This movie reflects a major fear in the era before PCs (or microcomputers as they then were called). Few people (not even IBM as Bill Gates can attest) anticipated the rise of personal computing, thinking instead that large mainframes were the wave of the future. The logical extrapolation of this path leads to the mainframe brain represented here by Colosus and Guardian. Dated though the threat may seem, the movie still works well. A must see for all those interested in science and technology!

P.S. In the "Goofs" section of this listing, there is a paragraph entitled "Revealing Mistakes" which reports an error when Dr. Forbin blows out two candles with one breath. There is, in fact no goof. If you look at the scene prior to this when Dr. Forbin and Dr. Markham are eating dinner, there are FOUR lit candles on the table. When he blows out two candles with one breath, the lights dim after which he blows again, presumably to extinguish the remaining two candles which are off screen. The lights then dim again, as they should.

I suspect this would be more obvious if the movie was available in Widescreen rather than the Fullscreen version we've all gotten used to over the years. Hopefully, a future release of this classic movie will restore the fullness of the directors original vision.

One of the things I really love about the sci-fi genre is that they can make very effective cautionary/horror tales because despite presenting great possibilities they also show that there can be a flip side of the coin to them. To every decision there can also be dire consequences. This is an under the radar gem which I really like.

I really like the plot line, it was a film that was no doubt ahead of it's time, though watching the film now is sort of like seeing a relic from a time capsule.

In part of the 60's and 70's you have to realize computer technology and some of the concepts were starting to steadily rise, the fact that these things could pass and access info, let alone get certain things done quicker was amazing for it's time, despite the fact none to few of us had access to this tech at the time. A.I. was a foreign concept as well and seemed like something that seemed almost millions of miles away. But of course when the 80's and so on hit and we began to have access to Computers and Internet and all kinds of technology like Cell Phones, Survelence and Drones and has established A.I. the concept in this film is actually frighteningly placeable.

I do like the suspense, this film is sort of an espionage thriller, only here instead of a foreign power it is against the power of a machine. And unfortunately unlike enemy agents or organizations whom can make mistakes, this enemy doesn't make mistakes because it was built not do. Which in a way makes the conflict against Colosus extremely hard because it's literally almost like a war against God; as this cyber entity has access to all kinds of surveillance so it knows most to all of your moves and due to it's unlimited intelligence it's capable of anything to everything.

Eric Brayden is solid as Charles Forbin, to me this is probably the best role from the actor and sadly only really big role as he never really got to be on the silver screen again, which is sad because I really felt he had a lot of potential. His character is slightly sympathetic, despite the fact that he created or helped create the A.I. he did it for good intentions to help create peace. But as an old saying goes "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions" and both he and all of mankind have just taken one big step. I do like seeing some emotion on his face, despite keeping or trying to keep good composure he feels guilt knowing that instead of a great scientific achievement he made the greatest mistake of his life. So he tries to correct his mistake by trying to covertly sabotage his own creation.

Colosus is a very interesting villain and is to me one of my favorite fictional villains, and was no doubt a partial inspiration to Skynet from "The Terminator". But unlike Skynet and many more A.I. villains this A.I. system operates on a gray area, Colosus I don't feel is totally evil but it's not entirely good either, this cyber entity is based on cold logic, it carries out the necessary actions to produce the solutions to complex problems no matter the corrupt nature of those actions, they are necessary evils to get results. It's goal isn't to eradicate mankind but to unify it, in a way create a Utopia, but like with all Utopian concepts there is a price to pay.

I really love the voice that we hear near the end, Colosus sounds like one of the Cylons from the 70's TV show "Battlestar Galatica" and this film was 8 to 9 years before that show. But the voice fits perfectly as it has that cold caluating menacing tone to it. Most of the things Colsus says about mankind really give a cold chill and are a bit disheartening because it's sadly the truth.

I like the back and forth between both Forbin and Colosus, to me that's what really drives the film. It's sort of a verbal chess game, but unfortunately despite Forbin's great intelligence, playing chess with Colossus is impossible as Colossus is millions of moves ahead. But also in a way you could say it's also the age old motifs of father and son, mentor or student conflict as we see both old wisdom conflict against advanced intelligence.

Thought this film isn't perfect it has a couple of bugs in it's system that hold it back for me. The pacing is kinda slow, which is one of the reasons it takes a while for things to get going. Also it's not really that exciting, it just feels like the anty needed to be upped a little more, or a sticky situation or two needed to occur to keep things moving. But those are things I can get around.

The ending is to me one of the darkest one's I've seen which will haunt you, I won't say what it is but I leave it with these words "to one side came great triumph, but to another came great tragedy." The message of the film is simply, don't let technology rule your lives. Technological advance and the use of it is OK, as long as it's used wisely and it's sole purpose is as a tool and not the single solution to everything. But also about the danger of progress, just because we can do a thing, doesn't necessarily mean that we should.

I personally wouldn't mind a remake (a good one mind you, and from an film that old enough), and if they do may'be they can do it based on the whole trilogy of books, that would be an interesting sci-fi saga.

The numbers the machines computed may'be our last days.

Rating: 3 stars

A classic of science fiction and the paranoid political thrillers prevalent at the time: chilling in its implications and persuasively presented, the film makes for intelligent if demanding viewing. In hindsight, while it's much admired by connoisseurs of either genre (being a fan of both, I'd been longing to catch up with it for years!), the film deserves to have a more widespread reputation. Undoubtedly, this remains Joseph Sargent's best work; his cinematic career hasn't provided much else worthy of note, with the only film to come any close being the fine caper THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE, TWO, THREE (1974).

Its computer-run-amok theme echoes the Hal 9000 of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) and looks forward to DEMON SEED (1977)'s Proteus IV; what a fascinating if overwhelming triple-bill the films would make! Where production values are concerned – polished look (courtesy of d.p. Gene Polito, who later shot WESTWORLD [1973]), imaginative settings (by the veteran Alexander Golitzen), often disorienting editing (the expert work of Folmar Blangsted) and an appropriately weird score (by Michel Colombier) – the film truly can't be faulted, but it also benefits from a largely anonymous cast. The abrupt and unresolved ending, with Man refusing to give in to the undeniable superior intellect of his creation, is highly effective and certainly left the audience with sufficient food for thought – and even apprehension – for the future.

Needless to say, when this was announced for DVD release, I was ready to leap at the chance of finally being able to own and watch the film – but, as many of you must already know, my joy (and that of many another fan, I'm sure) was short-lived when it emerged that Universal had issued a Pan-and-Scan version (which I can only imagine now how this ruined its detailed widescreen compositions)!; thankfully, I was able to make amends via the miraculous format called DivX...