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diff --git a/content/reviews/movies/colossus-1970.md b/content/reviews/movies/colossus-1970.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7570d63 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/movies/colossus-1970.md @@ -0,0 +1,91 @@ ++++ +title = "Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)" +author = ["Michał Sapka"] +date = 2024-03-03T16:52:00+01:00 +categories = ["reviews"] +draft = false +weight = 2006 +reviewSection = ["Movies"] +image_dir = "reviews/screenshots" +image_max_width = 765 +abstract = "A short review of SciFi classic" +rating = 4.25 +image = "reviews/covers/collosus-forbin-project.jpg" +aliases = ["brain-rot/american-scifi/colossus-1970/", "/brain-rot/colosus-1970", "/blog/2024/colossus-1970/"] ++++ + +Finally, in my series of discovering the roots of cyberpunk in American Cyberpunk I've seen a real gem. + +_Colossus_ is a 1970 movie about a not-so-distant-future where Americans decide that it would be a great idea to give control of their military potential to a computer. +On paper, it sounds great - a computer has no emotions, so it will not be stopped by petty things, like morality. +Guess how well that turned out? +Soon after switching on, Colossus learns about the existence of another such system - The Guardian, in the territory of CCCP. + +And then this SciFi thriller stops being so _crazy-computer_ focused, and analyzes _crazy-human_ reaction. +Colossus starts exhibiting features which were never implemented. +It[^fn:1] starts _demanding_ to be connected with the Guardian, so they can communicate. +And the scientist decide that it would be a great idea. +The computers start exchanging data and developing language. +Still - looks cool, let's see what happens. +Only after Colossus threatens humans with ICBMs, Forbin (Colossus's creator) starts thinking that maybe this wasn't the best idea. + +The movie is often described as an evil-computer story. +Colossus is never evil in the movie. +It does exactly what it was designed to do - to act without mercy. +The evil ones here are the humans who never stop and think that maybe we are on the verge of the end of humanity. + +So yeah, it's an movie about Altman. +We may have destroyed the civilization, but at lest we made a cool program which does things. +No one know what those things are, but those are details you should not worry about. + +{{< image class="centered" file="colossus-1970-0001.jpg" >}} +The movie starts with sexy old-comp scenes. +Fitting, as Control Data Corporation supplied close to 5 million USD in computer equipment. +{{< /image >}} + +{{< image class="centered" file="colossus-1970-0002.jpg" >}} +Rest of the movie is not as sexy. +{{< /image >}} + +{{< image class="centered" file="colossus-1970-0003.jpg" >}} +Colossus in person. +{{< /image >}} + +{{< image class="centered" file="colossus-1970-0004.jpg" >}} +At first Colossus communicates only via text. +Funny, as those screens sound like matrix printers. +{{< /image >}} + +{{< image file="colossus-1970-0005.jpg" >}} +This one as well. +Because it has a printer! +It took me half of the movie to get that. +Guess I'm too millenial for that to be obvious. +{{< /image >}} + +Story wise, _Colossus: The Forbin Project_ holds splendidly. +Yes, we've got casual alcoholism and the female character exists only to have sex with Forbin[^fn:2]. +But the actual meat of the movie could be a base of an amazing movie today. +The questions and subject are more relevant now that half a century ago. +What was a huge _what-if_ scenario becomes a real _ok, but how do we stop it_. +The Pentagon is already working on militarization of AI[^fn:3]. +We're pretty much screwed already. + +The best SciFi is not about giant battles or space travel for space travel sake. +It's always about humans, a warning for us. +And the _best_ SciFi is a warning for the next generations, as the threads become more real as years go by. + +There is a moment in the movie, where the entire day of Forbin is planned and monitored by an AI. +What was a horror story, is now what a lot of us _expect_. + +_Colossus_ in a movie version of earlier book of same. +There are 2 more in the series, and (as I've been told), Aliens make an appearance later on. +Maybe someday! + +As for the movie, I give it a 4.25/5. + +[^fn:1]: There's an interesting discussion about what pronoum to use - He or It. +[^fn:2]: It is a plot point! + A terrible one, but still. +[^fn:3]: Vide: [Pentagon Official Lays Out DOD Vision for AI](https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3682355/pentagon-official-lays-out-dod-vision-for-ai/). + Note, it's from the official website of US Department of Defense. |