Colossus: The Forbin Project

Colossus was a fictional computer featured in the 1969 apocalyptic science fiction movie, Colossus: The Forbin Project loosely based on the 1967 novel Colossus by Dennis Feltham Jones . It has been speculated that Jones named his rogue computer after the "real" Colossus computer, because of the secrecy that surrounded the project. Jones wrote two Colossus sequels The Fall of Colossus (1974) and Colossus and the Crab (1977).

In the movie, Colossus is the Allied military supercomputer. It links up with Guardian, the Soviet supercomputer, and the combined entity takes over the world from humanity. The movie stars Eric Braeden as Dr. Charles Forbin.

Compare with:

• I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison

Colossal trivia

• At the time of production of this movie IBM was scrapping many IBM 1620 computers. About a dozen front panels from 1620s were purchased and used, in various orientations for the front panels of Colossus. A Control Data Corporation magtape drive also seems to be in evidence as is a Tektronix RM503 oscilloscope.

• This movie could be seen as an influence on the Terminator films. In fact it has been rumored that James Cameron is a big fan of this movie.

External links

• http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/film/films/colossus.html
• http://www.moria.co.nz/sf/colossus.htm
• http://www.retrovisionmag.com/colossus.htm