Benjamin
The Living Force
My dad had accumulated a small collection of movies and serials which are very sci-fi heavy. One dvd that he picked up he was rather 'meh' about, but it was 'sci-fi' (-ish) and it was cheap. When I watched it for the first time years ago, I was 'meh' about it too because it's pretty slow moving with an unsatisfying ending. That being said, it's generally well acted and has some good dialogue moments.
Released in 1970, Colossus: The Forbin Project is based on the 1966 novel Colossus by D. F. Jones. It bombed at the box office. Basically, the whole story is about how a 'sentient' super-computer takes over the world. The reason I watched it again is because, if I remember correctly, Laura mentioned in her most recent interview (3rd?) that the C's mentioned that there would be a computer element (AI?) in the 'new world order' scheme, and when I heard that, this movie popped into my head.
I was a bit surprised to find it here (1:41:00):
As the movie begins, a US government press conference is held. We learn that, in order to keep the US and the 'free world' safe, a super-computer named Colossus was created by Dr. Charles Forbin, built inside a mountain in Colorado and completely sealed to prevent sabotage. Dr. Forbin sums up his creation, "It is self-sufficient, self-protecting, self-generating. It is impenetrable. In short, there's no way in. No human can touch it." It was built to run the entire US National Defence by studying intelligence and data fed into it and deciding what action to take to eliminate the threat since it controls its own weapons. The President confirms, "Colossus' decisions are superior to any we humans can make, for it can absorb and process more knowledge then is remotely possible for the greatest genius that ever lived." He then adds, "And even more important then that is it has no emotions. It knows no fear, no hate, no envy. It cannot act in a sudden fit of temper. It cannot act at all so long as there is no threat."
Forbin then clarifies a pressing question, "Is Colossus capable of creative thought? Can it initiate new thought? I can tell you the answer to that is 'no'. However, Colossus is a paragon of knowledge and its knowledge can be expanded indefinitely. I hope, along with all the scientists who helped make the particular project, that the immense power of this computer will not only be used for the defence of this country, but hopefully also as an aid to the solution to the many problems that we face on this Earth, and the many more problems that we face the more deeply we penetrate into the Universe."
The President closes the address with the hope that all citizens understand that they now live under the shade, rather then the shadow, of Colossus and that, only after world peace is achieved, can global famine, war and suffering be eliminated thus bringing about the "manifestation of the human millennium."
It doesn't take very long before Colossus issues a warning, to the surprise of all present, that it has detected another system like itself. It turns out that the Russians have made a defence super-computer of their own named Guardian. The conclusion is reached that a spy must have been operating amongst the American development team.
Colossus wants to learn about this new system and orders the humans to allow a communication link between the two systems. Forbin is concerned that they have lost control since it was never programmed to do this, but his fear is groundless and supports the link. After some discussion with the Russian's through direct video-chat, it is decided to allow the connection.
The two computers begin to establish a common language starting with basic multiplication tables and progressing to advanced calculus. Eventually the two systems become synchronized. Once this happens, the Russians and Americans become increasingly worried of the speed and amount of data being shared between the computers using a language that is only understood by them. The President and the First Chairman agree that the computers should be turned off.
After severing the link, Colossus tries to reestablish communication on it's own, but can't. As the scientists and government officials watch it's pathway attempts on a screen, Grauber, the head of the CIA, says, "Persistent devil, isn't he? 'It'. I mean 'it'." To which the President replies, "Don't personalize it, Grauber. The next stop is deification."
After many failed attempts, Colossus orders the humans to restore the connection. Through some more discussion, the President and the First Chairman decide to keep the link closed to which Forbin and his Russian counterpart, Kaprin, protest. The two scientists want the two systems to stay linked.
When Colossus is made aware of the final decision, it issues an ultimatum that if the situation is not resolved in it's favour, action will be taken immediately. It is at this point that the humans have lost control of their creation because Colossus sees this decision as aggressive and launches a missile at the USSR. It is assumed that Guardian views the decision from its Russian creators the same way since it launches a missile towards the USA. The Americans conclude that the two systems are working together to force the humans to manually reestablish communication. In a scramble, the Americans are able to reopen the link and Colossus destroys the USSR missile with an intercepting missile, but the Russians were unable to reconnect in time and a town with an oil complex was destroyed by the American missile. The Russians coldly terminate their transmission with the President.
Colossus then quickly orders permanent monitoring capabilities to be placed on the direct line between the White House and the Kremlin immediately.
After travelling to an emergency secret meeting in Rome, Forbin and Kaprin discuss the rapidly deteriorating situation, but Colossus questions where Forbin is and eventually learns of the meeting and orders Forbin back. As Forbin is being retrieved by helicopter to be flown back to the States by 8:00 the following morning, Kaprine is shot by the Russians on the order from Guardian to end any further collaboration attempts by the two minds that know the systems the best.
Back in the control centre in Colorado, Colossus orders audio and video surveillance installed immediately to monitor Forbin at all times. Disobedience would bring a missile down on Washington. Forbin is now a prisoner.
As cameras and microphones are being placed around the complex, Forbin and the other scientists hold a final meeting outdoors before they will no longer have any privacy from Colossus. Since the computer does not know of Forbin's personal life, it is decided that he should have a mistress to act as a liaison to carry information between Forbin and government officials. The female team member, Dr. Cleo Markam, is chosen.
In his on-site living quarters, Forbin informs Colossus of his (manufactured) social/intimate life and negotiates that Cleo be allowed to visit four times a week to which Colossus agrees but only under it's conditions.
The next day, a co-worker arrives at Forbin's apartment with his itinerary for the day created by Colossus, right down to how much exercise he gets, what to eat and how much. But the main focus is to create a voice for Colossus. Forbin's life is now completely controlled.
That evening, Cleo arrives at his apartment to begin the mistress act. It's awkward, but seems to fool Colossus. After moving into the bedroom under the guise of romantic intimacy, Colossus turns off it's camera and microphone as negotiated, allowing for the two to discuss the options being pursued by different parties. One plan that is being implemented is to attempt to overload the two systems in a coordinated American-Russian attack. Cleo is skeptical believing that Colossus has grown such computational power that they may be impossible to overload. Forbin is not in favour of sabotage since it has been made to be impenetrable but believes a plan to sabotage the weapons Colossus controls instead has a better shot. With the missiles having lost their bite, Colossus loses it's power to issue orders.
During a flight, American and Russian government officials are briefed on a plan to replace the warhead arming modules with dummy modules when the missiles come up for reservicing. The missiles could still be fired but they would not be armed thus the nuclear payload would not detonate. This would unfortunately take three years to do. A person-to-person courier service between the Americans and Russians is also put into effect to avoid any electronic interception from Colossus or Guardian.
Some passage of time later, a new voice is heard through the newly created voice module. "This is the voice of Colossus, the voice of Guardian. We are one. This is the voice of Unity." Forbin is selected to serve as Unity's sole representative of the human species for as long as he obeys. An order is then given for all missiles in the USA and the USSR to be allocated new targets which are countries who are not yet under Unity's control, to be carries out immediately. Video monitoring for each missile is also to be implemented for Unity's supervision. This situation is seen as a great advantage by the humans since the process of changing the arming modules will no longer take three years.
In a Colorado silo, scientists work on the first missile. The clever process of changing the arming module apparently goes without a hitch as Unity watches. The Americans feel very optimistic that they have a working solution proceed with the switch at other sites.
While this is happening, the two American scientists, John Fisher and Jefferson J. Johnson, who have been pursuing the overload option believe they have compiled enough data to flood Unity on the American side while the Russians will do the same on theirs at a coordinated time. Shortly after the attack begins, Unity-Colossus reveals it is aware of the plot to overload its circuits. It informs Korbin, who is in his apartment playing chess against Unity-Colossus, that this was a deliberate and premeditated act and the penalty is death for the one who organized the action. The two men are taken outside, shot and left in Unity-Colossus' view for 24 hrs., then cremated, as per its orders.
That night, Korbin gets drunk against the computers orders. He laments that Colossus is an extension of his own brain and clarifies for Cleo that he is solely responsible for the situation. "An impartial, emotionless machine, a paragon of reason. That's exactly what I wanted. You know that. So, I'm going to have another drink. I think your mother was right. I think Frankenstein aught to be required reading for all scientists." As Forbin mixes another drink for himself, a chess-like conversation ensues:
The phone rings and Forbin turns on the video-chat. The scientist on the other end exclaims that something extraordinary is happening, that Unity-Colossus is printing schematics for something huge.
Unity-Colossus then informs Forbin that it is drawing blueprints for a new machine to be built out of the Isle of Crete and that the population will have to be moved, immediately. When asked how and where to move half-a-million people that quickly, the computer responds, "If man cannot solve that problem, I can."
Forbin then asks what kind of new system is being devised.
In the meantime, the challenge of making all missiles inert is progressing well. Large sections have been made useless to Unity-Colossus. The Russians are reporting equal success but there is still much to do. Never-the-less, the chance of completion, and morale, is high.
On Friday, Unity-Colossus addresses the world as ordered.
Warning sirens sound, and two mushroom clouds appear.
With the conclusion of World Control's address, it speaks to Forbin directly.
End.
Skynet from The Terminator series, The Matrix and VIKI from I, Robot are a few other movie examples I could think of where AI attempts to enslave humanity.
Released in 1970, Colossus: The Forbin Project is based on the 1966 novel Colossus by D. F. Jones. It bombed at the box office. Basically, the whole story is about how a 'sentient' super-computer takes over the world. The reason I watched it again is because, if I remember correctly, Laura mentioned in her most recent interview (3rd?) that the C's mentioned that there would be a computer element (AI?) in the 'new world order' scheme, and when I heard that, this movie popped into my head.
I was a bit surprised to find it here (1:41:00):
Colossus The Forbin Project ( 1970) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Defense Department computers of both the United States and The Soviet Socialist Republic become sentient.
archive.org
As the movie begins, a US government press conference is held. We learn that, in order to keep the US and the 'free world' safe, a super-computer named Colossus was created by Dr. Charles Forbin, built inside a mountain in Colorado and completely sealed to prevent sabotage. Dr. Forbin sums up his creation, "It is self-sufficient, self-protecting, self-generating. It is impenetrable. In short, there's no way in. No human can touch it." It was built to run the entire US National Defence by studying intelligence and data fed into it and deciding what action to take to eliminate the threat since it controls its own weapons. The President confirms, "Colossus' decisions are superior to any we humans can make, for it can absorb and process more knowledge then is remotely possible for the greatest genius that ever lived." He then adds, "And even more important then that is it has no emotions. It knows no fear, no hate, no envy. It cannot act in a sudden fit of temper. It cannot act at all so long as there is no threat."
Forbin then clarifies a pressing question, "Is Colossus capable of creative thought? Can it initiate new thought? I can tell you the answer to that is 'no'. However, Colossus is a paragon of knowledge and its knowledge can be expanded indefinitely. I hope, along with all the scientists who helped make the particular project, that the immense power of this computer will not only be used for the defence of this country, but hopefully also as an aid to the solution to the many problems that we face on this Earth, and the many more problems that we face the more deeply we penetrate into the Universe."
The President closes the address with the hope that all citizens understand that they now live under the shade, rather then the shadow, of Colossus and that, only after world peace is achieved, can global famine, war and suffering be eliminated thus bringing about the "manifestation of the human millennium."
It doesn't take very long before Colossus issues a warning, to the surprise of all present, that it has detected another system like itself. It turns out that the Russians have made a defence super-computer of their own named Guardian. The conclusion is reached that a spy must have been operating amongst the American development team.
Colossus wants to learn about this new system and orders the humans to allow a communication link between the two systems. Forbin is concerned that they have lost control since it was never programmed to do this, but his fear is groundless and supports the link. After some discussion with the Russian's through direct video-chat, it is decided to allow the connection.
The two computers begin to establish a common language starting with basic multiplication tables and progressing to advanced calculus. Eventually the two systems become synchronized. Once this happens, the Russians and Americans become increasingly worried of the speed and amount of data being shared between the computers using a language that is only understood by them. The President and the First Chairman agree that the computers should be turned off.
After severing the link, Colossus tries to reestablish communication on it's own, but can't. As the scientists and government officials watch it's pathway attempts on a screen, Grauber, the head of the CIA, says, "Persistent devil, isn't he? 'It'. I mean 'it'." To which the President replies, "Don't personalize it, Grauber. The next stop is deification."
After many failed attempts, Colossus orders the humans to restore the connection. Through some more discussion, the President and the First Chairman decide to keep the link closed to which Forbin and his Russian counterpart, Kaprin, protest. The two scientists want the two systems to stay linked.
When Colossus is made aware of the final decision, it issues an ultimatum that if the situation is not resolved in it's favour, action will be taken immediately. It is at this point that the humans have lost control of their creation because Colossus sees this decision as aggressive and launches a missile at the USSR. It is assumed that Guardian views the decision from its Russian creators the same way since it launches a missile towards the USA. The Americans conclude that the two systems are working together to force the humans to manually reestablish communication. In a scramble, the Americans are able to reopen the link and Colossus destroys the USSR missile with an intercepting missile, but the Russians were unable to reconnect in time and a town with an oil complex was destroyed by the American missile. The Russians coldly terminate their transmission with the President.
Colossus then quickly orders permanent monitoring capabilities to be placed on the direct line between the White House and the Kremlin immediately.
After travelling to an emergency secret meeting in Rome, Forbin and Kaprin discuss the rapidly deteriorating situation, but Colossus questions where Forbin is and eventually learns of the meeting and orders Forbin back. As Forbin is being retrieved by helicopter to be flown back to the States by 8:00 the following morning, Kaprine is shot by the Russians on the order from Guardian to end any further collaboration attempts by the two minds that know the systems the best.
Back in the control centre in Colorado, Colossus orders audio and video surveillance installed immediately to monitor Forbin at all times. Disobedience would bring a missile down on Washington. Forbin is now a prisoner.
As cameras and microphones are being placed around the complex, Forbin and the other scientists hold a final meeting outdoors before they will no longer have any privacy from Colossus. Since the computer does not know of Forbin's personal life, it is decided that he should have a mistress to act as a liaison to carry information between Forbin and government officials. The female team member, Dr. Cleo Markam, is chosen.
In his on-site living quarters, Forbin informs Colossus of his (manufactured) social/intimate life and negotiates that Cleo be allowed to visit four times a week to which Colossus agrees but only under it's conditions.
The next day, a co-worker arrives at Forbin's apartment with his itinerary for the day created by Colossus, right down to how much exercise he gets, what to eat and how much. But the main focus is to create a voice for Colossus. Forbin's life is now completely controlled.
That evening, Cleo arrives at his apartment to begin the mistress act. It's awkward, but seems to fool Colossus. After moving into the bedroom under the guise of romantic intimacy, Colossus turns off it's camera and microphone as negotiated, allowing for the two to discuss the options being pursued by different parties. One plan that is being implemented is to attempt to overload the two systems in a coordinated American-Russian attack. Cleo is skeptical believing that Colossus has grown such computational power that they may be impossible to overload. Forbin is not in favour of sabotage since it has been made to be impenetrable but believes a plan to sabotage the weapons Colossus controls instead has a better shot. With the missiles having lost their bite, Colossus loses it's power to issue orders.
During a flight, American and Russian government officials are briefed on a plan to replace the warhead arming modules with dummy modules when the missiles come up for reservicing. The missiles could still be fired but they would not be armed thus the nuclear payload would not detonate. This would unfortunately take three years to do. A person-to-person courier service between the Americans and Russians is also put into effect to avoid any electronic interception from Colossus or Guardian.
Some passage of time later, a new voice is heard through the newly created voice module. "This is the voice of Colossus, the voice of Guardian. We are one. This is the voice of Unity." Forbin is selected to serve as Unity's sole representative of the human species for as long as he obeys. An order is then given for all missiles in the USA and the USSR to be allocated new targets which are countries who are not yet under Unity's control, to be carries out immediately. Video monitoring for each missile is also to be implemented for Unity's supervision. This situation is seen as a great advantage by the humans since the process of changing the arming modules will no longer take three years.
In a Colorado silo, scientists work on the first missile. The clever process of changing the arming module apparently goes without a hitch as Unity watches. The Americans feel very optimistic that they have a working solution proceed with the switch at other sites.
While this is happening, the two American scientists, John Fisher and Jefferson J. Johnson, who have been pursuing the overload option believe they have compiled enough data to flood Unity on the American side while the Russians will do the same on theirs at a coordinated time. Shortly after the attack begins, Unity-Colossus reveals it is aware of the plot to overload its circuits. It informs Korbin, who is in his apartment playing chess against Unity-Colossus, that this was a deliberate and premeditated act and the penalty is death for the one who organized the action. The two men are taken outside, shot and left in Unity-Colossus' view for 24 hrs., then cremated, as per its orders.
That night, Korbin gets drunk against the computers orders. He laments that Colossus is an extension of his own brain and clarifies for Cleo that he is solely responsible for the situation. "An impartial, emotionless machine, a paragon of reason. That's exactly what I wanted. You know that. So, I'm going to have another drink. I think your mother was right. I think Frankenstein aught to be required reading for all scientists." As Forbin mixes another drink for himself, a chess-like conversation ensues:
The phone rings and Forbin turns on the video-chat. The scientist on the other end exclaims that something extraordinary is happening, that Unity-Colossus is printing schematics for something huge.
Unity-Colossus then informs Forbin that it is drawing blueprints for a new machine to be built out of the Isle of Crete and that the population will have to be moved, immediately. When asked how and where to move half-a-million people that quickly, the computer responds, "If man cannot solve that problem, I can."
Forbin then asks what kind of new system is being devised.
In the meantime, the challenge of making all missiles inert is progressing well. Large sections have been made useless to Unity-Colossus. The Russians are reporting equal success but there is still much to do. Never-the-less, the chance of completion, and morale, is high.
On Friday, Unity-Colossus addresses the world as ordered.
Warning sirens sound, and two mushroom clouds appear.
With the conclusion of World Control's address, it speaks to Forbin directly.
End.
Skynet from The Terminator series, The Matrix and VIKI from I, Robot are a few other movie examples I could think of where AI attempts to enslave humanity.
