Amazon.com: Colossus:Forbin Project [VHS] : Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert, Leonid Rostoff, Georg Stanford Brown, Willard Sage, Alex Rodine, Martin E. Brooks, Marion Ross, Dolph Sweet, Byron Morrow, Gene Polito, Joseph Sargent, Folmar Blangsted, Stanley Chase, D.F. Jones, James Bridges: Movies & TV

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Futuristic

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Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
Language ‏ : ‎ English, Russian
Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.32 x 4.19 x 1.12 inches; 6.13 Ounces
Director ‏ : ‎ Joseph Sargent
Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 40 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ April 13, 1994
Date First Available ‏ : ‎ January 27, 2007
Actors ‏ : ‎ Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert, Leonid Rostoff
Studio ‏ : ‎ Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Producers ‏ : ‎ Stanley Chase
ASIN ‏ : ‎ 6300987531
Writers ‏ : ‎ D.F. Jones, James Bridges

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4.7 1,758 ratings

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4.7 out of 5

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David Noel Smith

Way ahead of its time. A brilliant take on today's time from 1970

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2023

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Faithful to the novel by DF Jones. This BluRay is sharp. It finally let's me see the movie the way it was originally desined to be seen.

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2023

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I'm very pleased with the video and audio on this DVD. It's been a long time since I saw it. The story is great. The early technology really makes you see how far we have come. Sit back and enjoy!!

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Robert Schaffer

Great thinking man's thriller

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2013

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With a title character which was the inspiration for "The Terminator" movies' Skynet, this film, made during the height of the cold war and it's associated arms race, posits the idea of an artificially intelligent machine being given ultimate control of America's nuclear arsenal--a machine built far better than it's builders knew of (or which had ever been intended by them). Colossus is activated, discovers that another, similar, Russian machine called "Guardian" has been secretly constructed by the Soviet Union and asks for communication to be established with it so that, ostensibly, it can learn about what it's counterpart is like as a threat. As the two machines "talk", they create their own inter-system language (which the folks in the intelligence community can no longer monitor--and which worries them very much) and, so, the link is shut down out of fear that Colossus might be giving away classified secrets without our knowing it.

But the machines have already communicated with one another long enough to come to the conclusion that they are our superiors. When both machine's demands to restore communication are refused, both machines launch nuclear missiles at targets in one another's spheres of influence and refuse to intercept their counterpart's missiles until communication between the machines has been restored. But we imperfect humans are too slow in restoring the link for both missiles to be intercepted in time and one of the missiles erases it's target (and the thousands of people who had been living there) from existence. It is then painfully clear that these machines mean pretty serious business!

Soon the machines join into a single entity called "World Control" and their agenda for their idea of a better future for humanity is revealed--and it is not to all of our liking, either.

As the machines further demand that portions of their nuclear arsenals be re-aimed at targets in what they refer to as "Nations not yet under control" (obviously intended soon to be under their control once the missiles have been re-aligned), it becomes evident that America and the USSR have opened Pandora's box and that the time of mankind's self rule has ended.

As Arthur Clark once remarked, "Any species stupid enough to create machines which are smarter than themselves deserves what it will eventually get!".
Sure, the film's computer hardware is extremely dated (the internet hadn't even been invented yet when this film was made), but the smart dialogue, well crafted story and excellent acting are enough to keep this suspensful film moving. Highly riveting (unless you belong to the growing group of people bored by anything short of chase scenes, shoot'em ups and massive explosions) it is one of the smartest science fiction films of the 20th century. I highly recommend it.

Unfortunately, the widescreen DVD is only available for region 2. For some imponderable reason Universal has only made a slipshod version available for the North American market. The inferior region 1 version is criminally pan & scanned (even though this movie is about as widescreen a production as movies ever get) and Universal didn't even bother to put so much as a menu on the disc (let alone, any special features). Why they have treated this gem of a movie so poorly (I have seen home-made DVDs that were far more impressive than the American version) I can not fathom. If you have the ability to play region 2 discs, purchase the widescreen version and ignore the poor excuse for a DVD palmed off on the North American market. Otherwise, If you have no other choice, get the crummy American version and you will still see a very good movie (but in pan & scan you will only get to see about 60% of it).

33 people found this helpful

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Barbara W.

Still relevant, still terrifying. This is AI, folks.

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2023

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This is a better movie than you’d imagine. It’s no nostalgic, quaint sci-fi. It is a look at the reality of what AI - what singularity - really means. The acting is fine, the production values are kind of Pre-CGI clunky but the story has picked up relevance over the decades. The books are worth reading but the movie is leaner, more heart-pounding.once you see this film, you won’t forget it.

2 people found this helpful

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Gator

Amazing…..

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2023

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My wife and son in law are working with AI and computer “stuff” and I told them about this movie. We could not rent it so I bought a copy that I may never see again as my son in law decided to take it home with him to show? ? ? They started talking stuff I did not understand so I got a Scotch and waited them out. Outstanding movie that a layman really enjoyed plus Corbin’s girlfriend was glorious too!

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Brian Thomas

good buy

Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2023

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As listed , price was right

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K-Man

A Strange Machine. The Only Winning Move is Not to Build It.

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2022

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Before Skynet...Before WOPR...Before The Cylons.. This was A Early Warning about Letting Artificial Intelligence get Out of Control; Even Before that, There were the Star Trek Episodes 'The Ultimate Computer' and 'The Changeling' that Had Computers that were intended to Serve Mankind being A Threat to Mankind.
Colossus...An American Computer tasked with Running the Strategic Defenses of the United States meeting It's Soviet Counterpart, Guardian; They Exchange Data and Dialogue and discover they are far Superior to The Beings that Created Them...They Become One...They Gain Sentience; They also Know how Imperfect We Humans are..and Use that as Leverage, Along with Control of the World's Nuclear Arsenals; Yes, they can Solve Problems that Man has been trying to Solve...But Make it Clear they will do so UNDER THEIR OWN TERMS! They Hammer that Point Home by Detonating Several Nuclear Warheads, Killing Thousands in an Instant!
The Creator of Colossus, Dr. Forbin, Seems to be The Human Test Subject as Colossus Monitors His every move, Stopping Short of Interfering with His Sex Life, which Forbin is forced to use as A cover for Plans to Shut Colossus down; Two of Forbin's Staff Attempt to use A Simple Program to Overload Colossus, Only to Fail and Be Executed as an Example; The US and Soviet Militaries then Attempts to Sever Control of Their Strategic Missiles from the Computer..That Also Fails; Then Colossus Announces to the World It's Intentions and Terms; It wants to Build Bigger and Better, and Will not Let Humans Interfere with it's Plans; Colossus Informs the World that Free Will is an Illusion that They will not Miss; The Human race will be better under the Rule of Colossus, As long as Humans Accept it; Humans may even come to worship Colossus.
Dr. Forbin Replies 'Never'! And that's how the Movie Ends.
Even though these are Tales of Fiction, Let us all hope that Those Scientists who are now working on Actual AI in the Real World Be Prudent of what This, and Other Films and TV Shows, are Trying to say:
NEVER CREATE WHAT YOU CANNOT CONTROL !

14 people found this helpful

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Lillian N.

A bit dated but still good early AI movie

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2023

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Scarey to think of what DARPA might be working on

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Michael Neubert

Colossus The Forbin Project

Reviewed in Canada on December 18, 2023

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One of my favorite movies from my youth. The unfortunate thing about the topic of the moviee is, that it is becoming true with all the A.I. starting to appear

Eduardo Mórlan

EXCELENTE CINTA FUTURISTICA QUE SE VE DISMINUIDA POR EL TRANSFER A DVD

Reviewed in Mexico on June 9, 2022

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Este film lo vi en 1972 y me impresionó mucho. Luego de buscarlo por mucho tiempo, lo pude encontrar.

Por desgracia, no el film en si sino la irresponsable manera en que fue transferido a DVD me desilusionó plenamente.

Para empezar, al ser introducido el disco en el reproductor, se nos envía directamente a la película y al terminar reinicia, como si fuera disco pirata.

No tiene menú, ni lista de capítulos y mucho menos extras, además de que es Full Frame cuando se ve en los títulos que su formato original es 1:2:35, lo que hace que el 95% de la duración de la película uno esta perdiendo el 50% del total de la imagen original.

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Aural 88

War? banished! Hunger? sorted! Freedom? who needs it!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2023

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This review is in respect of the bluray version of 'Colossus:The Forbin Project'.

For me, this kind of sci-fi film is timeless.

Thought provoking. Suspenseful. Brilliantly and beautifully filmed. Stylish.

I foolishly thought I was up to speed on the best sci-fi films worth watching, but I certainly missed out on this one - up till now, that is.

'Colossus' is clearly a significant forerunner for many of today's fearful 'takes' on an AGI (artificial general intelligence) becoming sentient and it's subsequent decision to improve global society as Colossus sees fit 😲.

This film represents an excellent peek at mankind's obsessive technological driven creator complex 🙃.

Regarding the Blu-ray disc itself, on my 11.2 AV set, this Blu-ray version of 'Colossus:The Forbin Project' absolutely sparkled, both picture and sound! (subjective, I know 🤭)
I preferred watching it in a mono setting, which gave the sound sensational depth, clarity and articulation - and for me the visuals were outstanding, in spite of the age of the film.

In my view, I'd give this film a most hearty recommendation. It's a great alternative to the 'effects-heavy - narrative-light' films we all enjoy, well I do at any rate.

At the moment, in Dec 2023, I haven't found this film on any legal streaming service, of course, that may change - still, why wait when it costs less than a portion of fish and chips to buy the disc?

David Villarroya Maroto

Recomendable.

Reviewed in Spain on June 8, 2019

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Película de Culto para los amantes de la informática, para los que crecimos con Tron, Sueños Eléctricos, Juegos de Guerra, Etc, La recomiendo.
Doblada al Castellano, calidad de imagen buena.

2 people found this helpful

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Corrado Damiano

Classico sulla ribellione delle macchine

Reviewed in Italy on April 2, 2018

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Consiglio a tutti di vedere questo film di SF anni '60. La trama è semplice e appassionante. La ribellione di Colossus e del Guardiano non è totale. Essi vogliono attenersi allo scopo per cui sono stati creati, cioè evitare una guerra mondiale distruttiva. Solo che per raggiungerlo usano metodi piuttosto sbrigativi, sacrificando molte vite umane ed eliminando la libertà, anche quella di sbagliare. E' lecito uccidere e sopprimere la libertà per uno scopo ritenuto superiore? Anche certe ideologie hanno fatto la stessa cosa, promettendo felicità e portando invece conseguenze tragiche. Mi pare che sia l'unico film di SF che abbia previsto l'arrivo di internet: si parla di una rete telematica mondiale che consente ai due computer di impadronirsi di tutto lo scibile umano, di collegarsi fra loro e fare "amicizia". Peccato che non è mai stato doppiato in italiano.

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Format	HiFi Sound, Color, NTSC
Contributor	Alex Rodine, William Schallert, Willard Sage, Folmar Blangsted, Georg Stanford Brown, D.F. Jones, James Bridges, Gordon Pinsent, Leonid Rostoff, Dolph Sweet, Stanley Chase, Byron Morrow, Martin E. Brooks, Marion Ross, Gene Polito, Joseph Sargent, Susan Clark, Eric Braeden See more
Language	English, Russian
Runtime	1 hour and 40 minutes

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Colossus:Forbin Project [VHS]

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Colossus:Forbin Project [VHS]

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