Touched by Human Hands

For years rumor has had it that all Universal Pictures films are made by a giant computer. If so. The Forbin Project is the machine's apologia pro vita sua, a razzle-dazzle science fiction yarn about a computer takeover. It was made --at least according to the screen credits --by humans, but the film's rigorous plotting, its smooth suspense and meticulously calculated style seem strictly and triumphantly machine-made.

Charles Forbin (Eric Braeden) is the creator of a massive computer complex called Colossus, a faultless system that manages America's defense by doing everything from monitoring intelligence data to launching missiles. Colossus is a self-contained unit that, once sealed, can never be tampered with again, not even by Forbin himself. "Can it think creatively?" a journalist asks the good doctor. "No," is the firm reply. The fool.

At a presidential party inaugurating the computer, Colossus flashes a brief, cryptic message: "THERE is ANOTHER SYSTEM." The Soviets have created a similar computer, called Guardian, and the two machines curtly inform their human creators that they yearn to be interconnected. The respective governments at first refuse, but missiles launched by the computers at a couple of strategic military targets are powerfully persuasive. From then on it's Colossus-Guardian all the way. The combined brains murder and create, dominate and control mankind, all for the greater good. "Freedom is an illusion," the machine announces in a raspy voice of its own contrivance. "The only thing mankind will lose under my control is the useless emotion pride. In time, you will even come to love me."

It is a good deal easier to love the movie, which succeeds on its own level as a full-out piece of entertainment. The actors--Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert--all perform with precision, and Director Joseph Sargent keeps things moving along at a pace more rapid than a galloping pulse. His camera eye is restless and intricate; he seems to have learned a great deal from John Frankenheimer. The real star of the show, however, is Colossus, portrayed by a real computer complex at Universal City studios. If it only can avoid typecasting, it has a solid future in show business.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.