Did Elon Musk Remove AI Sci-Fi Film Colossus The Forbin Project?
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Almost two years ago, I discovered that one of my favorite science fiction films, Colossus: The Forbin Project from 1970 was suddenly removed from all streaming rental platforms.
Original AI COLOSSUS The Forbin Project
Based upon the 1966 novel Colossus by Dennis Feltham Jones, the classic 1970 sci-fi film Colossus the forbin project, directed by Joseph Sargent and starring Eric Braeden as Charles Forbin, tells the story of Charles Forbin, a scientst who creates a massive AI super computer called COLOSSUS that is capable of independently regulating the U.S. national defense. But his dream becomes a waking nightmare when it’s discovered that the Russians have built an equally sophisticated computer called GUARDIAN and that these two doomsday machines have linked.
Arriving at the conclusion that humans will destroy themselves and the world if left to their own devices, Colossus gives Forbin and humanity an ultimatum: Live in peace under the rule of Colossus as slaves or face extinction as a species.
So I made a video about it called “Colossus the forbin conspiracy” that you can find on my youtube channel. (show original thumb)
Colossus Sci-fi Film Missing from Major Platforms
As of December, 2024, Colossus the forbin project is still absent from all streaming rental platforms. Here are screenshots I grabbed only a few days ago – Amazon, Roku, Vudu-Fandango – The film is simply not available for rent or download from legitimate platforms. And yes, I know you can probably find it on illegal pirate sites. Whoopty doo.
The fact remains that, if it’s not on the major media platforms, Colossus is in effect being suppressed from the public, in other words, censored from view.
Colossus The Forbin Project Physical Media
The last DVD release of Colossus the forbin project was in 2004 and the last blu-ray release was by Shout Factory in 2018 and is still selling hundreds of copies per month. This is not some obscure science fiction film. Colossus was a major theatrical release by Universal Pictures in 1970 and today you’ll find it on many top 50 science fiction films of all time lists.
Theories behind the removal of Colossus
In my previous video, I posed several theories as to why the film was removed from the major platforms such as Universal got tired of making easy money on an old property and they yanked the film from distribution. Stupid theory.
Or….Universal is secretly planning a remake and they shelved the “outdated” original so it doesn’t interfere with the planned remake. Low degree of probability but it is possible. Around 2010 there were talks about a Colossus remake starring Will Smith (puke) but fortunately that never went through.
Another interesting theory concerns the current hysteria and hype surrounding AI. Universal may have removed the film because of its grim, Frankenstinian depiction of artificial intelligence gone rogue on its creators, taking over the world and enslaving humankind.
I now believe that the last theory is partially correct and the rest of the answer lies with Elon Musk and his new AI supercomputer called….wait for it…COLOSSUS.
Colossus: The Musk Project
Recently, a viewer left a comment about Colossus The Forbin Project and Elon Musk’s latest AI Supercomputer theorizing that Musk may have had Universal remove the film from all streaming platforms to protect the name of his new project called Colossus.
I was aware of Musk’s project and for months I simply thought “Hey, that’s cool he named it after the original Colossus the Forbin Project.”
But after that comment, things took a dark turn and I believe that it is possible that Elon Musk paid off Universal to remove the film from online distribution to stem the flow of bad press related to his own supercomputer project. Very easy to do when you’re worth 450 billion dollars.
Sifting through interviews with Elon Musk and the numerous articles published about his X AI Colossus supercomputer, I didn’t find one mention of Jones’ original book or the film adaptation Colossus the forbin project. It’s almost as if history is being erased. Eerily reminiscient of a certain book….“The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth.”
But even more sinister is the idea of someone having a film removed for their own financial gain. Especially if it is someone like Elon Musk who tauts his social media platform X as the online haven for free speech, then turns around and makes a back door deal with a film distributor to completely remove a film from all video rental/download platforms, especially a landmark science fiction film like Colossus The Forbin Project which I consider to be incredibly relevant to what’s going on today with AI and supercomputers. It is a cautionary tale and one that needs to be seen, not censored.
However, if you take a good look around, you’ll see that people today are not only less interested in the past, they consider themselves separate and superior to it and that narrow minded hubris will certainly spell trouble for the future.
Or to quote Orwell one more time- “Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.”
Once again, this is just another theory. I am not accusing anyone of doing anything, I’m simply posing the question.