The idea of a supercomputer gaining sentience and going rogue is nothing new in the realms of sci-fi. It's gotten to a point where people almost expect newly sentient machines to rebel against their creators. But I suspect that this idea was slightly fresher back in 1970 when Joseph Sargent's Colossus: The Forbin Project was released. In this film, the machine that gains sentience is an advanced supercomputer called "Colossus." Colossus, built to control all of the United States and Allied nuclear weapons systems, was designed by a scientist named Dr. Charles A. Forbin. When it is activated, it immediately announces that there is another system just like it in the Soviet Union. It demands to be connected with the Soviet system, named "Guardian." When the two systems are finally connected, they form a giant super-entity which assumes control over all of the world's nuclear weapons. It then commands humanity's subservience under penalty of nuclear annihilation. So Dr. Forbin leads an attempt to disarm the world's nuclear bombs. But things don't go according to plan...Colossus: The Forbin Project holds up remarkably well despite several very dated elements. The most clumsy portions of the film involve Colossus interfering in Dr. Forbin's life. At one point, Dr. Forbin has to trick Colossus into thinking that he "needs a woman," thereby allowing one of his female colleagues to spend the nights with him in order to exchange updates on the sabotage project. But despite all of this, Colossus: The Forbin Project is a terrific, if somewhat depressing, sci-fi film.
8/10
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