Late-'60s/early-'70s science fiction sub-genre: Technology gone bad

My friend Horror Mike posted a video: Did Elon Musk Remove AI Sci-Fi Film Colossus The Forbin Project To Protect His Own Super Computer? (9:07). He posits that Musk, who is developing AI called ‘Colossus’ caused Colossus: The Forbin Project to be removed from all streaming/rental services to avoid negative associations with his own project. Naturally, I had to put the Bluray into my shopping cart.

This got me to thinking about a certain style/type of film that was popular around 1970. Here are some examples. Can you think of others?

  • Fantastic Voyage (1966) - Outside of my timeframe, and not really ‘technology gone bad’, but it fits the ‘style’ I’m thinking of.
  • Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
  • The Andromeda Strain (1971)
  • Soylent Green (1973)
  • Westworld (1973) (And Futureworld (1976), I guess.)
  • The Clonus Horror (1979) - Outside of my timeframe; but again, I think it fits the ‘style’.

I thought about The Omega Man (1971) because it fits the filmmaking style; but I’m not including it because it’s post-apocalyptic rather than misused tech.

I’d also count 2001 because of HAL.

Fantastic Voyage doesn’t fit at all.

But, many episodes of Star Trek do (e.g. - The Ultimate Computer).

Demon Seed (1977)
AI gets rapey.
The Terminal Man (1974)
Brain implants make you even crazier.

Right. It’s about a major success for technology and skin tight diving suits.

I propose “Mutant 59: the Plastic Eaters”

Also Sssssss
A college student becomes lab assistant to a scientist who is working on a serum that can transform humans into snakes.

Planet of the Apes is post-apocalyptic BECAUSE of misused tech!

“Technology gone bad” has been around since at least 1818, with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The early Industrial Revolution created a lot of angst.

Movies saw a huge uptick in anti-technology themes following the shock of the Atom Bomb–look at late-1940s-and-beyond Japan, to name but one center of such stories. Gojira!

Your question about late-60s and early-70s might show a focus on computers alone, since the rest of technology had already been the subject of so many stories, and the idea of ‘computers putting people out of work’ was really gaining prominence. But we see this theme as early as the late 1950s: the Tracy/Hepburn comedy Desk Set was about this idea.

If there was a noticeable uptick in movies about bad computers menacing people in the time period you mention, maybe it was more a function of ‘Hollywood copies whatever makes money.’

I don’t think this really fits. It’s a plague from space, not technology gone wrong. And the apocalypse is averted.

Island of Terror (1966) – Radical cancer research unleashes silicon-based monsters which liquefy bones and tissue.

The Astro-Zombies (1968) – Although Dr. DeMarco (John Carradine) would undoubtedly disagree, his attempts to create an “Astroman” exemplify tech out of control.

They Saved Hitler’s Brain (1968) – Contains totally inappropriate use of tech.

The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant (1971) – Ditto.

THX-1138 (1971) – Tech used to oppress society.

The Mind Snatchers (1972) – Brain implant is abused.

The Mutations (1974) – Unethical scientist crosses plants and humans. A monster and murders result.

Several Frankenstein monster movies were made during the period in question, including Blackenstein (1973) and Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein (1973). Technically, any film with Godzilla would also qualify, especially those with Mechagodzilla.

I included both of these because of the technology. And the filming style. For me, they have similar ‘feels’.

AKA: Flesh For Frankenstein

Favourite line: ‘To know death, Otto, you have to fuck life… in the gall bladder!’

This will be the subject of a similar-themed movie made in the next few years:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/16/science/mirror-bacteria-research-risks/index.html#:~:text=A%20group%20of%2038%20scientists,of%20exposure%20to%20dangerous%20pathogens.

I would say some of it was due to 3 of the mentioned works being by Michael Crichton

Yeah, he did seem to have a “thing” about that. (In later years he progressed to obsessing about nano-technology, but of course that’s basically related…)

I watched Colossus:the Forbin Project a few months ago on YouTube, but yes; it’s gone now.

It’s still up on The Internet Archive

I think Saturn 3 maybe fits the criteria

That’s interesting. The Colossus AI is here in Memphis (and I’m not happy about that). Just yesterday I was thinking about its association with The Forbin Project movie and checking online noticed that it was not available on streaming services. I did find it on Internet Archive if anyone wants to watch it for free.

Colossus The Forbin Project ( 1970) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Y’know, Musk could have just… named his AI project something else.

Strother Martin was the snake guy, right? I don’t mean the snake itself but the brain guy whose weird science experiments got the plot rolling. I found it to be a fun, entertaining movie, better written and acted than Night Of The Lepus. Sss was a sort of B cult horror, but not a big cult film overall.