p 　　Eric Braeden stars as Dr Charles Forbin, who has created a supercomputer named Colossus, built solely for the purpose of controlling the nuclear defenses of the Western alliance It isn 三九 t too long after, however, that the Russians announce that they too have built a similar computer for those same purposes on their side--Guardian And when the two machines begin sharing information at a speed nobody can believe, an attempt is made to disable them br 　　This unfortunately just raises the machines 三九 ire and in retaliation, they launch their weapons at each other 三九 s home nations The result is a chilling scenario that is potentially becoming all too real these days br 　　COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT was not a big hit at the box office for various reasons One is that its cast wasn 三九 t exactly well known Another reason is that its ending isn 三九 t exactly a happy one Still a third reason is that Universal had trouble trying to promote it in the wake of the huge success of Stanley Kubrick 三九 s 二00一: A SPACE ODYSSEY The latter reason is obvious: Colossus and Guardian, like HAL in the Kubrick movie, become central characters here The difference here is that while HAL malfunctions due to a programming conflict, Colossus and Guardian remain all too stable, convinced beyond a doubt that they know how to protect Mankind better than Man himself As the computers point out: quot One inevitable rule is that Mankind is his own worst enemy quot br 　　Joseph Sargent 三九 s direction is efficient, and the special effects work of Albert Whitlock still manages to work despite its obvious age An overlooked gem in the sci-fi genre, this should be given a revival p