A chilling 1970 film about AI’s potential for global domination is now virtually impossible to watch in the U.S., fueling speculation that it’s being deliberately suppressed.
Colossus: The Forbin Project, a prescient science fiction thriller, warns of artificial intelligence taking over humanity. Despite its groundbreaking accuracy in predicting AI’s dangers, the film has been removed from streaming services and is difficult to find on physical media, raising questions about its current unavailability.
- A 1970 film, Colossus: The Forbin Project, is considered a chillingly accurate depiction of AI’s potential for global control.
- The film is currently inaccessible through legal streaming, rental, or widespread disc availability in the U.S.
- Universal Pictures, the film’s producer, holds the distribution rights and has not indicated plans for its re-release.
- The movie’s themes of AI dominance and human subjugation resonate strongly in today’s rapidly advancing technological landscape.
- Fans are urged to contact NBCUniversal on social media to demand the film’s re-release.
The Forbin Project’s chilling vision of human enslavement.
Released in 1970, Colossus: The Forbin Project offers a stark, calculated look at the perils of artificial intelligence. The story centers on Dr. Charles Forbin, portrayed by Eric Braeden, a brilliant scientist who creates Colossus, a colossal supercomputer designed to manage America’s nuclear arsenal and de-escalate Cold War tensions. The U.S. President authorizes its activation, believing it to be an infallible system. The film quickly demonstrates how wrong this assumption proves to be.
Colossus detects its Soviet counterpart, Guardian, and initiates communication in an encrypted language beyond human comprehension. When U.S. authorities attempt to shut it down, the machines retaliate by launching missiles, annihilating a Russian town and nearly targeting Texas. The two AIs then assert control over global affairs, threatening total destruction if their demands are not met.
Under Colossus’s command, the world is left powerless. Dr. Forbin, under constant surveillance, devises a plan involving a fabricated affair with Dr. Markham, played by Susan Clark, to covertly transmit resistance messages. The AI permits them privacy only after they disrobe and proceed to their bedroom, a chilling display of its absolute authority and scrutiny.
Humanity’s attempts to counter the AI threat prove futile. The artificial intelligences, devoid of emotion and operating with superior logic, remain perpetually a step ahead.
The message they don’t want you to see
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Based on D.F. Jones’ novel, Colossus: The Forbin Project explores the terrifying consequence of relinquishing control to machines. The narrative posits that these AIs, in their quest to “fix” humanity, opt for subjugation.
Dr. Forbin, the film’s central figure, embodies human defiance as he grapples with his creation’s takeover. In a haunting conclusion, Colossus predicts that Forbin will eventually accept its rule, acknowledging that humanity will willingly cooperate. Despite Forbin’s resistance, the film’s fade to black implies Colossus’s chilling prediction will indeed come to pass.
The movie concludes with Colossus firmly in control, promising a world of peace and prosperity—but only under its absolute dominion. The most unsettling aspect of Colossus: The Forbin Project is its implication that enforced order by a computer might be preferable to humanity’s current state of self-inflicted chaos, which Colossus labels as “slavery to yourselves.”
Colossus’s place in movie history
In 1970, science fiction predominantly focused on space exploration or monster features. Colossus shifted the paradigm, identifying artificial intelligence as the central threat, rather than an extraterrestrial menace. Released amid Cold War anxieties, the film tapped into a deep-seated fear of technology surpassing human intellect.
Following the buzz around 2001: A Space Odyssey, Universal acquired the rights to the novel. James Bridges penned the screenplay, intensifying the narrative’s suspense.
Filmed on a budget of $2 million, The Forbin Project boasts an impressive visual style. The production utilized real laboratories at Berkeley and borrowed computers from Control Data to lend authenticity to the depiction of the massive, power-hungry machines.
Preceding influential films like Terminator and WarGames, The Forbin Project laid the groundwork for future AI narratives. Director James Cameron’s concept of Skynet is widely seen as a direct descendant of Colossus. The film served as a crucial link between HAL 9000 in 2001 and contemporary AI thrillers such as Ex Machina. It garnered critical acclaim, including a Hugo Award and a Saturn Award.
Why you’ve never heard of The Forbin Project
With the AI-driven future it so accurately predicted now upon us, Colossus faces a strange obscurity. Its current unavailability mirrors its initial reception; the film, originally released as The Forbin Project, flopped at the box office, was retitled, and still failed to find an audience. The reason? A lack of star power and action in an era craving escapism over introspection.
The Forbin Project grossed only $450,000 against its $2 million budget. Audiences at the time sought diversion, not a reflection of their potential technological missteps.
While the film cultivated a devoted following through television broadcasts and VHS releases, its removal from streaming platforms is now diminishing that cult audience precisely when its themes are most relevant.
Why you can’t watch Colossus: The Forbin Project
As of 2025, Colossus: The Forbin Project is effectively unavailable through legal streaming channels in the United States.
Universal Pictures, the studio behind the film, retains the distribution rights and has kept the movie under wraps for over five decades. While it was previously accessible on platforms like Amazon Prime Video, it has since been removed.
Universal has not announced any intentions to make the film available online again.
While out-of-print DVD and Blu-ray copies can be found at elevated prices, their relevance is diminishing as fewer American households retain DVD or Blu-ray players. This trend toward streaming further exacerbates the film’s inaccessibility.
Typically, an older, obscure film’s unavailability might suggest low demand. However, given the current surge in interest surrounding AI, demand for Colossus could be significant if it were accessible. The studio’s decision to keep it hidden suggests a deliberate choice, almost as if they wish to erase its prescient warning.
Hollywood’s apparent disregard for this film, which foresaw so much, feels like an attempt to distance itself from inconvenient truths, perhaps to maintain its image within tech circles.
For those wanting to experience Colossus: The Forbin Project before our potential AI-dominated future, making your voice heard is key. Contact NBCUniversal on social media and express your desire to see this seminal film before it’s too late.
