ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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The first post shown below is a chilling prediction of how AI computers might become dangerous.

And now we’re ordering researchers to stop developing AI systems because they’re aleady causing problems.

For years I’ve been saying that science fiction inspires mankind to achieve things we might not have thought possible. But science fiction also warns us about the dangers of new developments. Now one of the greatest dangers we’ve been warned about has come true.

All hail to the nerds who endured the insults of people with less intelligence. “Power to the Geeks” of the human race . . .

And let’s hear a round of applause to All Sci-Fi for giving us "smart guys" a place to show off a little.
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Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)

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"You will regard me with awe - I am Colossus."

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This is a film which is even better than I remembered and I've always thought it was quite good. It almost seems like I've grown into the mindset of fully appreciating the concepts & presentation as I became older.

I have the Laserdisc release, acquired over a dozen years ago; it's a double feature set, the other film being Silent Running (1972). The laserdisc jacket interior has some interesting facts on the Colossus film: it's based on DF Jones' futuristic novel 'Colossus'-1966 and planned initially as a 3-hour TV movie, then steered towards the big screen.

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The Laserdisc version is in widescreen and a pretty good picture; it may well be the best available currently, as I hear that a recent cheap DVD release is full screen and not very good. Eric Braeden does very well as Dr. Forbin, the charismatic, confident computer scientist who finds himself under siege by his own creation, a mechanized Frankenstein's Monster seeking world control.

The actor, as Hans Gudegast, flew in for a screen test while working on another film. His agent told him he won the role, but only if he changed his name. His gut reaction was to refuse, but he thought about it and accepted the condition (mirroring some plot points in the film), painful as it was.

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Susan Clark's character begins as one of Forbin's assistants and evolves into his fake mistress, then his real lover. All these scenes strayed from the intense tone of the overall film a bit. They were kind of goofy, with Colossus placed in the position of a mechanical peeping tom (Demon Seed-1977 carried on that theme).

I also liked Gordon Pinsent as the JFK-like President. He brought some genuine intelligence to the role, not the usual political caricature in movies.

I forgot that old stand-by William Schallert was in this one, as a CIA chief, a rather big role. Also, Marion Ross, the mom in Happy Days, as another of Forbin's assistants and George Stanford Brown (The Rookies).

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The film was shot as "Colossus" but the studio feared it would get mixed up as one of those Steve Reeves mythical action pics and released it as "The Forbin Project." The later title change to Colossus:The Forbin Project was an attempt to boost the box office.



Colossus itself was mostly played by a $4.8 million electronics system donated by Control Data Corporation(CDC). Colossus is the real star of the film. Even before it begins to speak with its newly manufactured artificial voice, it takes charge of the movie.

Later, when it does speak in that robotic voice and detonates those two nuclear payloads near the end, a ruthless reprisal against humanity's attempts to de-power it, it's a chilling depiction of absolute dictatorship, rarely so clearly interpreted on film.

I now believe this to be the best of that small group of sci-fi pictures, the sub-genre of machines ruling over humans. Skynet of The Terminator films merely copied the premise here; I know Jim Cameron is a fan. When he was filming Titanic, in which Braeden had a small role, Cameron repeated Braeden's last word in this film to him at one point, smiling knowingly. He knew a good, memorable ending when he heard it.



A reviewer on IMDb wrote that this is "A thought provoking film that stubbornly refuses to be dated." It's true. This snagged the idea of that omnipotent godlike machine, created by the inferior human, and went with it all the way. It's still the best in that regard and could happen.

In fact, at one point, before Colossus announces itself to the world-at-large, it's even suggested that such rule-by-machine may continue without the knowledge of the general populace. How do we know, in our real world, that it hasn't happened already? When Forbin says "Never" in the end, it's a defiance of logic — the logic which says mankind can live without fear of nuclear war. But, at that same moment, it speaks to the quixotic spirit of mankind, that of free will & choice. With that choice taken away from us, even such absolute safety becomes meaningless. We may as well be drifting atoms in such a scenario, free floating and empty of thought.



I'm again struck by how superior many films from around 40 years ago are in comparison to the product released in the past decade. The films of the long ago past dealt with ideas, with provocative 'what if' scenarios and actual extrapolation to present the story.

These days, it all has to do with computer visuals — ironic, no? Computers do indeed dominate, in a most mundane fashion. I recently heard about a remake of this film, directed by Ron Howard. If true, I don't hold out much hope. Howard's films are regarded better than most these days but they still tailor everything towards a mass appeal and consumerism. Such a remake will probably gear everything around some simplistic messages (The Day the Earth Stood Still, anyone?

BoG's Score: 8 out of 10


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus
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[url= https://www.allsci-fi.com/viewtopic.php?p=26917&highlight=#26917] Trog (1970 England) [/url]

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____________________ TROG (1970) trailer


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I've heard and read about this one for a long time and finally got around to seeing it. There's a Cult Camp Classic DVD release from Warner. (2007 DVD, 91m.)



This isn't a simple caveman monster picture as I expected (like Eegah — another one I plan to watch soon) because it does throw in the debate concerning strict creationism and evolution.

It's still silly, even if it is directed by Freddie Francis, who prevents it from degenerating into complete excrement. The Trog character is obviously just a typical human where he isn't covered with fake hair (actor Joe Cornelius), topped by the Trog apelike mask.

The face make-up isn't really bad; it's just that it's combined with nothing else for the rest of the body. According to some trivia, the face mask was actually a leftover from one of the ape characters of 2001:A Space Odyssey.



Crawford plays I nice elderly scientist here (against her rep), while Michael Gough is the wild, over-the-top creationist. I never really understood why Michael Gough was so upset over Trog's emergence, though it's mentioned that he's a businessman whose actual concern may just be money.

Trog was actually minding his own business in his cave (he's a troglodyte, dontcha know?) until he was accidentally discovered by a trio of young archaeologists. Then the rest of civilization forces him out.

Typical of the camp atmosphere: when Trog first emerges, everyone there, including cops, freezes or panics in terror, except old lady Crawford, who calmly fetches a trank rifle and downs the savage beast.

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Later scenes of classical music calming the beast man are fine, but rock 'n' roll music angers him, and watching Crawford play catch with Trog is laughable. I'm sure Michael Gough was instructed to act like a primitive himself when he wrecks the scientist's lab (he even lets his tongue hang out) in order to impress on us the irony of the 'civilized man' behaving more crudely than the missing link. Thorley Walters pops up as a judge and even he constantly instructs Gough to shut up.

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Trog's escape and rampage in the final act is surprisingly violent, including grisly murder (from Trog's pov, he's just defending himself). This was 1970, so by this point restrictions had been lifted on showing or suggesting extreme violence.

Trog is also quite strong, able to turn over a car (the car then inexplicably bursts into flame, as if covered in gasoline). He didn't look that strong to me of course, but in this film if he's angry with a person it's like getting beaten by a full-sized gorilla — you are pulped.



The highlight of this film, at the one-hour mark, are the dinosaur scenes from the unfinished/lost Animal World (1955). It makes no sense, of course, for Trog to 'remember' any of these scenes — but hey, they're cool to look at, especially on a nice DVD version.

The trailer for this one is suggestive of even more horrific violence: 2 shots are edited in such a way that it seems as if Trog stamps out the life of a little girl. A more serious and believable version of this story was the film Iceman (1984).

BoG's Score: 5 out of 10


____________________ Mick Garris on TROG


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BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus ____________________________________________________________________

No Blade of Grass (1970)

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It's a few months after the release of 2012 (the film), so let's looks at the much earlier depiction of worldwide disaster which is based on the 1956 novel by John Christophe, The Death of Grass.




"No Blade of Grass Grows . . . and Birds Sing no More . . . " so the song is sung over the credits in a very melancholy fashion.

The film deals with the ascension of anarchy — new rules now prevail, revolving around a primitive goal of survival.

The story focuses on one extended family (led by Nigel Davenport, who sports an eyepatch) which makes its way out of London in order to reach the farm of Davenport's brother. Jean Wallace (wife of the director) plays Davenport's wife and Lynne Frederick (Phase IV) is his daughter. There are a few others in the 'family.'

Cornel Wilde's narration at the start speaks of useless rhetoric about ecological problems in the seventies, so this suggests a 'future' of around 1980.



Cornel Wilde's direction is not the most subtle at times. Early scenes offer a documentary-style presentation of mankind's pollution. Wilde then juxtaposes scenes of starving African children with Britishers gorging themselves at a restaurant (this is right before everything goes to hell).

But later scenes during the trek are direct and effective. The story illustrates how certain people who may have indulged in some shady behavior when civilization was in full bloom now have valuable talents — talents which might be employed by 'respectable' folks.

Other 'normal' folk (Davenport was an architect) now take brutal action which would have been unthinkable weeks earlier. What was considered murder earlier is now just pragmatism. There are almost no more 'good' people and 'bad' people — it's just a matter of who survives better.

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Wilde does employ an editing technique which is pretty unusual. At several points, he presents a flash forward. Suddenly, we see several seconds of violent action which will actually occur 15 minutes later in the film.

I understand why Wilde does this; it's a form of foreshadowing and perhaps foreboding stuff, to add to the tension. But it's a tricky style to use and doesn't quite work; I'm not blaming Wilde for how he did it. I don't think this would work in almost any film.

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The trek itself — most of the film — is fairly well done, with usually sudden blow-ups of violence. The central action, when Davenport's group has grown in numbers, involves a battle against a pesky motorcycle gang.

There's a surprising plot twist in the last 10 minutes. I've read that this follows the book closely except for Wilde's insertion of mankind's polluting. This all compares fairly well to other post-holocaust films of the time — The Ultimate Warrior (1974) and Ravagers (1979) — because it is more realistic. But it's low budget, so don't expect to get impressed.

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There is one chilling aspect to this film (for me, at least). The predicted ecological upheaval is still with us 40 years later and escalating (global warming, 2012, etc.). 40 years have passed and things haven't gotten better, so the film may have been on to something . . . unfortunately. But it may only be a matter of time.

BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)