Silent Running

Rating:
Summary: Imaginative, intelligently rendered sf film with a message
Review: Douglas Trumbull, fresh from the triumph of working on the effects for "2001", directed this movie with a firm visual style and flair that is unusual for a first-time director.

Set in the far flung future aboard the spaceship "Valley Forge", Bruce Dern and three other astronauts maintain the huge vessel and the forests that it contains with the help of three ingeniously rendered robots. The robots are so convincing that they almost steal the show (I won't give away how they were done- it spoils the effect), but they remain classic depictions that are on par with Maria from "Metropolis", Robby from "Forbidden Planet" and the droids of "Star Wars".

A sad story with a surprisingly downbeat ending and a strong ecological message, "Silent Running" is a visual treat with outstanding special effects (designed and produced by Trumbull) and a very realistically-depicted "Valley Forge" spaceship. Trumbull had use of the decommissioned naval aircraft carrier "Valley Forge" before it was scrapped at the aptly-named Terminal Island facility in Long Beach, CA and he was able to modify many of it's vast interiors for use in the movie, all to good effect.

Bruce Dern turns in a great performance and this movie did much to enhance his career, as he is the lone human character for much of the film.

And about those Joan Baez ballads included in the soundtrack- you either love them or hate them. I think that they fit in fairly well and do much to convey the mood of the movie, especially after the sequence where the robots beat Bruce Dern at poker by cheating!

Several key production personnel who were involved with "Star Wars" just a couple of years later were part of the "Silent Running" crew and some of the design sensibilities set in the visual style of "Silent Running" later show up in "Star Wars".

"Silent Running" makes a perfect afternoon of sf film viewing along with the other movie directed by Douglas Trumbull- "Brainstorm".

Rating:
Summary: Great 1970s dystopic...
Review: Like death and dying, there are several stages in evaluating "Silent Running" as a film. The first stage is whoa! great effects, unusual idea for a film made in the early 1970s. The second stage is the realization that you are being hit with some of the hardest propaganda since "Battleship Potempkin" or "Triumph of the Will". The final stage is nostalgia for such a ground-breaking movie with super special effects.

Bruce Dern is comfy in his role as a slowly-unraveling sociopath. What many don't realize is that the screenplay was written by a then-young Michael Cimino and Steven Bochco ("The Deer Hunter", "NYPD Blue". What's truly amazing is the use of mechanical (not visual) effects. If you've never been on an aircraft carrier, you'll believe that there is an American Airlines cargo freighter "Valley Forge". The details are wonderful: the corporate logos on the cargo pods, the technical manuals lying around, the overall believability of the wonderful drones, the background radio chatter from the other ships.

It's a shame Douglas Trumbull hasn't been more visible, this was a great effort.

Rating:
Summary: Movie does not work because of the low budget.
Review: The original screenplay for this movie callef for a bigger budget and if it had one. It would have looked much more realistic then the low budget, too cheesy picture that was made here. Everything from the sets to the somewhat below par acting makes this look more like an early 70's short film that PBS would show on Seaseme Street all the time. Bruce Dern is under-welming in the part, the visual effects look too much like cheap animation poorly projected on 35 milimeter film, and the Joan Biez song is too corny to be taken seriously. Stay with 2001; A Space Odyssey instead.

Rating:
Summary: Ecological science fiction becomes science fact
Review: I still wonder if Universal got the idea for Earth 2 from this film? All kidding aside. Silent Running is a classic science fiction adventure that has a strong, if not serious message to it. It depicts what our future might be like in the 8th year of the 21st Century, 2008 AD, and how the human race could easily cause a worldwide outbreak of pollution. It asks the the question of what would you do if you were in astronaut Lowell's (Bruce Dern)position. I like everything about this movie. From the special effects, to costumes, to set designs, to the plot, etc. Bruce Dern plays the character of Lowell extremely well. A conflicted man who sadly goes to extremes to save the last of Earth's forests from being destroyed. And the drones Huey, Dewey, and Louie were really cool. Obviously the model for R2-D2 in The Star Wars saga, the drones had a unique personality of their own. The other characters played by Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, and Jesse Vint truly represent the implicit cynicism that is in our world today. People who don't care about anything anymore. Only caring about the Almighty Dollar. Douglas Trumbull did an extraordianry job directing the film. His experience as a special effects technician in both 2001 and The Andromeda Strain really shows and pays off in this wonderful film. A film that has a personality of its own. If you enjoy good science fiction, you'll enjoy this cult-classic.

Interesting trivia note-stock footage of this film was used in another science ficion cult-classic. Battlestar Galactica.

Rating:
Summary: Great 1970s dystopic...
Review: Like death and dying, there are several stages in evaluating "Silent Running" as a film. The first stage is whoa! great effects, unusual idea for a film made in the early 1970s. The second stage is the realization that you are being hit with some of the hardest propaganda since "Battleship Potempkin" or "Triumph of the Will". The final stage is nostalgia for such a ground-breaking movie with super special effects.

Bruce Dern is comfy in his role as a slowly-unraveling sociopath. What many don't realize is that the screenplay was written by a then-young Michael Cimino and Steven Bochco ("The Deer Hunter", "NYPD Blue". What's truly amazing is the use of mechanical (not visual) effects. If you've never been on an aircraft carrier, you'll believe that there is an American Airlines cargo freighter "Valley Forge". The details are wonderful: the corporate logos on the cargo pods, the technical manuals lying around, the overall believability of the wonderful drones, the background radio chatter from the other ships.

It's a shame Douglas Trumbull hasn't been more visible, this was a great effort.

Rating:
Summary: Imaginative, intelligently rendered sf film with a message
Review: Douglas Trumbull, fresh from the triumph of working on the effects for "2001", directed this movie with a firm visual style and flair that is unusual for a first-time director.

Set in the far flung future aboard the spaceship "Valley Forge", Bruce Dern and three other astronauts maintain the huge vessel and the forests that it contains with the help of three ingeniously rendered robots. The robots are so convincing that they almost steal the show (I won't give away how they were done- it spoils the effect), but they remain classic depictions that are on par with Maria from "Metropolis", Robby from "Forbidden Planet" and the droids of "Star Wars".

A sad story with a surprisingly downbeat ending and a strong ecological message, "Silent Running" is a visual treat with outstanding special effects (designed and produced by Trumbull) and a very realistically-depicted "Valley Forge" spaceship. Trumbull had use of the decommissioned naval aircraft carrier "Valley Forge" before it was scrapped at the aptly-named Terminal Island facility in Long Beach, CA and he was able to modify many of it's vast interiors for use in the movie, all to good effect.

Bruce Dern turns in a great performance and this movie did much to enhance his career, as he is the lone human character for much of the film.

And about those Joan Baez ballads included in the soundtrack- you either love them or hate them. I think that they fit in fairly well and do much to convey the mood of the movie, especially after the sequence where the robots beat Bruce Dern at poker by cheating!

Several key production personnel who were involved with "Star Wars" just a couple of years later were part of the "Silent Running" crew and some of the design sensibilities set in the visual style of "Silent Running" later show up in "Star Wars".

"Silent Running" makes a perfect afternoon of sf film viewing along with the other movie directed by Douglas Trumbull- "Brainstorm".

Rating:
Summary: tell them all they love will die, tell them why, in the sun
Review: I recently purchased this DVD, and viewed the film again after a break of many years.

There is little if anything of a critical nature that I could add to the excellent comments of darkgenius (see below). I did not see the character of Freeman Lowell as quite the fanatic that he did - which surprised me, because that *is* how I remembered him from my previous viewings, many years ago. If we lived in the ecologically monstrous era of the film, yet saw with the vision of a man of today (as Lowell does), I imagine many of us would exhibit more outrage than he does. In fact, I think the indifference of his co-workers astonishes - or perhaps appalls - me more than Lowell's personal involvement.

This is a very moving film. Evil is usually depicted in film in much more immediate and dramatic manifestations than one usually encounters in real life. CS Lewis has made the observation that all evil is ultimately banal. Indeed, true evil often passes before us completely unnoticed as such - in the civil servant who shows a bias for someone of her own race; in the policeman who gets joy out of bullying members of the public; in landlords and banks that use ignorance and intimidation to exact unwarranted concessions from a dispirited public; and so on.

In Silent Running, the last forests on Earth have been shot into space. There is no room for them anymore, but they are being preserved. Anyone of mature years knows how this kind of thing would come about in real life, and how it would end. It would come about because some political group wanted the forest land for some other purpose; and, not having the courage to simply destroy the forests openly -- perhaps not even wanting to do so, initially -- they suggest that this last great ecological heritage be preserved in space against the day when forests are again convenient. They might even weep, saying that the cost didn't matter because the forests were irreplaceable. And it would be done. But: "out of sight, out of mind." It would only be a few years before the expense of maintaining these forests in space would be deemed unjustifiable. And then the order to abandon them would come.

This is the way many societal evils actually come about. Silent Running shows us what depths of depravity are implicit in this common principle of human behavior.

The sorrow conveyed by this film is intensified by the representation of the victims as children. Lowell himself is naïve, thinking that recall and re-establishment of the forests is just around the corner. The drones are diminutive, awkward in their movements, and *trusting*; this last is demonstrated at a couple of points in the film, where it is evident that they are uncertain, look to Lowell for guidance, then go on about their tasks. Don't overlook the watering can. And there is the song, "Rejoice in the Sun," sung by Joan Baez.

We identify with these children. We feel the anguish of their loss as our own.

I venture to say that if you were to show this film to a group of your acquaintances, the ones who wept would prove the best friends.

Rating:
Summary: Dated but still visionary
Review: There are so many dated things about this movie...it's hard to know where to start! Bruce Dern's opening costume...he looks like Jesus / a hippie. The Joan Baez tracks. The oh-so-70s environmental message. The STAR TREK level instrument panels. The hair styles.

It's fascinating to see what was for 1971-72 the cutting edge of special effects. The movie was directed by guy who did effects for 2001:A SPACE ODESSEY, so you know they're good. And they actually still hold up fairly well.

The plot of the movie, where Dern is the only crewmember who is interested in keeping the last vestiges of earth's plant life alive, is a bit thin, to say the least. One wonders, if earth is losing all its plants, is sending some of them up into space REALLY the only way they can think to keep some alive?

Anyway, I still love this movie. The passions running underneath the politics are very real. Dern is driven to commit a horrible act, and then is driven mad with guilt. He gives a masterful performance in a role that truly suits his rather unusual talents. He brings a deep, abiding sadness to the role, so that the final shot of him still brings tears to my eyes, more than 30 years after first seeing the movie.

And the robots! Huey, Dewey & Louie are the pre-cursors to R2-D2. They are clunkier than a movie robot should be, yet there is something quite engaging and human about them. They are remarkable expressive and they actually become characters we care about...partially because Dern invests humanity in them...or tries to.

I suppose at the time it was meant to be a cautionary tale about "taking care of the earth," but the message (though still apt) is terribly dated in its presentation. But the humanity of the movie, and the amazing leap forward for special effects, make SILENT RUNNING worth taking a look at...especially if you're, let's say, age 35 or older. Kids, no doubt, will HATE the movie.

By the way, it is rated "G." There is some mild cussing and some brief but brutal violence. I think a "PG" is more correct, to be honest.

Rating:
Summary: Solid sf film with memorable message at its core
Review: Doug Trumbull's Silent Running came out at a time when the ecology was more of an issue for most folks. The themes of the 60's inform every frame just as they provided the subtext for 2001. It's not a perfect film but perfection isn't the point; it's a good, entertaining film with a solid message at its core.

The effects work was dazzling for its time and few films from the same time frame had anything remotely as good. Although the script is occasionally weak, Bruce Dern's marvelous performance is the solid center piece of the film.

Basically Dern is among a crew of astronauts that are guarding the last reminants of Earth's forests. The world has become a less than hospitable place; overpopulation has ruined much of our planet. When an order to destroy the orbiting biodome comes down, Freeman (Dern)rebels and ends up killing his indifferent crewmates. Freeman cuts himself off from Earth and ends up leaving the solar system with only three robot companions for company.

To say any more about the plot would spoil it. While the film's ecological message is admirable, the film's logic if flawed. Trumbull's direction, effects work and Dern's marvelous performance dominate the film and make even the weakest moments of the film work. As a man out of step with his time, Dern manages to breathe life into the character of Freeman. He becomes more than a cypher and or a sympbol. Dern's performance makes Freeman's temporary insanity and his anguish very real.

The DVD comes complete with a period documentary as well as a commentary by Douglas Trumbull and Bruce Dern as well as a number of other interesting bonus features. The picture quality is pretty good overall and the sound solid. The sound hasn't been remixed for Dolby 5.1.

Rating:
Summary: Some good, some bad, but love the robots!
Review: Growing up, this movie was a favorite of mine. So I thought it a treat to watch this movie with older eyes. What a difference a few years can make!

"Silent Running" is a pro-environment film, and thus captures the flavor of the era of the Late '60's and early '70's. After nuclear pollution, the United States took the surviving plants and put them on space freighters with the intent to re-foliate the sick planet.

Freeman Lowell (a symbolic name, if there ever was one), is the only person who really cares abut the plant and the importance they hold for humanity. I think the very young Bruce Dern really captures the essence of the man. However, Freeman Lowell, the character, remains an enigma to me. He is passionate about plants, but once the funding is lost, and the order is given to destroy the plants, he goes crazy. Dern plays Lowell much like Gregory Peck played Captain Ahab: all eye-rolling and strange inflection in the voices. Is Lowell a green messiah, or is he really the Unabomber in the s1st Century?

In order to save some of plants, Lowell kills the rest of his crewmates, and manages to treat the plants with the help of the three drones, or robots. Once again, I ma getting an eco-terrorist message from this movie. Once again, I feel like I am watching the Unabomber.

For a good environmental move, I would recommend the classic Star Trek IV: The Voyage home. This is the whale one, and, of course, takes place in San Francisco. The environment gets saved without any homicide, which is really the way we should go about solving the problem.

Lastly, there is two problems of plausibility. If all the plants are removed from the earth, what is filling their nitch in the ecosystem? What is replenishing the oxygen and stopping the erosion? Presumably artificial means of replenishing cannot keep up for an entire planet.

The second issue had to do with preserving the plants. I cannot remember and do not know the state of cryogenics in the early 1970's, but it would be possible to freeze the seed of plants in the same way we freeze celebrities heads. They would get preserved one way or the other. Admittedly, this criticism may be unfair, since I do not know how cryogenics were in that period. But it is something to think about.

So much for the story, no to everything else.

The special effects (which is the defining characteristic of a sci-fi flick) show the advancements made with "2001." They have the great look that "Space:1999," and foreshadow the things that Lucas would be doing six years later. With the exception of Saturn, which was taken before the Voyager 1 and 2 probes got there, everything is perfect.

Of course the drone steal the show. I have to say, these are the most singular looking-and the most charming-robots ever seen in a movie. Even Vincent from "The Black Hole," or even R2-D2 would be hard pressed to keep up with these cuddly little guys. Although they say nothing, you get a sense of their emotions and often poignant feelings. These robots compensate for any other flaw in the movie.

By the way, they had amputated Viet-Nam vets inside the costumes. They were just waling on their hands. Kudos to the movie producers to giving these guys some work, and for creating absolutely endearing robots.