COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT (1970) – Episode 221 – Decades of Horror 1970s

“This is the voice of World Control. I bring you peace. It may be the Peace of Plenty and Content or the Peace of Unburied Death.” Is that a multiple-choice question? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they check out some apocalyptic science fiction and horror with Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)!

Decades of Horror 1970s
Episode 221 – Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel!
Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content!
https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

Decades of Horror 1970s is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL (https://wickedhorrortv.com/) which now includes video episodes of the podcast and is available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, and its online website across all OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.

Thinking this will prevent war, the US government gives an impenetrable supercomputer total control over launching nuclear missiles. But what the computer does with the power is unimaginable to its creators.

• Directed by: Joseph Sargent
• Writing Credits: James Bridges (screenplay); D.F. Jones (based on his 1966 novel Colossus)
• Cinematography by: Gene Polito (director of photography)
• Visual Effects by: Albert Whitlock (special photographic effects)
• Selected Cast:
  • Eric Braeden as Dr. Charles Forbin
  • Susan Clark as Dr. Cleo Markham
  • Gordon Pinsent as The President
  • William Schallert as CIA Director Grauber
  • Leonid Rostoff as Russian Chairman
  • Georg Stanford Brown as Dr. John F. Fisher
  • Willard Sage as Dr. Blake
  • Alex Rodine as Dr. Kuprin
  • Martin E. Brooks as Dr. Jefferson J. Johnson (as Martin Brooks)
  • Marion Ross as Angela Fields
  • Dolph Sweet as Missile Commander
  • Byron Morrow as Secretary of State
  • Lew Brown as Peterson
  • Sid McCoy as Secretary of Defense
  • Tom Basham as Thomas L. Harrison
  • Robert Cornthwaite as First Scientist
  • James Hong as Dr. Chin
  • Serge Tschernisch as Translator (as Sergei Tschernisch)
  • John Davey as Military officer on phone (uncredited)
  • Paul Frees as Colossus (voice) (uncredited)
  • Fred Holliday as Military Computer Entry – Missile Launch (uncredited)
  • Robert Quarry as Scientist (uncredited)
  • Don Ross as Logan US Air Force (uncredited)
  • William Traylor as Party Guest (uncredited)

Given the current state of humankind, it makes perfect sense to turn planet management over to a supercomputer, right? Enter Charles Forbin and Colossus, his mountain-size, 70s-style, omnipotent computer. Of course, “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley and leave us nothing but grief and pain, for promised joy!” (Robert Burns) And they “gang agley” in a hurry!

The Grue-Crew are agog at the cast – Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, and a mountain-full of recognizable character actors, many of whom have horror cred – so there is much fodder for their talkabout! By the way, is it still science fiction if it’s happening today?

At the time of this writing, Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) is available to stream from Vimeo, and is available on Blu-ray formatted, physical media from SHOUT! Factory. 

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode, chosen by Doc, will be Nightwing (1979), adapted from the 1977 novel by Martin Cruz Smith. Vampire bats, fellow babies!

We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at [e-mail].