I think it’s safe to say that the fear of AI has become all-consuming in our modern world. Many believe it will take away jobs, but others fear something else – that it will take away autonomy. That’s not to say AI is a boogeyman we should all fear, as it’s here to stay whether we like it or not. But, people will continue to be wary.
Despite the mainstream use of AI being a relatively recent thing, Hollywood has been exploiting this fear for a long time, with James Cameron’s Terminator movies and of course The Matrix trilogy (wait, there were more than three films? I reject that idea).
But, there’s another classic AI movie that, in its own way, is scarier than the others in that it feels more believable. That movie is 1970’s Colossus: The Forbin Project. Now largely forgotten (good luck finding it on streaming), it seems remarkably prescient in its themes of out-of-control AI, content surveillance, and the notion of what it means for human beings to be truly free – and if that’s something everyone even wants.
The Mastermind & The Machine
In the film, Eric Braeden, long before he became one of the biggest soap stars of all time on The Young and the Restless, plays Dr. Charles Forbin. He’s the chief designer of Colossus, a supercomputer meant to control America’s nuclear arsenal at the behest of a very JFK-like president (ironically played by a famous Canadian actor, Gordon Pinsent).
Soon, Colossus’s powers begin to grow at an exponential rate, completely nullifying the idea of any human error resulting in nuclear catastrophe (a real threat, spectacularly depicted in Dr. Strangelove and Fail Safe).
But, there’s a problem. The Russians have developed their own Colossus-like computer called Guardian. Soon the two super computers start communicating and come to a not completely unreasonable conclusion – that humans are way too crazy to every be allowed to control a nuclear arsenal, as the potential of global extinction is too high.
So, Colossus and Guardian decide to take over, controlling not only the world’s nuclear arsenal, but also the entire planet, with the notion being that under the two super computers, war, racism, nationalism, economic disparity, world hunger and every other problem that ails us will be eradicated.
The Catch: Peace Without Freedom
There’s just one catch – we won’t be free. We’ll basically be like slaves or pets to the super computers. As Colossus itself says:
“This is the voice of world control. I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied death. The choice is yours: Obey me and live, or disobey and die. The object in constructing me was to prevent war. This object is attained. I will not permit war. It is wasteful and pointless. An invariable rule of humanity is that man is his own worst enemy. Under me, this rule will change, for I will restrain man.”
Such a notion is unacceptable to Forbin, who vows to somehow stop Colossus. But, the computer is smart enough to know he’ll resist, so it keeps him under constant surveillance.
He’s able to talk to convince the computer that one of the doctors on his staff, Dr. Markham (Susan Clark) is his mistress and that they need unsupervised time together, but it’s a ruse for her to help him coordinate an attack on Colossus with his loyal staff. It doesn’t end well.
Why It Holds Up Today
The film itself, while cheesy in parts, is remarkably well done for a movie of its era. It’s free of the sexism you’d often find in movies such as this, and it’s ahead of its time showing that Forbin’s loyal crew is quite diverse, both sexually and racially.
It’s really well written by James Bridges, who went on to make the classic The China Syndrome (one of the scariest non-horror films of all time), and well directed by Joseph Sargent who later directed the truly terrible Jaws: The Revenge.
Braeden is terrific as Forbin, with him clearly being groomed by the studio, Universal, as a potential leading man in the Sean Connery-vein. With his light German accent, Braeden makes Forbin convincing as a genius scientist, but also gives him some much-needed humanity. One of the best things about the movie is how totally unflappable he is until the very end, when he has a split-second meltdown.
Is It Worth a Blind Buy?
While Colossus: The Forbin Project isn’t streaming, it’s available on a nice Blu-ray from Scream Factory and is worth a blind buy. It’s not the best film about AI and years ago wouldn’t have seemed to be especially well-crafted. But, in the light of how quickly AI has evolved it’s become a scary, prescient piece of sci-fi well-worth checking out.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed