tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post5626080594690561333..comments2024-03-24T14:03:33.932-07:00Comments on Every 70s Movie: Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)By Peter Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11385971732301020652noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-83590452581722276232023-10-04T22:09:48.310-07:002023-10-04T22:09:48.310-07:00Biggest logic flaw. Why didn’t they just physicall...Biggest logic flaw. Why didn’t they just physically obstruct the top of the missile launch tubes? E.g park a truck over the top.Cameronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03401663666428224447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-4931480271813187812023-08-03T09:38:15.275-07:002023-08-03T09:38:15.275-07:002023 Update: Finally re-watched this one, and an i...2023 Update: Finally re-watched this one, and an indication of how little it grew in my estimation is that even though this was my third time through "Colossus," only about half of what happened onscreen seemed even vaguely familiar to me. Accordingly, while my rewritten review is a bit more charitable than my first take, the things that struck me as problems before still hit the same way, particularly Braeden's performance. Whatever other people are seeing there, I'm just not seeing -- though perhaps it's simply a matter of my not having had the experience of catching the picture during its original release, when everything about it might have seemed fresher. Oh, well -- I tried. Three times!By Peter Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11385971732301020652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-90484622094899278212022-04-23T18:55:50.524-07:002022-04-23T18:55:50.524-07:00This was a late night movie staple in the 70s, so ...This was a late night movie staple in the 70s, so I saw it numerous times in high school. Loved it.<br /><br />Braeden does his schtick well - he's great in an episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," basically a parody of himself, I suppose.Neccohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01259970343794306931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-34388016405839633682021-01-16T19:26:26.150-08:002021-01-16T19:26:26.150-08:00Thanks for pointing out my glitch on the character...Thanks for pointing out my glitch on the character name, Peter. I've fixed that. Chances are the error arose from my general disengagement with the movie; I had seen it once prior to watching it again for this review and found it dull both times. Interesting that several readers see more in Braeden's performance than I do. It's possible that because I was familiar with his unimpressive later work in schlock TV before I first saw "Colossus," I failed to view his performance with an open mind. If so, my bad. However, I doubt that I'll ever find the will to watch "Colossus" a third time for reappraisal. And finally, regarding your logic points, fair enough. I've often found myself in the position of defending aspects of pictures I admire that others find flawed. Specifically regarding the "off" switch, you're correct that the film offers an explanation. My point (in the review) is that I don't buy the explanation, which feels too much like a convenient narrative contrivance to me. In any event, thanks as always for the detailed observations, and especially for alerting me to the character-name mistake.By Peter Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11385971732301020652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-6643538121123806492021-01-05T18:22:06.482-08:002021-01-05T18:22:06.482-08:00"Colossus has, well, colossal logic problems...."Colossus has, well, colossal logic problems. The movie assumes that none of the geniuses who built the computer ran models predicting its likely evolution; that nobody bothered to check if other systems were being built by other countries; and that the entire U.S. government okayed a system lacking an “off” switch.'<br /><br />First, Forbin's first name is Charles, not Jonathon. Now, on to the supposed flaws in the film's logic. I must disagree. The filmmakers make it very clear why Colossus has no off switch. If it did, an enemy saboteur could disable the system, leaving the U.S. defenseless. The CIA detected increased activity in an area of the Soviet Union, if not Guardian. The Soviets were very skilled concealing revolutionary technological developments until they were ready to reveal them, as with Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin's pioneering orbital space flight. The size of Colossus is congruent with the computers of the times, where a mainframe computer could occupy an entire floor of a building. The premise of a sentient computer had been done in sf movies -- Forbidden Planet and 2001 are notable examples, but Colossus, given its basic premise, proceeds to extrapolate from it with relentless logic, with one exception -- the murder of Kuprin, Forbin's Soviet counterpart. Colossus should have recognized that Forbin could die from a disease or in an accident. BTW, I like the casting of Eric Braeden, whose German accent may have put viewers in mind of Wernher von Braun. As for why Forbin didn't run computer models that would have predicted Colossus developing intelligence, I don't think the concept of modeling or computers powerful enough to manage it existed in the late '60s, though I'm not a scholar of computer history and could easily be mistaken.Peter L. Winklerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16005846686173676213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-11925389393432224022018-07-04T05:46:08.047-07:002018-07-04T05:46:08.047-07:00I have to agree with the first two comments. I don...I have to agree with the first two comments. I don't see what ISN'T grown-up about COLOSSUS.Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603892208775996594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-83553108971876279912017-12-05T02:12:24.164-08:002017-12-05T02:12:24.164-08:00i agree with the mutt. CTFP is by no means a maste...i agree with the mutt. CTFP is by no means a masterpiece but it captured my imagination at a young age. The story has holes in it,but I enjoy it and find Eric Breaden quite effective. I like his restraint that barely conceals rage. Another actor might have been histrionic.Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17050780812342957714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-2433812746584331562013-06-25T16:24:47.626-07:002013-06-25T16:24:47.626-07:00I must totally disagree about Breaden. I thought ...I must totally disagree about Breaden. I thought he was perfect. Of, course I was already a fan of his from Rat Patrol.<br /><br />I love this movie. I first saw it as a teen. IIRC it was a Sunday Night Movie of the Week. The ending absolutely floored me. I can quote the final speech to this day.The Mutthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09149977320388415139noreply@blogger.com