COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT(1970)With Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert, Loenid Rostoff, Georg Stanford Brown, Marion Ross, Paul Frees (voice of "Colossus") Directed by Joseph Sargent Reviewed by JB |
We often think of the 1950s as the Golden Age of Science Fiction Films,
yet from the late 1960s through the '70s there were a string
of intelligent, often socially conscious sci-fi movies that
rivals
the peak of any other genre from any other time. To name a
few:
2001: A SPACE
ODYSSEY, PLANET OF THE APES (and one
or two of
its
sequels), THE
ANDROMEDA STRAIN, WESTWORLD, SILENT
RUNNING, LOGAN'S
RUN, SOYLENT
GREEN and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD
KIND. *
COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT is an underrated gem from the dawn of this period. Based on a novel by D.F. JONES, COLOSSUS tells the tale of a NORAD-like defense computer that begins to have ambitions beyond its original programming. Within minutes of being switched on, it discovers and connects with a similar Russian computer named Guardian, and together, the two supercomputers work together to make over the world to their liking. With control over both countries nuclear arsenals, they have a lot of power to back up their threats. Somebody is not produced in five minutes? Washington will be toast.
With a minimum of special
effects and heavily
dependent on characters reading screens and looking at monitors,
COLOSSUS has all the ingredients for tedium. But TV director
Joseph Sargent may have been the perfect man for tackling this talkie,
potentially static material, and the literate script and fine
performances from Eric Braeden, William Schallert and Susan Clark help
make the film an engaging, if ultimately pessimistic,
thriller. - JB
Science Fiction Previous: The Andromeda Strain Next: Coma The Secret Vortex
* I left out the obvious STAR WARS trilogy for a reason. Excellent as those first three films may be, they changed the nature of science fiction films. In their wake came more action-oriented sci-fi adventures such as the STAR TREK films of the '80s, as well as the TERMINATOR and ALIEN series, whereas most of the above-named films, with one or two exceptions, were "thinking man's" films. And please, STAR WARS fans, do not write me and scold me about this. The first three STAR WARS films are wonderful and may someday be reviewed on this site.IN
SPACE, NO ONE CAN HEAR GOOD MOVIE QUOTES
"WHAT ARE YOU MAKING?"
"A Martini."
"THAT IS TOO MUCH VERMOUTH."
IS THAT WHO I THINK IT IS?
Along will a
bunch of well-known character
actors such as William Schallert and Dolph Sweet, and soon to be famous
actors such as Eric Braeden and Marion Ross, COLOSSUS features Paul
Frees as the "voice" of the supercomputer late in the film.
Frees was one of
animation's most versatile and hard working voice actors, remembered by
fans
as Boris Badenov from Rocky
and
Bullwinkle and Burgermeister Meisterburger from Santa Claus is Coming
to Town. He also provided the hilariously inappropriate
"fey
English" voice of John Lennon and the just plain
wrong Scottish
accent of George Harrison for The
Beatles cartoon of the 1960s.