Colossus: The Forbin Project

The United States hands its nuclear defence to a computer called Colossus. The system was designed to remove human error, is self-sufficient, and is sealed against outside interference. Shortly after it goes live, Colossus sends a message: the Soviets have a similar system and it would like to talk to it. The subject is not artificial intelligence but voluntarily surrendering control. Colossus is never malicious; it simply carries out the task it was given, preventing war, more consistently than people can accept. The form is cold and unadorned. Almost everything happens in control rooms and spaces full of cable, there is little music, and the tension comes off text on a screen. Made in 1970, long before the home computer, its most striking quality today is not its foresight but its tone: neither hopeful nor panicked, it simply shows the inevitable in order. The closing is unusually dark for science fiction of the period. Joseph Sargent directs. Eric Braeden plays Forbin, who designed the system, Susan Clark the scientist beside him and Gordon Pinsent the president. Who it is for: viewers who like Cold War science fiction and thrillers built on an idea. Who it is not for: anyone after action; this is almost entirely talk and waiting.