Silent Running
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Movie Reviews of Silent Running
Movie Review: The strengths outweigh the flaws in this sci-fi/eco meld
Summary: 4 Stars
3.8 stars
I'd never seen this until I heard it mentioned as an inspiration for the recent and decent sci-fi flick, Moon; I was very impressed by SR's opening 20 minutes, but it tapered off a bit and never really regained its full footing.
Nonetheless, discounting the mostly good but occasionally mediocre low budget aspects, writer/director Trumbull does a fine job of getting a lot of production value from a million bucks. Above all he gets an excellent, affecting performance from Dern, who is often almost over the top but not quite. He makes this film work.
I must admit to some tedium during the bonding-with-droids section, but in general I liked the story and message a whole lot. Dern's speech about real food vs. processed crap rings truer than ever today, as do many other of Trumbull's very intelligent environmental points, well ahead of their time in 1974 and, sadly, even today. There are some very fine defenses of living a natural life here. Trumbull was clearly a man ahead of his time.
All in all, SR is well worth watching for any sci-fi, Dern, or nature lover, and is to be commended for having a large heart worn proudly on its sleeve.
Movie Review: If you get the message, this is a good film.
Summary: 4 Stars
I first saw "Silent Running" a little while after watching "Soylent Green". I think they are, both, very good movies.
Before writing this review, I quickly went through the other reviews. Apparintly, if you get the message in the film, then this is a good film. If you don't get it, the film can be very boring. I am not an environmentalist, but have seen how folks develop the best farm land into housing tracts and shopping centers and commercial spaces.
If you have the brains to see that our future could be nicer, if we take better care of how we treat our environment, then there is a fair chance that you will like this movie. However, there is entertainment and there is propaganda. Sorry, the reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that there is a lot of propaganda in this film.
I enjoyed this film. I did get the message. But, see if you can check this one out of a library and watch it before deciding to purchase it. It may help this film to see "Soylent Green" first.
Do NOT be in an analytical mood on the day you watch this film!
Movie Review: Silent Running
Summary: 4 Stars
It's hard to believe this movie was made before ruthless corporate depletion of resources, the greenhouse effect and climate change became popular material for crusades. I remembered this movie with nostalgia from first viewing in the cinema, and it has survived the test of time. And it's good to see Bruce Dern in a leading role. Without recounting the plot, he's a botanist - a fancy gardener, in fact - on one of a small group of ships on station out past Saturn, with the last of Earth's forests in bug-eye-shaped pods attached to them. The company orders the pods destroyed so the ships can return to commercial use. And there the tale begins.
What will a tree-huggin' hippy do in the circumstances, when all his crewmates want to do is go home to a defoliated Earth? He's not alone, though. He has his three droids, clumsy perambulating bar fridges that cheat at cards.
A good story, and it still looks good - yet, like "2001", it was made before computer animation when everything was done, one way or another, in camera!
Movie Review: Silent Running- almost a cult classic
Summary: 4 Stars
No, it probably won't be remembered as well as 2001: A Space Odessey or Planet of the Apes, but Silent Running deserves a closer look. Silent Running was one of the first movies to present space as a commercial venture. Indeed, if you pause some of the ATV sequences in the cargo bay of Valley Forge, you will see names like Coca Cola, Dow, and Celestron Pacific. When he observes Earth you will notice he is using a Celestron 8 telescope, a popular scope when this movie was made.
The movie did not accurately predict what we would have at the turn of the century (we're still struggling with unmanned probes in the outer Solar System) although computers are actually more advanced than those in the movie. One prediction, though, may well be true: Successful ventures into the outer Solar System probably will require at least some backing from business.
Despite the fact that we now live in a time past the original setting for the movie, it is an enjoyable film well worth owning.
Movie Review: Classic SF of the early 70s
Summary: 4 Stars
Long a favorite of mine, this DVD version is very good. If nothing else, it shows how the cultural climate of the times finds its way into a movie. The "Making of" feature is almost worth the price itself. Find out why the ship is named "Valley Forge", and how they made those little robots work. While many slam the Joan Baez songs, I think they are the essence of the movie and convey the feelings of the time in which the movie was made. In fact, I held back one star because they don't include the songs "Rejoice in the Sun" and "Silent Running" as separate cuts and the soundtrack album is long out of print.