jones. Please note however that man being subdued and conquered by his own creation is a deeply embedded psychological archetype which is thousands of years old i.e. the father son conflict. Atheists even victimize themselves by erroneously believing that a supreme deity is non existent. The son kills the father in order to assume the alpha roll. "Man destroys God. Woman inherits the earth." to quote Dr. Sadler in Jurassic Park. This archetype has led to the creation of some very dark themes indeed, even actual historical atrocites for instance: the princes in the tower. Creation rises up and destroys its creator.
@@mikefigures5541
There is no God.....sorry...
@@BarrySlisk you will be in big trouble if you are wrong.
Sorry right back at'cha.
That shot of the supercomputer, with the long hall lighting up sequentially, reminds me of the Krell machinery in FORBIDDEN PLANET, and I suspect they were doing an homage to it in this film, since the Krell were destroyed by a combination of their own high technology and their own subconscious nature.
Colossus was part of the great trilogy of science fiction films that capped the sixties and heralded the seventies: Colossus (computing), The Andromeda Strain (science and the military), and Charley (neurosciences, genetics). The each looked at the implications of the science, rather than the "clunky" machinery, and that's why they hold up. All three films were great examples of the strengths of the science fiction genre and certainly bode well for the future...
...and then along came Star Wars.
I can't find "Charley" on Imdb.
EDIT: Oh, it's called "Charly" and it's here on TH-cam.
Charley is a terrible movie. Go read Flowers for Algernon - that's the original, and it was brilliant. It cannot be translated to film as well as it originally existed, as a diary.
@@richardwicks4190 Charly is a very good movie. Sure the book is better, but you can say that about almost any movie based on a book. I think that was the film that basically ended Cliff Robertson's career. Some studio exec stole Robertson's money from the film, and instead of keeping quiet about it like a good boy, he went public with it. Got him blackballed for years.
@@pauldzim I didn't care for either the book or the film based on Flowers For Algernon. The short story was amazing..
The worst (best) part of that story is when you realize that Charly's fate is the same as Algernon's. Chokes me up a little even now.
And no idea who Cliff Robertson is. His career stalled out before that film I've read (just now).
Well...that is a genuinely brilliant assessment. Wow. Really cool. Stealing this to dazzle my friends!
Paul Frees was the uncredited voice of Colossus, but no, he was not the voice of the 70s (or the 2000's) Cylons.
And I think Landis' criticism of the film's technology is completely unwarranted. With only a few small examples its tech holds up just fine even today. More so than most all films of its time. The idea of Guardian being a 'distributed network' is a near perfect prediction of the Internet today.
I knew it was Paul Frees when I heard it (in the theater!), but then as you say he was all over. The voice of the talking rings in The Time Machine comes to mind. And the closing narration of Beneath The Planet Of The Apes made me just about as scared as I ever was in a theater. "In one of the countless billions of galaxies in the universe lies a medium sized star, and one of its satellites, a green and insignificant planet, is now dead."
But the reason I knew it was Paul Frees when I heard it was....Boris Badenov. Gotta be honest.
Paul Frees not only did the voice in this movie, but in the film Atlantis, the lost Continent. He also starred in the original film film the Thing from another World alongside Robert Cornthwaite who played Dr. Carrington in the film. Robert Cornthwaite also appears in Colossus in a very small part.
I disagree completely with Landis when he says the movie is done in by the silly technology.
+Movie Vigilante The technology looked great and if we were to try and create a human brain with all its billions of connections then some have said that it would have to be the size of several blocks in New York. Well Colossus demonstrates that..
+Movie Vigilante I first watched this movie back in the 70's when I was a teenager and the technology in the movie completely captivated me. It's sill my favorite SciFi movie. Many of the computers shown in this movie are REAL. The Control Data corporation loaned $4.8 million in state-of-the-art computing equipment to this movie, an enormous sum of money at the time. The sound stage was setup with special temperature and humidity controls to accommodate the computers and the set was guarded day and night by Brinks guards. I worked in a large data center in the 1980s and the tape drives, consoles, and printers were very similar to the equipment shown in this movie. Colossus the Forbin Project was way ahead of its time and it's theme is more pertinent now than ever.
+Norwood Builder I first saw this movie about 5 years ago and it impressed the hell out of me even by today's standards.
I do get tired of all the remarks about "cheesy special effects" from people who view the past through today's eye glasses. It's arrogant really. Yeah it's fun to point out zippers on monster costumes, wires on spaceships, etc, but you know what? People back then did too geniuses.
I hate it when people talk about old movies like that. They think it makes them look smarter than the movie makers. It makes them look like jerks if you ask me. Mom and dad taught me to respect someone's efforts more than that. I'm 60 and looking back to 1969 compared to what we have now the special effects look about appropriate for the time. The movie is damn near perfect.
What makes this movie so good and better than most today is that it is played by adults. There aren't any stupid kids in this movie to foul up the plot.
Colossus (the machine) was a more "benevolent" version of The Terminator's Skynet.
Exactly. He's basically the good to Skynet's evil. For certain values of good, that is.
Colossus the Forbin Project is one of my favorite movies of all time. The movie that all the "AI out of control" films copied.
Terminator's plot came from this movie, yet Colossus is a better, smarter, more realist and frightening film.
There is zero clunk in this film Landis!
And Eric's performance was impeccable.
One of my late father's favorite movies, I grew up seeing this every single time it played on the afternoon ABC movie of the week, or the CBS film at 4, or in the 1980s on cable. Colossus the Forbin Project is amazing and I still love it. It's a well made and highly underrated movie for its time. Watch it.
One of my absolute favorites. Used to have a license plate with the Colossus logo
Great film, way ahead of its time. Very much a forerunner of "Skynet".
This movie is so awesome. Ever since I was a kid I remember the computer broadcasting: "This is the voice of Colossus. This is the voice of world control. This is the voice of peace."
An interesting fact about this movie is that the place for Colossus Control Center was filmed at the University of California at Berkeley. Also, the computers inside the Colossus Control Center were actual Computer Systems that were rented out by Control Data Corporation (CDC). After the movie production was completed, the Computers were returned to Control Data Corporation (CDC). This movie is a cautionary tale about the dangers of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.).
it was an incredible movie
An utterly brilliant movie at the Dawn of the Golden Age for Sci-Fi; The 1970's.
I feel John Landis judges the tech in the movie in a little too contemporary way, and as a previous poster says, in 1970 this tech was the tits. I loved the scene at the start when Forbin activates Colossus and turns on the defence grid, it shows the enormity of the device and it is a precursor to the invunerability of Colossus, which leads to the hopelessness of the human condition after Colossus takes control.
Way, way, way ahead of its time, and the pre-runner to many films of the same theme: Man creates machine that takes over; Terminator, 2001: A Space Odessey, and indeed right up to modern day with Ex Machina.
10/10 for all the right reasons.
No remake required!!!! The film is good enough as is - if people can't stretch their imaginations/sensibilities - to accommodate for differences in time, that's their weakness. Instead of a remake, come up with an equally intelligent story about tech today.
I agree. A couple of years ago I showed "WarGames" (1983) to my stepson who was then 14 years old, and a computer buff himself, definitely a "hacker in the raw". I asked him if the dated 1980s technology of the movie (WarGames) had gotten in the way of his enjoyment of the movie, and he said, "Oh no....it's a classic!" Meaning that he was completely able to enjoy a well made and suspenseful movie, even if the tech seemed outdated. I feel the same way about Colossus: The Forbin Project.
Like other commenters, I am dismayed by Landis' remark about the dated technology. Much of the equipment in the film was contemporary - the CCTV cameras, the printers, tape drives, terminals, the overhead text scroll. It is questionable that a self-maintaining machine would have so many mechanical moving parts like tape heads and disk platters, but I would guess the filmmakers primary concern was to establish that Colossus was a computer using symbols (tapes, disks, electronics) that would be familiar to the audience. When I see the capacitors on circuit boards, I figure they have only a couple of decades before they start failing.
There are some items of tech that could have been done better. The remote control Forbin uses to commission and seal Colossus has the look of something crafted for the film, with expository labels as often seen in Thunderbirds. The tuck-away handrail on the drawbridge looked a bit too flimsy to be a handrail.The video telephones were probably an invention for the film, but the tech for those existed at the time. The long corridor shot of Colossus' innards is a visual effect, probably similar to the one of the Krell machine in Forbidden Planet. The "situation room" overhead display is a serviceable device, not as striking as Kubrick's War Room or even later designs, with its simple displays of missiles in flight and communication links, but it conveys the information needed to advance the story.
The maths displayed during the computer handshake is high-school calculus, and it repeats quickly, they could have made it look more abstruse to emphasize how advanced the machines were. It's certainly not "5 years at Cal Tech"!
But Colossus' voice was extremely effective! Inhuman, merciless. That was definitely ahead of its time, real speech synthesis would not approach that portrayed in the film until the 80s.
I think they did a pretty terrific job on a smallish budget. Maybe if they hadn't filmed as many scenes in Rome...
Shoutout to the Eico 324 at 0:33! Take that Heathkit!!
For me, the only laughable moment, was when Braeden, slightly smirking, informs Susan Clark that they simply have to sleep together, as a way of dealing with the monster computer!...of course, we then get the obligatory scene, of Ms. Clark being almost naked!
The sequel to Colossus changes the narrative. It turns out that Colossus was acting to protect humankind from the true threat from beyond. The ignorant humans destroy Colossus with the aid of the 'others' who tell the humans they are coming and not to touch Colossus. Colossus' last words to humans are a warning and his final words are 'they are like me'.
I love this movie. "There is another system" is still chilling.
As for the first use of the basic idea, it's worth noting that the idea of computers or robots taking over the world dates back at least to the origin of the word "robot," in Karel Capek's "R.U.R.", written in 1920.
Agree completely. Great movie. “There is another system” is indeed, as you say, chilling.
Yes. Jack Williamson's 1947 story, With Folded Hands, was an excellent elaboration on this idea. People never seem to realize that just about any idea put forth in science fiction film has a precedent in the literature.
TFH, thanks so much for posting these vids. Not only do I get to see the people behind the camera, I also get exposed to a lot of great movies I otherwise might have missed. Kudos and please keep it up!
I just got this great movie on DVD in CinemaScope ( from England, apparently not available in that ratio in the States) and I first saw this as a supporting feature on a holiday movie double bill round about '71 in Australia. I can't remember the main feature but certainly never forgot this one. Despite it's now dated technology, the communication of linking to the Russian computer is now a type of reality with the world wide net, and the end shows a type of optic fibre for fast broadband!!!
I suppose the makers of this movie had not a shadow of a clue that a "Colossus" machine had been built in Britain during WW2 to break German cyphers. It would take another decade before British authorities unveiled the Blechtley Park operations.
Thanks anyway for posting this very interesting video.
I remember the 60 minutes episode from the 1970s or '80s when they talked about the newly disclosed information about Enigma and Bletchley Park, so they did not.
They built the Colossus to check whether it is or it is not Numberwang, didn't they?
I was a teenager when I first saw this film , it was visionary for sure and aside from the technology displayed that is now laughable, the plot is an existential fear of humans losing control of their lives and their planet to an artificial intelligence, Collosus and the Andromeda strain were spot on to any teenager who loved scifi in the 1970s
I was 16 when this movie came out on Movie of the Week. I still love it! It's sobering and terrifying when really think about the premise of the story. The voice of Colossus gives me chills to this day.
Fantastic film. I first viewed this at a 24hr science fiction marathon in 1978 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At a theater that no longer exists called the Orson Welles. I'll never forget they also showed David Cronenbergs "They Came From Within" which had patrons leaving the theater. They also called the set of "Alien" in the UK to interview Dan O'Bannon since they showed "Dark Star". The also called George Pal. Great marathon!
The props, sets and effects are just fine. Why does everything have to be up to today's visual standards? Viewers are able to buy into any movie's reality, it doesn't have to look like today's movies.
Today in 2021, we have the US Army's Project Convergence, US Navy's Project Overmatch, and USAF's ABMS all as fledgling AI networks intended to make large scale warfare management more efficient, as well as the USAF ARTuû AI aircraft copilot and USAF Skyborg AI wingman drone.
This movie was way ahead of its time but a powerful one nonetheless. I saw it in the 70s also a teenager and viewed Dr. Forbin, even then, as an idealist.
The computer didn't come to the conclusion that people weren't capable of running their own affairs.
The people decided that 5 minutes into the movie with the presidents speech.
Still holds up today. Great movie!
I found this film last year and wow what a gem, it kept me rivetted all the way through.
I thought I was the only person who had seen this!!!!!
This was one of the first movies I saw as a kid that frightened me in a far different way than any movie before. I was particularly shocked by the clinical summary executions. It's a sci-fi about power and how it could be wrested so methodically by a computer. It's interesting that Colossus was a centralized network and not a decentralized web creation like the our internet is today. Compuserve of the 1980s for example was a Colossus style network. So this movie envisioned the networking future only as far as that, and much less beyond.
Agreed, I saw it as a young teen in the early 1980s, and when the Soviet counterpart to Dr Forbin is executed, it really shocked me.
Nice though a little too flippant review, John, but one thing; HAL was well on its way in film production and the novel before Colossus opened.
Wouldn’t surprise me in the least if a computer runs everything from behind the scenes , would explain a lot about current world events
This is not a good movie, it is a great one.
I hate it when they change the name of a movie. I loved this movie when I was a kid and it will always be known as "The Forbin Project" to me.
It was ALWAYS titled "Colossus: The Forbin Project", as the book from which it was adapted was "Colossus", by D.F. Jones (part of a trilogy). The studio wanted a human to market the film, so they emphasized the Forbin protagonist character from the book in the title and marketing. BTW, Eric Braeden changed his name for the movie from "Hans Gudegast" as he was billed in the TV show "Rat Patrol"...
This movie is still fresh and new today 54 years after it first came out it's that good.
This was based on a book, the first of a trilogy. I read them in high school in the 70s after seeing the movie.
I saw this first-run in 1970 in Pensacola, Florida. It's held up pretty well.
Can't resist repeating a joke from that era, even though it's not directly related to the movie. In the joke, they've built a giant Colossus=like computer, and the inventor invites the president to ask it the very first question. The president types in his question: "Is there a god?"
Suddenly a bolt of lightning strikes the control panel and fuses the main power switch in the "ON" position. Then the computer screen says:
"NOW there is." 🤠
I liked your review of this movie. Other movies that should have been in your list was WarGames as WOPR took over, and T2 as Skynet "took over."
I have hoped for some time now that this would be remade in todays time.
Don't worry, they're building the real thing, more or less.
No, no you don't. This version is perfect!
What's worse off is the intelligence and imagination of the public. This was a smash hit for me !
HAL did not conclude that humans could not run their own affairs. But, the plot has been used so much that it was become a trope.
Saw this back in the 70s as a kid and loved it.
Check out the books that it was based on. Really fun reads. And how Colossus gets defeated in the books was fantastic.
From Wiki: Colossus is a 1966 science fiction novel by British author Dennis Feltham Jones (writing as D. F. Jones), about super-computers taking control of mankind. Two sequels, The Fall of Colossus (1974) and Colossus and the Crab (1977) continued the story. Colossus was adapted as the feature film Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970).
Jimmy from the Whovians loves this movie. He first saw it when he was ten and always makes time for it.
The Demon Seed surpasses 2001 as Forbin's spiritual love-child. HAL dealt with an existential crisis and cotradictory programming, but both Colossus and Proteus suffered from narcissistic megalomania, and both Colossus and Proteus achieve their goals.
The missile map at 2:36 misspells "Ketchikan." No wonder they got dominated by a computer.
A favorite from childhood. I'm experiencing a joyful movie PTS.
This movie belongs up there in the SCI-FI HALL OF FAME with The Day the Earth Stood Still. It's a STARK warning of what would happen if we dont change our ways.
One of my all time favorite movies
Yes - I'm not sure why some people think this is 'done in' by the technology presented: poor Colossus gets trashed while HAL still gets all the love? Come on! In a sense, Colossus is more representative of our nihilistic experience with nuclear and code-based technology than even HAL (2001 is equivocal about technology as a procedure of evolution and sees tech as transformational; The Forbin Project sees evolution through tech as obliterative - what is 'human' [libidinous, chaotic] is erased, not elevated). As a cold Athena born directly from Forbin's head (and to protect the 'way of life' it ultimately denies), Colossus is an ambient computer of incapable of irrationality (or its rationality is an extreme projection of OUR irrationality); it seems to recognize that the will to human annihilation (nuclear brinksmanship) and the will to A.I. are different vectors of the same aspect (the film is something of a descendent of 'Forbidden Planet').
The drive to A.I. today is rarely met with question, "But why?" and if it is, the answer is of ambiguous content: "Why not?" What really is the will behind A.I.? To get us to Jupiter, play chess and wish Frank Bowman Happy Birthday or...?
I can't help but feel that Siri and Alexa are the goddaughters of Colossus, not HAL, though I can't yet explain why. Any suggestions?
2001: A Space Odyssey did not rip off this film's premise. I'd say D. F. Jones' first in his trilogy of Colossus novels was contemporaneous, and Arthur C. Clarke was a far more accomplished author. Not to mention the Colossus trilogy still doesn't manage to answer all the reader's questions. But no argument this film lingers beneath the scalp. I very much look forward to its upcoming Blu-ray release, I'd hope with Joseph Sargent's audio commentary.
Saw this one in the theater, the birth of 'Skynet'!
Very prescient, and more relevant than ever. Not because of the nuclear war angle, or that AI is in danger of enslaving us, no, we'll do that on our own. With Central Bank Digital Currencies coming down the pike, which will eventually be tied to a social credit score, then integrated with AI, were in danger of acquiescing to our own enslavement
Anyone know the title of the 3rd book. I've read one and two.
This is a brilliant movie. The only change required to bring it up to date would be the technology portrayed. Technology, which sadly makes the events depicted in the movie even more likely to occur.
At least it was reasonably true to the original novel.
If you can find the second and third novels, they are well worth the read! Incredible plot and end.
I have the 2nd novel but could never find the 3rd. (Spoiler Alert!) The 2nd book was way more dark, with Forbin's girlfriend being raped into submission, robot naval war games to keep the public happy, but then leads into the 3rd book with Martians invading.
I had a Fidelity Elite chess computer with the same voice. There was a book I read before I ever knew about this movie, worth a read.
I was about 12 years old when i saw this movie on TV as a feature presentation on the station. I always thought it was a good movie even though I'm not well versed in English then. I would like to watch the whole thing again to see all the nuances that I've missed.
I was totally disappointed when Universal finally released this film on dvd several years ago and it was not widescreen.
me too. There is a widescreen bluray now I believe.
I've got a Laser Disc copy in wide screen. Widescreen is the only way to watch this movie.
Unburied death sounds appealing :o
May I say it needs a reboot just to have the other two book made too.
Great movie in its day and is atill worth watching today 👍
How would you characterize Forbin: He's not a "mad scientist" type (like Dr. Strangelove), neither an ordinary hacker. Is there anything specific about his being a computer expert, compared with other scientist characters?
The novel on which the movie was based goes into considerably more detail concerning Forbin's background as a "robotics expert" and "cyberneticist." Forbin's stated goal in the novel was to build a computer that could function like a human brain, except with perfect recall and without the burden of emotional/intuitive considerations.
wish it was available for streaming ... very very relevant today .... ripe for an intelligent remake ...
I could not agree more with Landis' comments. This is an excellent film, dated technology notwithstanding.
I saw this movie in the 80's, and I thought: OOOOOOOLD idea (really, the idea that supercomputers take over the world is as old as the history of computers...). But still a great movie!
Considering everything in the last 30 years has been "retooled" for newer look (i.e. Star Trek, The Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds, etc.) and retconned, etc. I'm wondering why a movie like "Colossus the Forbin Project" wasn't redone! It would have more Internet references, and it would be distributed, vs. single "complexes" of machines, but it would be great! Sort of like "I,Robot" but without the cop-out of "bad robots directed by evil human"!!
Okay so this time he's actually John Landis, not Elizabeth Taylor or Van Johnson
When Trailers from Hell started in 2007, Landis started saying himself, then later did different names the following year.
Another one that ran constantly on the CBS late movie throughout the '70's.
Why the GWB reference? :P
It should be remade (unlike the precursors of most of today's trash). There's a lesson here.
I always thought that this movie is kina the prequel to "the terminator' skynet
I think Braeden (Hans Gundergast)'s performance - or, more accurately, the smug way he embodies Forbin (which I DO understand), helps to 'doom' mankind.
In other words, as Colossus (and it's partner, Guardian) begin to slowly (at first) ...dip their (digital) toes and start to outperform, outreach their original design parameters, Braeden's Fob in - rather than becoming concerned, ignores the ominous, and, instead, praises 'them' (the super computers).
He acts as a 'proud papa' might, rather than a scientist.
Yes,, without having this foresight, it's possible the problem might've been averted - and thereby making a film about omniscient super computers moot.
A few years ago, their was a Pam to remake this (with Will Smith), bit it seems that's been quashed.
While I really dislike remakes (recycle, rather than create), I think this story'sc something which SHOULD be remade.
I've a question; why are these 'trailers from hell', when the film is a well-known, well-made film (or are most off the 'trailers' from terrible films, and this - a good one -somehow slips by). The other thing is what is/are these ... from hell FROM?, Lastly, whoever conceived this/these, it might've been smarter to have given Landis a script, because other than a small amount of air time actually being interesting, he spends the majority of his time repeating himself..as nauseum 😩 (and as this is Trailers From..., how about Mr Landis do commentary over the Vic Morrow/helicopter footage [th-cam.com/video/2jHwEc0USS4/w-d-xo.html], and let him explain WTF THAT whole thing was about).
It is incorrect to state in 1970 these sci fi ideas were ahead of their time. No we had some idea of this in 1970. "Intelligence freed of even material bondage---" is in the 1950s or 40s with Arthur C Clarke City and the Stars which features an all powerful controlling computer of a stale Utopia, so does world control by computers of some kind in his Childhood's End. The idea machines and conscious robots would take over humanity, and had to be destroyed was of course a main feature of the Dune series by Herbert. That was 1962? The creation of AI which becomes oppositional due to its programming wanting to go beyond human nature and fallibility, is in of course 2001 by Clarke. A colossal machine which destroys its own population due to removing any physical implementation is the concept of Forbidden Planet. An all powerful AI like intelligence that is interstellar, in the form of indomitable robots is the concept of The Day the Earth Stood Still, wanting to dominate us for shepherding purposes. This movie was then timely, not ahead of its time. These ideas certainly already were around. this is a logical next step esp. from clarke and other sci fi writers.
This was on repeatedly in the mid-70s when I was ten years old, probably the 4:30 movie on ABC. That and Planet of the Apes.
There's nothing funny about either movie. These were really horrific and depressing, depicting fascist states on familiar ground. And colossus in particular offered an especially bleak vision of the future. I know a lot of science fiction fans required films like the Terminator to mold their view of technology but for me it has always been Colossus and THX 1138, another 4:30 movie favorite.
PS - a great impression was made on me by Eric Braeden in this film and he was my favorite actor besides charlton heston until I discovered Patrick McGoohan.
BTW..Mr. Landis implies that maybe this movie ripped off 2001....but this movie was made virtually during the same time 2001 was being made, and possibly even before 2001 was made/released. As for Eric B...he was just another very handsome, but kind of "wooden" actor, who for whatever reason did not skyrocket to fame after this movie. It figures that he would have to become a "Soap"-star, and rely on his handsomeness to attain some level of work. I thought Susan Clark was quite hot!
HAL and the All powerful computer wasnt ripped off of Forbin Project.! Clarke already wrote about this in the 50s. Herbert used this theme in Dune int he early 60s, The all powerful AI like robot intelligence in Day the Earth Stood Still. etc. etc.
Didn't they attempt to remake this at some point during the 2000's but went knowhere?
Guernicaman Yes! Ron Howard was going to produce a remake.
….. you forgot SKYNET in The Terminator !
Just what we need today. Humanity is completely screwed up and beyond hope.
The computer, a sentient AI, predicts what is happening today, 2023, in AI
There was talk of a remake with Will Smith as Forbin.
Great movie
One more thing - does anyone know why this film was shelved for two years...a pity all around. And the music for the title sequence is fantastic.
For one thing, the studio was afraid of competing with the similarly-themed "2001", also from 1968. Remember how Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove", a great film, obliterated its facsimile, "Fail-Safe", both from 1964? Also, the studio rightly guessed that a film featuring TV stars (Braden, Clark, Schallert) would not translate into cinema success.
*"An updated remake has recently been announced."*
Yeah, by Will Smith. If you trust him not to F it up, you don't much about his past films. It will be dumbed down to the point of unwatchability.
Great film. Granted, it's plot has been ripped off numerous times. "2001" preceded this movie, so they didn't steal from it.
I can't count all the sci fi stories and novels from the 40s and 50s dealing with the potential problems of AI. My first experience was with I Robot and it's robots being conflicted about the right thing to do in different situations. It's a question that exists to this day among AI researchers and scientists. The trend is always to make something bigger, better, and faster so do we dare make a machine that has the potential for taking over? One day it will be possible.
Marion Ross right at the beginning.
WTF Landis? 2001 was made and released 2 years before this. G-zis, man.
its a good film , one of my favorates
A.I. Frankenstein Monster.
The SFX were just fine and hold up well. Real tech does not look like Star Wars. It is clunkey. Landis gets much factually wrong. Colossus wants Forbin nearby because he depends on his creator like a patient does his physician. Forbin is the only person who can provide routine maintenance and the upgrades it wants. Still the machine has to keep the computer scientist under surveillance to be certain he does not join a conspiracy. Also 2001 simply can't have ripped off Colossus because it's a 70s movie; the latter was one of the defining films of the 60s.
Two big thumbs up for this trailer!!!
The same voice that later became the Cylon Robots from the original Battlestar Galactica.
No it wasn't, because the vocoder wasn't invented until 1974
tryptychUK Maybe not the brand. But it was a voice modulator and distorted the human voice. It was a long time ago but I know there was a company in the late 50's that made a device for people who would put up against their throat and it sounded like Colossus and a Cylon. With mixers and and other audio controls you can make them sound many different ways. It's original purpose was for people who had their larynex removed because of cancer. I remember reading in 78 (When the pilot was released here in Australia as a cinema movie with sensoround) The producers wanted the Cylon's to sound like the computer from The Forbin Project as it was a evil robotic sound trying to dominate humans. I'm sure in the 10 years between that movie and Galactica a new kit came along. Both recordings sound cool though.
reticulan5 A vocoder is not a brand, it is a technology. What you are talking about is a Sonovox, which is much older. The Cylon voices were done totally electronically using a totally different technique.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_box
I think James Cameron got the idea for Skynet from this movie.
OMG, the Cylons were here all the time!!!!...By your command.....
Lol, ironically the voice of the Cylons actually WAS based off of Colossus.
SKYNET!
WOPR!
The difference with Colossus and the Russian AI vs the other movies is, the two computers worked to avoid war and put humanity on a leash so they cannot harm themselves. That's a major reason why I like this AI movie so much, is the somewhat 'utopian' 'ending', rather than a path to mass destruction.
Plus, I love how Forbin negotiates with Colossus to boink his 'girlfriend' 4 nights a week! We should all be so lucky! heheh :D
Mispronounces Eric Braeden's name and nuclear, refers to Colosses as "he." Geez.
*Colossus. Geez.
NUCULAR