Silent Running
by Douglas Trumbull
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DVD details
Actor: Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Jesse Vint, Mark Persons, Ron RifkinDirector: Douglas Trumbull
Brand: Universal
Cinematographer: Charles F. Wheeler
Producer: Douglas Trumbull
Editor: Aaron Stell
Producer: Marty Hornstein
Producer: Michael Gruskoff
Writer: Deric Washburn
Writer: Michael Cimino
Writer: Steven Bochco
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 89 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-05-21
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of Silent Running
DVD Review: Classic Sci-fi
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the better science-fiction films out there. Long before modern-day Greeneer-than-green tree-huggers came along, Bruce Dern's character said it all with just a couple of robots. Definitely a keeper.DVD Review: 1970s through and through...I LIKE the message, but this movie is now extremely dated
Summary: 3 Stars
"Silent Running" had its theatrical release in 1972 - about two years after the first Earth Day and seven years after the publication of Rachel Carson's environmental landmark book Silent Spring. So this movie was part of Hollywood's contribution to the blossoming of the American Environmental Movement.
In the early 1970s "pollution" was among the top environemntal buzz words of the day. And that's what this movie is about. The premis is that the earth had become so polluted that plant life was no longer able to survive there (don't ask me where peoeple on earth got their food when the plants were gone), and the last surviving forests were launched into space, housed in transparent domes attached to space cargo vessels. Then the unthinkable happens - an order is sent to destroy the forests and return the vessels to their original cargo duties.
The protagonist is faced with the immediate destruction and thereby extinction of the last of earth's forests...what do you do?
I believe that the message of the movie is well worth 5 stars...that is, the need to be good stewards of the earth and of its resources.
The movie and its theme music, however, now comes across as being sadly aged and dated, i.e., painfully 1970s.
In 1972 the three drones were the hit of the show...people for some reason really like cute, little robots (e.g., R2-D2), and they remain a plus for the movie. The acting, however, does not rival even made for TV-movies, and the special effects now appear anything but special.
The movie, based on the acting and technical merits, probably now rates only 2 stars. So, on average I'd have to award this show only about 3 stars. It's watchable, but you'll probably be happier renting rather than owning this DVD...that is, unless it holds some special sentimental value for you.
DVD Review: Excellent Environmental Film
Summary: 4 Stars
Silent Running is an excellent example of the environmental science fiction film of the 1970's. While I remembered the film being run on television in the late 1970's, it was great seeing it on DVD again, and the DVD special features about the making of Silent Running were also good.DVD Review: 2.5 stars out of 4
Summary: 3 Stars
The Bottom Line:
The special effects are still impressive and the movie definitely has moments of power and achievement, but Bruce Dern doesn't have the chops to carry the movie when the other humans are gone and the middle section lags as a result; it's worth a look if you like sci-fi but it's less than stellar.
DVD Review: If a tree falls on this movie and nobody is watching....
Summary: 1 Stars
I have only walked out on two movies in my lifetime -- this was one of them. Absurdly bad acting from Bruce Dern, whom I have generally liked in movies and TV. I like sci-fi, love movies, but couldn't suspend my disbelief for this.
Description of Silent Running
A renegade botanist kills his space-station shipmates to save his garden of earthly vegetation. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 10/07/2003 Starring: Bruce Dern Steve Brown Run time: 89 minutes Rating: G Director: Douglas TrumbullAfter creating many of the innovative special effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Douglas Trumbull tried his hand at directing, and 1971's Silent Running marked an impressive debut. (In addition to creating the visual effects for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and directing 1983's Brainstorm, Trumbull later turned to the creation of high-tech cinematic amusement park rides.) One of the best science fiction films of the 1970s, Silent Running stars Bruce Dern as Freeman Lowell, a nature-loving crewmember aboard the Valley Forge, a gigantic spaceship in a small fleet that carries the last surviving forests of the Earth, which has fallen victim to overpopulation and ecological neglect.
Freeman's name reflects his nonconformist philosophy, which runs counter to the prevailing recklessness of his three ill-fated crewmates, who are eager to jettison their precious payload and return to the bleakness of Earth. Before they can sabotage the forests, Freeman does what he must, and spends the remainder of his mission with three robotic "drones" as his only companions, struggling to maintain his sanity in the vastness of space. Dern is superb in this memorable role, representing the lost soul of humankind as well as the back-to-nature youth movement of the 1960s and the pre-Watergate era. (Appropriately, Joan Baez sings the film's theme song.) A rare science fiction film that combines bold adventure with passionate social conscience, Silent Running will remain relevant as long as the Earth is threatened by the ravages of human carelessness. --Jeff Shannon
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