Rating: 
Summary: Inverse Mirror Image of The Omega Man
Review: In his earlier film, The Omega Man, Charlton Heston finds himelf alone against a world depopulated by biological warfare, with only a handful of children survivors and the creepy, plague-deranged Family to keep him company. Whereas that film explores the ramifications of massive depopulation, Soylent tackles the opposite question: what happens if there are too many people? The two films focus almost entirely on the urban, city-street setting, and both of Heston's characters are very similar. I enjoyed Soylent more, if only because I think the dramatism was better executed and the 70's kitsch was not nearly as bothersome. Politically, Soylent is obviously a product of the Zero Population Growth movement, which is itself dedicated to ubiquitous birth control and rationing of virtually every resource known to the modern world. Thankfully the spooky predictions of the 70's seem about as realistic in 2004 as Orwell's 1984 was in the real 1984. But as a mental experiment, Soylent is very engaging. Especially the plight of Sol Roth, portrayed by a nicely aged Edward G. Robinson. In many ways I was attracted to and empathized with Sol more than heston, as Sol is obviously a creature of our time stranded in the horrible future of Heston's Detective Thorn. Sol's ultimate demise is a heartbreaking scene, at once glorifying humanity and nature, while also damning a society which views people as little more than carbon compounds, to be recycled and consumed again and again. As the film's most famous line tells us, the secret of Soylent green is no secret at all. The really interesting stuff is in the characters and how each responds to this would-be dystopia of the not-too-distant future. Put together with the previously mentioned Omega Man, and Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green is a must for students of celluloid science fiction; especially Heston fans.
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Summary: Soylent Green is FOOD for THOUGHT!
Review: This "futuristic" movie is a dead giveaway period piece of 1970's culture and sets. The sets look like the back of 3M game packages from the 60's-70's (Remember Twixt, Feudal, Acquire?)and the girls all have hair that betray the era it was made. Originally a novel and made on a relatively small budget. Nonetheless, it is an interesting study of what would be left of us in the event of energy and food shortages with pollution and the destruction of nature. The best aspect of this movie is Heston's role as a COP. It is like a trip back to the old days when they had an expression for the job as "five thousand a year and all you can steal". Opportunity knocks when Heston handles a rich man's murder and discovers luxury like you don't see in 2022. He celebrates his new found treasure which includes a girl, soap, beef and a bottle of bourbon. With the aid of his "book", admirably played by Edward G. Robinson as a former professor now working as a type of librarian police clerk, he discovers that the murder had serious implications on the human condition and eventual destiny of the human race. The knowledge of this horror results in Robinson ending his life by Socratic suicide and Heston dodging assassination attempts by agents hired by Soylent to protect their secret. Heston requires proof of Soylent's scandal and rides the bull to the conclusion which asserts that we are all "Morlock Stew" (with apologies to Mr. Wells). An interesting work, worth a view and the DVD transfer cleans the movie up a bit in a nice widescreen presentation. There are also good additional features which include a party for Robinson acknowledging his 101st picture (also his last..he died shortly afterward) and a section on the making of Soylent Green and the trailer (always interesting because most have nothing to do with the plot that you see on screen) Check it out and spread the word... Soylent Green is...(Gulp!)
Rating: 
Summary: TYPICAL TURNER ENTERTAINMENT GREED
Review: Two fabulous films - "Soylent Green" and "The Omega Man" - have fallen prey to the corporate greed of Turner and Warner Brothers. These two fantastic DVDs are packaged in the cheap, cardboard DVD holders that rip, tear, and are easily crushed. These two movies deserved much better than this crappy packaging.
Rating: 
Summary: A great film beautifully restored
Review: The DVD release of this great Charlton Heston classic is a marvel to behold. It's in widescreen format and all the TV/VHS fog is gone, gone, gone; the images and sounds are as clear and crisp as the dawning day.This film deserves such treatment. Along with _Planet of the Apes_ and _The Omega Man_, it's part of Heston's series of three 'last man' films, and it's much better than _The Omega Man_. (As movie buffs know, it's also the touching final film appearance of the late Edward G. Robinson.) A classic in its genre, this film is based on Harry Harrison's 'Make Room! Make Room!' and is a somewhat heavy-handed morality play on the subject of Malthusian population dynamics. It's amazing that it works as well as it does. But it really does work; this is one of the all-time greats of SF filmdom, right up to and including its famous closing moments. Put this on your shelf next to Heston's _Planet of the Apes_.
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Summary: this one rates up there with the omega man
Review: What more could you ask for from a classic 1970's Heston flick. " There are no phones ringing damnit!!"
Rating: 
Summary: This movie is horrible
Review: I bought this movie because I had heard about it for so many years with the infamous line (you know it). Well, can't say I exactly enjoyed the movie. Parts of it are interesting, but most of it drags on and on. I was waiting for the big pay off at the end and was severly let down. WEAK. The CHEESE factor is very large. In fact if anyone wanted to cut scenes from the film to make a gag reel it would be perfect. I can't recommend this movie to anyone. It's terrible. Buy something else.
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Summary: Soylent Green on DVD: Looking good
Review: I was so pleased to see that one of the true classics of the science fiction genre, "Soylent Green" had finally been released on DVD. The most notable aspect of the new MGM DVD is simply how good the film looks compared to previous VHS tape releases and murky television prints. For the first time in viewing the film, I was able to actually see the building where Sol Roth (played impeccably by screen legend Edward G. Robinson) goes to "go home" so to speak.
Previous VHS copies were so dark a viewer could not make out much of the shoot out action which takes place outside of the Excahnge building which evetually spills over into a brutal fight scene in the Church. This is truly one of the most outstanding DVD transfers that has been done to date. The soundtrack sounds to have been remixed bringing up more the background music as well as a "sweetening" of ambient sounds and sound effects. In the scene when Sol Roth goes to the Exchange to meet with the people who work there to find out more about the disturbing history of Soylent Corporation, the film print is so crystal clear that you can read the years written on the piles of papers. The print is perfetct no jumps, no scratches, no shifting of colors or pops in the soundtrack.
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Summary: First time viewer in 2003
Review: I'm getting in on these classics late, "Planet of the Apes" (original - the new one sucks), "The Omega Man", and just now "Soylent Green". Planet of the Apes blew my mind as to how good it was especially considering it was my first time seeing it just a year ago and it is 30 years old, The Omega Man was pretty good but definitely not on the level the other two films are, and finally I enjoyed Soylent Green the best. I found it very believable (take away all the cheesy 70's related stuff of course). I'm also a passionate hater of happy Hollywood endings if they don't apply and all three of these films have appropriate endings. I have to say I'm becoming a big fan of Charlton Heston too, he comes across in his films as a man with a great sense of humor and he makes me believe that he is like this also in real life (whether he is or not who knows). One thing is for sure though, he's a man who loves his guns. A great film, and I highly recommend to anyone who likes Science Fiction to give this a whirl...as long as you're not a close-minded Jack Ass who can't appreciate a film older then 5 years.
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Summary: This is right...
Review: Is the question asked by a hired assassin of his victim, "No, not right. Necessary," is the cryptic answer, in the near-future thriller, Soylent Green. This is the last of a trio of cynical and apocalyptic Science Fiction films that Charlton Heston made in the late 60's/early 70's. The first is the superlative "Planet of the Apes," followed by "The Omega Man," in which Heston plays the Last Man On Earth, besieged by the mutated remnants of humanity after a bio-engineered plague has swept the Earth. The world of Soylent Green is one that is staring into the abyss of complete ecological meltdown; population overcrowding has reached almost catastrophic proportions, the air is thick with pollutants, the soil has been poisoned, and the seas are dying. The rich and the powerful enjoy lives of splendid isolation in walled and guarded communities, where every need is catered for, up to and including the provision of "Furniture" girls, provided by the community managers. The majority of the human race exists in abject poverty, living in endless slums, queuing for hours for water and food, the very basics for survival. Standing astride this cesspool of a world is the monolithic Soylent Corporation, provider of synthetic food products to the masses. Charlton Heston plays "Detective Robert Thorn," assigned to investigate the murder of businessman "William R Simonson," in the Chelsea Towers development. Thorn is aided by his "Book," - a kind of all-encompassing researcher, there seem to be no computers in this desolate world - "Sol Roth," played, in his 101st, and final film performance, by Edward G Robinson. The more Thorn investigates, the more he comes to realize what we already know, that this is no ordinary murder, although an attempt was made to make it seem that way. It was Simonson who told his killer that his own death was necessary, and Thorn soon discovers, with the help of Roth, that Simonson was not only rich and powerful - he'd have to be to live in a place like Chelsea Towers - he was one of the elite, a board member of the Soylent Corporation itself. What follows is a fairly straightforward police investigation as Thorn starts to pull the various pieces of the puzzle together, and we look on as he moves between two worlds that couldn't be further apart, the endless luxury and hedonism of the Chelsea Towers, and the grinding poverty and desolation of the streets. He marvels at the soap, and constant hot running water in the murdered mans apartment, at the booze and the food that the huddled masses, for the most part, can't even imagine. There's a touching scene - improvised by the actors incidentally - between Thorn and Roth, where they eat a meal of beef stew washed down with brandy, all of it plundered by Thorn in his visits to the Chelsea Towers. And it is the father/son relationship between the two men that is the emotional core of the film. Thorn is all square-jawed practicality, getting on with the job, taking a few extras where he can, Roth is an intellectual, always kvetching about the world, and reminiscing about the past... "How did we come to this?" he cries, breaking down as they finish their meal. And it is Roth who discovers the terrible secret the Soylent Corporation dare not reveal, the threatened exposure of which was the reason for Simonson's execution. This secret is an unbearable weight on Roth, something so horrifying that he, literally, can't live with it; he leaves Thorn a note, telling him that he has decided to "Go Home," the euphemism for state sponsored euthanasia. In a scene that still packs an emotional punch after all these years, Roth drinks a slow poison and lies on a raised bed in a sealed chamber. For the last 20 minutes of his life he can listen to the music of his choice, "light classical," but more importantly, surrounded by a 360 degree screen, he is allowed to watch images of the Earth as it was, when he was a boy, before Man destroyed it. A distraught Thorn races to the facility and forces a guard to open a window in the chamber as Roth slowly slips away. The look of wonderment on his face, as he sees for the first time all the things that Roth had told him about the world when he was a child, is superb. This is a very moving scene, and an excellent performance by Heston, an actor often criticized for his performances when people really seem to be attacking the man and his politics! With his dying breath Roth shares his dreadful discovery with Thorn, which ultimately leads to the films horrifying, downbeat climax, and a memorable freeze-frame. Soylent Green is dated to be sure, but it pulls no punches in its depiction of a world teetering on the brink of extinction. The performances of Heston and Robinson are excellent, they complement each other perfectly, and for lovers of hard-edged Science Fiction, or eco-thrillers, I would recommend this without reservation.
Rating:
Summary: classic 70's views on the future
Review: This sci-fi says 1970's all over it. Its supposed to be around 2015 but the clothes, dialog, music, tv's, cars, etc all are from the 1970's era. If your looking for a movie to just sit down and have a good time with, then this is for you. Its great to see that the 1970's views are just held over till 2015. You will have lots of laughs watching this movie,,,,especially the scene with "the scoops". Soylent green is...........!
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