Introduced by Kevin Howlett

When the world’s most powerful supercomputer takes control of the nuclear arsenal, one scientist discovers that the machine has plans of its own.

Dr Charles Forbin has created Colossus, an enormous computer designed to control America’s nuclear weapons and prevent the threat of war. Once switched on, Colossus quickly proves to be far more capable than anyone expected. When it connects with its Soviet counterpart, the two machines begin communicating — and soon the humans who built them discover that they are no longer in charge.

Joseph Sargent’s Colossus: The Forbin Project is a wonderfully cold and unsettling piece of 1970s science fiction, built around a simple but terrifying question: what happens when we create something more powerful than ourselves? Eric Braeden gives a terrific performance as the increasingly frustrated Forbin, while the film’s stripped-back style and electronic score give it a distinctly eerie atmosphere. Long before today’s AI debates, Colossus imagined a world where handing control to a machine might have consequences nobody could take back.

“It remains one of the most gripping and prophetic films to ask the question: What happens when we create something that is smarter than us?” – IGN Movies

"Overshadowed by Kubrick’s masterpiece 2001, poor Colossus slipped into relative obscurity, which is a shame: it’s a very entertaining, strongly acted and competently shot satire, and a solid sci-fi story to boot" - BFI 

"A superb adaptation depiction of world domination by a supercomputer, a perfect example that literate, thought-provoking science-fiction films need not be obscure, esoteric, or boring" - Cinematique

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Credits:

Actor

Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent

Director

Joseph Sargent

Running Time: 100 min

Year: 1970

Country: United States

Languages: English

Subtitles: No subtitles

Recomended Age: 12A

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