A friend once remarked that he plays a Christ-like figure in every role. I think about that whenever I see him in a movie. So true, especially The Omega Man. Charlton Heston died for our sins!
The scene where Sol dies, listening to the beautiful music and watching what the natural world had looked like a long time ago, made the biggest impression on me. I almost cried. I was still very young but I understood that if we did nothing we might end up in a similar situation. And it is still a possiblity.
I saw this when I was 12 and I found that scene utterly moving. Up 'til then I hadn't been overly impressed with it, but that ending made the whole film worth watching.
I saw Soylent Green in the theater probably within 3 weeks of its release. I'm 62 years old and grew up as a science fiction nerd from the day Star Trek came on the air. I've been talking about Soylent Green and the other Pantheon of films that when written for futuristic and now are almost historic for years. Thank you for finally bringing back into light one of the key and unfortunately clearly prophetic films of our time. When people fail to recognize the examples depicted in classic films which we are now not only living in but have exceeded beyond the wildest dreams of the people that made these films and wrote these books it kind of freaks me out. The examples and parallels are too clear and two consistent to be ignored. Not to sound like an alarmist or anything but I think it's too late. We don't know what we're eating we don't know what we're breathing we don't know what we're drinking we don't know what we're wearing we don't really know what we're washing our clothes in I could go on but you get the point.
Yes too many nuclear accident's. Messing around with farming and agriculture, animals and people. Seems big business wants to control everything and everyone. Unfortunately the people are spineless brainwashed sheep who do nothing but sit and watch as every right is taken from them. I think a good dose of civil disobedience is long overdue. To busy pandering to nutcases who want to butcher their primary school children and are worried about their pronouns. I absolutely despair for the world. Will common sense ever return? No wonder people are so desperate to leave that they are actually doing it. Ah well fiddle dee dee. Feel like Nero fiddling as Rome burned.
@@gregoryhagen8801 It's difficult to state that one specific "thing" is the problem. However, I understand that drastic changes from what is currently perceived to be "normal" or "centre", may be required. But I do not mean that in the creepy, weird way that you do. xD
I'm more worried about population control and treating humans like a farm animal to be managed. Some of the proposals for managing us are beyond any dystopian movie or book. Eg head of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Klaus Schwab has said in least two of his books (I've bought 3 of them but only read 1 and a bit) talks about having everyone chipped to measure their medical condition "for the good of humanity". Also multiple times people at Davos have talked about all currency being crypto to assure we only spend our money on what government approves. Which equals total surveillance and control. Many central banks have written papers on digital money and I hope their plans never see the light of day
What we DO know is that NO government is serious about climate change, every one large enough to matter cheats or refuses to change, especially China and the USA. Stock up on survival tools that require no power and lots of solar panels for those that do. And spare parts. Look up those devices that extract water directly from the air. I can promise that cataclysmic weather events _are_ in our fairly near future...
People are not actually very nutritious -- not to our own digestive systems, anyway. This is why, as a survival tactic, cannibalism is very much a last resort.
"Soylent Green" is one of my mother's favorite films. When I called her this year to wish her a Happy New Year she picked up immediately answering with "It's 2022, where's my damn thanatorium?" She was only half joking. Coincidentally, "They Live" is another of her favorites. At a recent family gathering she intoned "This is your God" as she handed me some cash, so I replied "They live, we sleep!" My brother and sis rolled their eyes, they think we're complete weirdos.
@@MLBlue30 😁 I was lucky to have cinephile geeks for parents. She took me to see "Up In Smoke," "Apocalypse Now," "Hair" and "Foxes" among many others. Our birthdays are a day apart; for her 79th we saw "Mad Max: Fury Road." My dad was also a movie nut. We may have been broke and struggling at times but we almost always took in good films as a routine.
@@mbryson2899 my parents used to take us to the drive-in movie theater most weekends. They played cartoons and children’s movies at dusk then we’d (theoretically) sleep during the main film for adults. One of my earliest memories is the classic shot of Mrs. Robinson’s leg in the Graduate. I also remember watching movies like “Willard”, “The Hospital”, and “Dark Shadows” from the back seat. Quite a movie education for a 5 or 6 year old.
Soylent Green is one of the best movies, far ahead of it's time and it has Beethoven music included. Bonus fact at around 33mins the scene where Thorn and Sol share the meal of real fresh food was not originally in the script, but was ad-libbed by Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson
Soylent Green, A Clockwork Orange and Logan's Run where some of the most formative movies that I watched as a child. Thank you for bringing up this moldy Relic back into relevance
@@spankynater4242 it depends on how old you are and whether you were still able to have a sense of suspended disbelief. A lot of people born after the era of animatronics and CGI have a lot of difficulty with older movies because of the inability to have the ability to suspend one's belief and take the image in front of us as is instead of Seymour King it and degrading it is saying it is not real this is bogus not good enough.
@@spankynater4242 I'm in my 50s but also as a child I was deep into sci-fi and fantasy horror movies creature double feature, and comic books. It was boring because you had to think out the scenarios so I do understand kid 10 years old it didn't have enough action to satisfy.
I had the honor of meeting the director when he was promoting the DVD release of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. A nice and gracious man. The Soylent Green crackers were actually painted squares of wood. A Soylent company actually exists, which makes meal replacement drinks and bars. With tongue fully in cheek they released Soylent Green crackers this year, the year of Soylent Green. They quickly sold out.
Nuts. I'd seen their green shakes in the freezer case at Whole Paycheck Market once and gasped "Soylent green is made of people!" but I don't think the trendy hausfraus nearby got the reference. To have missed out on the actual crackers is a loss from which I may never recover. AAAARRRGGHGHGHHH! 🤣
This movie is special to me because it is one my dad and I watched together when I was a child. The heavy themes were lost on me, except the fact Det. Thorn calls Shirl furniture that comes with the apartment, but it is something we share. Sometimes I'll text my dad on a random Tuesday, "Don't forget - Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!" just to make him smile. I also referenced this movie in college in a paper about the dignity of dying on your own terms.... I guess this movie has a larger effect on me than I realized. Great video, Minty!
Same for me. I loved seeing the early 70s science fiction movies with him. Rollerball, Soylent Green, The Omega Man, The Planet of the Apes series, Logan's Run, Damnation Alley, Westworld, and The Andromeda Strain. Of course everything changed with Star Wars.
I was very active in my local Star Trek fan club back with this movie came out as was the manager of the local movie theater. At midnight the day it opened, the manager let us host a fund raiser there. We sold tickets above the regular asking price and provided free refreshments. It was a very successful fund raiser, nearly selling out. For the refreshments, we made rice crispy treats colored green with food coloring. None of us, promoters or audience, had seen the movie, of course, as it hadn't opened yet, and we called our green rice crispy treats, "Soylent Green." Everyone got some and people bought more before the show and at the intermission. Imagine the shock when we all got to the end and discovered what Soylent Green was! Ah, those were the days.
The scene that sticks with me is the spoon with some strawberry jam residue on it. Heston tasting the jam indicated how powerful the victim was. Just tasting the jam was significant and he shared it. I think of this every time I taste strawberry jam and think how lucky I am.
Yes! Also... just showing how willing he and Sol were to eat off of someone else's spoon shows how desperate they were for at least a little something good.
Totally agree and it’s sad that we still live in a world where people around the world starve and would also tear up at the food we in the west eat every day and often throw away while others can’t get enough for one good meal a day 😔
The 70s really had the BEST Sci Fi movies for real! Silent Running, Rollerball, The Andromeda Strain, Logan's Run, The Omega Man, The Black Hole, the Planet of the Apes sequels, Operation Ganymed, Alien, Mad Max, Zardoz, Welt am Draht (World on a Wire), THX1138, Westworld, Futureworld.... thou i don't consider "Star Wars" sci-fi because it its Fantasy that just happen to take place among the stars.
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 I think part of why is that in the 70s, SF wasn't taken all that seriously. Filmmakers could make whatever they could get the money to do, and had creative freedom as the flip side of it. Now SF has to be a high-budget, high- stakes blockbuster, which means studios are less willing to gamble on ideas. Star Wars cemented that, but Westworld started it.
An honorable mention should also go to another actor in the film, Chuck Connors, who not only stared in a popular TV series called “The Rifleman” in the late 50’s & early 60’sas well as several movies, but he also before that was a sports figure who played baseball as a Chicago Cub and basketball with the Boston Celtics.
Notice his character was in a mixed race relationship with Paula Kelly, another highly talented actress? Pretty progressive for the time. Thorn's mistreatment of her caused Chuck's character to almost kick his butt!
He was always really good in The Rifleman. He's very good here too, and it really shows in that scene where Thorn beats him up. He really sells it, and you can see wheat is going on in his character's head at the same time.
FINALLY!!! WOO HOO!!! I suggessted this movie a loooong time ago when I first started watching your channel. Nice to see others joined me and you got it done. Nice job too!!! Worth the wait!
Fantastic. You get it, and I really appreciate your respectful tone about the movie and the actors. Thanks from someone who saw the film when it first came out, and has been a solid fan ever since, and always will be. Great job.
Soylent Green was one of the first sci-fi movies I ever saw, along with Logan's Run. If you're older like me, a great movie night with the kids would be... 1. Soylent Green 2. Logan's Run 3. Silent Running
Thank you for this video. I too became fascinated with this movie when I first saw it as a child in the 80s. It made me fall in love with the song that plays in Saul’s death scene. Fun fact, there is a drink you can buy at most grocery stores here in the US called Soylent Green . I kid you not !
One of your best vids, mate. So I finally bought it on blu ray THIS YEAR; it had been on my To Get list for years, I first saw a 4:3 pan/scan version on tv when I was young, and... well, apart from finally seeing the whole film, I was amazed at how it was as I remembered it. That curious mix of being very dated and of its time yet being so full of its own identity that it's kinda timeless... I'd say a great double bill for a 70s night would be this and the original Rollerball. Similar vibe. So, yeah, set 2 years after Blade Runner, yet on the East Coast not the West. Edward G's personal finale is just so emotional and amazing. Sol's sacrifice really for me seems to mirror Edward G's own end: going out on his own terms, for his own reasons... It's TOO iconic to be remade - even if they try to return to Harrison's novel - and in the genre, at the time, Harrison was as big as Stephen King has been for years. For all his personal foibles, Heston had a real bead on that world weary type of character (I think he sort of started in Ben Hur) in the same way the Clint Eastwood at the time became Dirty Harry. It's a cracking slow burn of a movie which, as you say in conclusion, has come into its time: AT the time it was a bit much (and 2020 felt a loooooong way away!). IN 2020..? Yowch.
I remember the first time I watched this movie... I was in college, and there was a cinema club that each Friday, would pick a movie and put it on display, for everyone in college to see it, out in one of the patios. And on that month, they decided to dedicate the whole month to Charlton Heston and his movies. You can imagine people wanting to see Planet of the Apes and Ben-Hur, which are his most famous movies in Portugal... but then, on the last Friday of the month, they chose this one. Now, I never heard of it, but since I didn't have anything to do on that afternoon, I decided to give it a shot. I'm so glad I did, because not only it is an incredible movie, but it's also one of the most powerful performances Heston gave during his whole career. Sol's death scene is one of the most iconic in the history of cinema. It's both beautiful and terrifying, especially because Robinson died a few days after filming his last scene (to me, the scene shares the same kind of impact as the Inventor's death in Edward Scissorhands, because it was the last scene Vincent Price filmed, before retiring due to Parkinson's). I'm glad the world still hasn't reached the point that we see in the movie everywhere, but damn, we're heading towards it, at this rate, and that's scary as Hell. At the time, when ir was released, I bet that most people wouldn't even dream of just how prophetic it would become.
"I'm glad the world still hasn't reached the point that we see in the movie everywhere, but damn, we're heading towards it" That's just horsedung, João. We're heading in the *opposite* direction, with world hunger more than 90% eliminated despite a doubling of the population.
We're not heading that way, only people who weren't around back then and those that were but don't stop and think believe all this doomsday nonsense they lay down on people. This movie and others like Blade Runner are actually the proof, look at what the supposedly wise and all knowing people from back then thought the world was going to be like by now, is it? No, of course it's not. We're actually going in the other direction, take it from someone who was around back then the environment is actually in much better shape then it was back in those days, cities no longer have smog so thick you can't see all the way across them, matter of fact young people don't even know what the word smog is because it doesn't get used anymore because there isn't any. People that get all bent out of whack over the whole "The world's coming to an end!!!" narrative don't understand that the people who want to scare them with that narrative are trying to keep the funding flowing into their research departments, because when it dries up they'll have to go out into the private sector where their job depends on actually producing results.
@@dukecraig2402 I'm a boomer, and I know that everything you say is true. We have younger generations being led astray by people who make their living by teaching these lies about catastrophic predictions with no evidence. (Note: I am *not* talking about global warming; I am *not* denying that climate change may be happening. But given that people are lying about pollution and hunger, I can't assume that their catastrophic predictions regarding global warming are accurate. The earth may be warming, but that doesn't mean the worst case scenarios are at all likely.)
@@BS-vx8dg I'm a boomer and agree with you 100%. The problem as usual is that the 20 and 30 somethings have been brainwashed in college. The ones who haven't gone to college and are working are not falling for the rot.
As the Dutch are experiencing currently what will we eat after independent farming is destroyed?. What will food be like when despotic governments control every morsel that goes into your mouth?. Why are they shutting down private Gardens in New York City and elsewhere.
Watched this film, when it first came out at theaters in 1973 (now own a dvd of this movie). The audience seemed to enjoy the film and many of us shed some tears - - when Sol died 😢. A very touching scene was, Sol’s reaction when he saw the real food that Detetive Thorn brought home. FYI: last year I was checking out of a new product online, when I stopped suddenly - - because there was a photo of a soy product (that is in a bottle that is half green) called SOYLENT’. The association with this film was immediate! 🤯🤭
@@mariadoslunas4782 another fun fact: The company was sued in 2015 for having too much lead and cadmium in their product in violation of labeling laws. Somehow, that is perfectly thematic.
I always found this and "The Omega Man" downright terrifying! Not in an obvious 'slasher' way, but on a much deeper intellectual level. Like "Metropolis", it is a warning, not against what WOULD be, but what COULD be if we are not careful. Another classic that always thrilled me this way was "Colossus the Forbin Project". I'd love to hear your thoughts on that one! That, and how "Robocop" was really the Japanese cartoon, "8th Man" brought to life.
What was interesting about Robocop was that it was originally supposed to be Judge Dredd from 2000AD, but the owners over in the UK declined the proposal.
This IS a scary movie. Not because of the cannibalism, but because of the poor quality of life most people were going through because of scarcity and supply and demand economics favoring a small elite. We are going through something similar in America right now as I type. It's very visible in the major cities where a once thriving working class and lower middle class are now being marginalized and driven to poverty.
You should watch the original "The last man on earth" with Vincent Price. It's even public Domain and can be watched with a marvelous HD master on the Internet Archive.
I was a child when Soylent Green came out, watched it a few years later on TV. I had completely forgotten that it takes place in 2022. Nice going, Minty.
thanks for a great bit of entertainment and maybe some enlightenment. I saw this excellent, prophetic movie when i was a young mother of 22. My husband was at work and it was really scary to watch. It is wonderful how kind you are to the memory of such talented people. God bless.
I was there when it came out in the theaters on Hollywood Blvd. in 1973. Its a great movie. The ending scene was the best ever because you could not hear what Eddie was telling Charlton on his death bed but later it was revealed in the end scene. Soylent Green is made of people.
I remember seeing this movie in my hometown theatre. While the credits rolled, they walked around passing out the square green "cookies", it definitely made an impression.
I would complain too if my fries were half empty. Nothing wrong with that. I think the issue is that millennials and Gen Z are too frightened to complain so they make fun of us older folks that do.
John Bezpiaty writing--As I was at least one of the people who requested your take on Soylent Green, I just wanted to thank you for actually covering it. You viewpoint, by the way, was very stimulating, as, having been a very young teen at the time of its release, while I do see it as a milestone in SF cinema, I also perceived it, perhaps a bit unfairly, as noticeably dated. Again, thanks.
I also find it interesting that Charlton Heston made several 'Apocalyptic' movies at the same time, along with Omega Man and Planet of The Apes franchise, as well as the start of his "Disaster Film' run with Skyjacked, the year before Soylent, then Airport 1975, and Earthquake. All grim looks at the world. .
I have played Computer Space at FUN SPOT in New Hampshire, where the worlds largest arcade museum exists. Pretty cool game and takes some getting used to with button commands and no joy stick. Awesome trivia Minty!
I remember watching Soylent Green as a kid with my big brother in the very early 80s. Watching people being scooped up like that still gives me nightmares. Watching the scene when Edward G. Robinson's character died, made me cry.
Minty Ol boy, Solent Green is one of my old-time favorites! Your right, it IS relevant to our world today. As they say, "one day science fiction, the next day science fact". You see this theme in a lot of old-time movies, and makes me wonder if these film makers like Spielberg, Cameron, Kubrick and others, know something of the future, or have been "read-in" on the whole UFO/ET presence, etc.?? I was 13 when my cousin and I snuck-in to see this movie (as we were underage at the time) and I still watch it once or twice a year, it's that good! As I have expressed on other work of yours Minty, the 70's was known for "disaster" type movies such as this one, Earthquake, Towering Inferno, Mad Max, etc. etc..... With this world always in some kind of turmoil, be tribal warfare, global warming, ocean life and potable water depleting rapidly, food shortages, pollution, O-zone issues, overpopulation, greed and corruption, etc. makes this scenario depicted in Soylent Green a REAL possibility! I totally believe what is depicted in Soylent Green could, and more than likely will happen, unless we take our planet back from the powerbrokers who control everything! My two cents Minty! Keep up the great work mate, love it and THANK YOU!
No need to be 'read in,' just follow the money. There is less profit in addressing climate change than continuing to overload the environment with our poisons. Thus, we _shall_ suffer the result, up to and possibly including extinction of all mammalian species including ours truly. So pop a LOT of popcorn so when the power goes out for good you can still sit back and watch the show...
Always loved Soylent Green, The Omega Man, Westworld.......all those early 70's Sci-Fi films. Have them all on DVD and never stop enjoying them........
My favorite story about Harry Harrison and the movie Soylent Green was that after the first few days of watching the filming, he voiced his concern over the Fidelity to the source material and was told kind of we on this. So, the next day he showed up with cases of the book, make room make room and started handing them out to cast and crew so they would at least know what they were working from.
Interesting observations on a good film. I remember watching this when it first came out when I was in high school (I'm old). My friends and I thought it was a really cool movie. We still make sick jokes about soylent green to this day. It was amusing to see Chuck Connors as a villain since we grew up with him being a hero in The Rifleman. He would do the same in Roots. He was a very underrated actor.
Very nice review. I had seen it in the theatres when I was a teenager. It was playing as a double feature (popular at the time when movies were no longer playing in "first-run" theatres) The second film playing with it was "Westworld" which was a very appropriate double bill. I liked "Soylent Green" a lot and was especially moved by Robinson's performance--not only his ending scene, but a scene where he savors eating some foods confiscated by Heston's character that were now only available to the wealthy. I believe that "Westworld" was more highly regarded and more popular at the time. The only major problem I had with "Soylent Green" was the so-called surprise revelation near the end which was very predictable.
The two movies really do make a nice combination. I do movie reviews here; just finished Westworld, and am in process with Soylent. They could even co-exist in the same world. I envy you for getting to see them together!
@@MsDianagentaToYou I saw many great double features at my local theatre years ago. Very fond memories--I just caught your Westworld review--Nice work!
Charlton Heston is in 3 of the most profound sci-fi films Planet, Omega, and Soylent green It's amazing how time and turn of events have given new meaning to these genre movies of the time
I literally only saw this movie last week, but had known for years what it was about. I was struck by how good Charlton Heston was playing a corrupt cop in a corrupt system. Edward G Robinson was equally good, and the scene where Heston comes back from a murder investigation with real meat and vegetables the Sol cooks for Heston who has never had real food before, was an absolute master class of acting, and wasa highlight.
What bothered me abut the stew scene was that the smell of it should have permeated the entire floor, if not the whole building, yet the people living in the hallway aren't shown to react at all. It was the first meal cooked in the building for many years.
...this one needs a remake! Especially in context of "you will eat ze bugs"... and "medical assisted suicide". Remembering Sol's Death scene leaves me still traumatized and cryin in despair and grief, knowing that we are already there...
Personally, I've always said that I would love to go out like THAT! Get me hopped up on drugs, play me my favorite music & let me pass away looking at my favorite pictures. That seems much preferable to dying helpless & in pain at some sterile hospital well after life is enjoyable.
@@markshaw270 ...yeah. Studios ruin nearly every material these days. (Except Dune). But what made me type this is the urge to make this spreading to a younger audience... most younger folks simply refuse to watch older stuff. And honestly, this gem didn't age that well...
Excellent Minty! I saw Soylent Green when it came out in the movies. Two other great Actors: Chuck Connors And Whitt Bissell who was in many sci fi movies.
Edward G,; oh man, what an incredible actor. I didn't realize he was dying as he made that movie. All the superlatives have been used; but all of them deserve to be attached to him. And it was obvious to all who watched that he and Charlton got on like a house on fire. Having acted together in 10 Commandments it was obvious that they would click beautifully in this. And they did.
One of my favourite movies of all time! Here in Spain it wasn't called Soylent Green but "When fate will reach us" and I guess we are already there... Never have I ever noticed the masks, good point! Thank you Minty, it will be magnificent if you review "Silent Running", another sci-fi classic from that period. Greetings from Barcelona!
Great review like always. One fun fact that was overlooked.... the last scene with Edward G. Robinson was taken from Logan's Run the book, not the movie. In the book people turn themselves in to be peacefully put to death in Sleep Shops at the age of 21. The idea of the Sleep Shop was taken and hsed in Soylent Green the movie.
Minty, Great delivery, and your writing of your commentary, very good and interesting content. Listening to you is like reading a good magazine article. Fun. Reminds me of Robin Leach, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". Thank you. Tom
I used to watch this with my dad growing up, we'd always have strawberry preserves while we watched. I introduced this movie to my kids, keeping the tradition going. I was happily amused when Soylent came out with mint this year and I finally got to call out Soylent Green is PEEEEOOOOPPLEEEE 😄
love soylent green...i grew up in the 60's, and i got to see all these great films in the theatre......soylent green, logan's run, westworld, and my favorite, rollerball....thank you for bringing back such great memories...peace to you always...rocky
My dad and I went to every sci-fi movie as they came out. I remember the shocker of seeing this. The movie will have a special place for me. I think the poster is great.
Thank you for doing this movie! I saw it as a teenager, and it made a huge impact on me. Harry Harrison also wrote the Stainless Steel Rat books, which are funny sci-fi action books. I highly recommend them.
I picked up a DVD collection earlier this year which conveniently included Soylent Green, The Omega Man, Logan's Run, and Westworld. My only regret was already knowing the outcome for all of these fabulous sci-fi films.
@@tomsherwood4650 No, I mean that these movies have been out so long that the final outcome is already common knowledge. It's like trying NOT to know who Luke Skywalker's father is. 😅
Edward G. Started out playing gangsters in movies in the 1930s, he had a long career. He was also in the ten commandments movie which also started Charlton Heston in the 1950s.
Marco Marterer.... Edward GR was truly a great actor.... you felt what he felt as he saw what was lost to him... but did you also watch Heston's face as he saw the same images... that's what made me cry. He was a man who never saw the Ocean Waves, a sea of green grass or the blue of the sky. The scene belonged to EGR but Mr Heston showed his chops as well.
Really liked this films when it first came out. The, what at the time was considered extreme future drama with no real possibility of happening, was exciting and interesting. As we progress onward, this film is looking more insightful into the future then ever.
I discovered this gem at the video store in the early to mid 90's, the cover just drew me in, I was quite young when I watched this around 13 in 1994 and got as part of a weekly deal with 11 other movies mostly consisted of horror and sci-fi, my two favorite generes, it was the one that stuck in my head the most because of it's themes of the breakdown of society and overpopulation, especially Soylent Green is people, it is also Frank Black's Millennium password to the series Millennium which ran from 1996-1999.
@@I.am.Sarah. Yes definitely, I miss them too, very much, I used to be a member of around 10 video stores at the same time in the 90's because each video store had different titles to one another, streaming will never compete because to me it feels a little disposable and cheap, there's nothing like going to the video store and physically looking at a movie with the coverart and reading the story at the back, you just can't beat that experience, plus it was something that would get me out of the house, now I'm always stuck indoors.
Sol was the police investigator who, survived his childhood in a Nazi concentration camp. After reading a Soylent Corporation report on the depletion of plankton, which had killed off the oceans Sol is completely shocked and appalled by comparing Nazi concentration camps with the discovery the dead are being processed as food. So, Sol, decides he will end his life rather than continue to live in the Soylent Green World.
Soylent Green was eerily prophetic for the 2020s. I watched the original 1974 release on American network TV a few years after its original theatrical release. I was mesmerized and entertained by the storyline as Charlton Heston was my hero. Fast-forward to the 21st century and I can no longer enjoy the film as it has become too close to the reality of imposed gov't and involved corporate influence we deal with in-reality today. Strangely, the relationship between Sol and Throne became in-earnest a friendship I had in my later work life.
@@DrFunk-rk6yl The corporatization of Gov't. The herding of humans as a quantity of lesser value, directed depopulation, no freedom of speech or freedom of assembly. Human Rights are prioritized to the wealthy and the socially liberal elite. The ability of an individual to own private property in-terms of land, personal transportation or a dwelling is non-existent for the majority of the masses, and of course faith, religion and the belief of self-empowerment has been removed from the common ideology. Soylent Green leads a reasonable person to believe the author of the original story was somewhat aware of a future globally inflicted change in a re-engineering of society.
@John Patterson it's funny that I have seen both conservatives and liberals say it was prophetic and mirrors our society. I think you all should rewatch the movie as very few of the problems that fictional society deal with resemble our own.
My teacher in Junior year of highschool played this for our class (I'm 32 now) and it stuck with me! I forgot why we had free time but she played it for our small class of around 10 kids total I feel like it left a good impact on me it's funny cause I talk about it sometimes and nobody knows what I'm talking about. When he took a bite of the sex workers food before leaving and she noticed for some reason still plays in my head sometimes lol
I think Soylent Green is extremely relevant for today. Maybe more of a metaphor, rather than literal. Although in small countries in Africa or South American countries, the lack of humane treatment of people who lived there in the 80's, may have felt like Soylent Green. I'm talking about political coups. Specifically, I'm talking about comparing Soylent Green to today's online culture, and though many exploit themselves by profiting from their content creation online, it's corporations that are creating the platforms we use, and profit from them. Look at the scenes where attractive woman come with the apartments. Go online, and attractive woman, even gamers, wear or do things, to get followers and donations. Or everybody is encouraged to post online, and like earth movers, corporations change the rules , and many people are forced to comply. Or if you're not online, or with an email, or cellphone, you almost don't exist, like the people who live in the streets. Or we in the 80's and today, we are eating fast food made by corporations, that may not be real. A few years ago, my brother told me that KFC can't advertise using the word chicken, because what they sell is genetically altered. Not that I agree, but we still eat it. True, my comparison sound more like comparing today's culture with Max Headroom. But you can still make comparisons. I also agree with Minty, Soylent Green seems like the beginning of a Mad Max apocalypses.
@@CanItAlready I agree. It's just silly things people hear from the internet. Lol. Thanks, you just gave me an idea for a birthday present. I'll send him an aluminum foil hat. Lol.
Corporations indeed have taken over. They control our politicians, our representatives don't represent the people but the big corporations. They are all too powerful, no one can stop them. Look at the food we buy, most of it is processed and will give you cancer eventually.
Sol'a death was one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen in a movie. Given the state of our nursing home care and total disregard for our elderly in this country, it would be kinder if we gave the elderly this kind of gentle, beautiful, and respectful death, than starving our nursing care of funds to the point where so many die in pain, in squalor, and alone.
Great movie. The opening montage of photos set to music really captured the tone of the movie. Music begins all nice and cheerful and becomes more frantic and you are bombarded with images of mass poverty, waste, pollution, disease etc. One of the most powerful opening scenes ive ever seen in a movie.
I remember during the Simpsons there was an episode showing a future Home and Bart (who was SCOTUS) and they went to a movie (Itchy and Scratchy which Homer denied Bart from seeing in the past) and they got popcorn and they asked if they wanted extra Soylent Green and Homer went "Mmmmm Soylent Green". I was young but knew the reference.
This movie made a long lasting impression on me. As a teenager, science fiction was always top on my list. I couldn’t get enough of either comics, movies, or paperbacks. Also at the time, there was a big environmental movement. People could see what was starting to happen, and has continued to happen. The best science fiction has always been current social commentary, put on steroids. This is a movie I’d love to see remade. Maybe it could once again open people’s eyes like the original did to me. Like you stated, it has a certain prophecy to it and very eerie that it’s 2022. Thanks for posting this.
The MGM studio where this movie was filmed was only a few blocks from where I grew up in the Los Angeles area [Culver City as noted in the narration]. The local kids often trespassed on the sets and picked up souvenirs. After filming wrapped up, we discovered that Soylent Orange, and Soylent Yellow are actually just dyed French Bread. There is even a book about the generations of Culver City kids trespassing and exploring the MGM lots called "Hole in the Fence".
I can STILL remember scenes from Soylent Green _AND_ Omega Man as if I'd seen the movie a just a week ago , and it's been more than 40 years ! Even THEN the production value and execution was seen a bit B-Movie level, but that was MORE than made up for in those days by the necessary over-acting to _successfully_ communicate certain intensities to an audience not YET as thoroughly familiar with the whole idea if Sci-Fi movies , etc. as we are today . Even SO , the message AND the Story were so well articulated and _presented_ that it had a huge impact on me then, and on others that saw it new in theaters . I'm thinking it may be among the most influential movies _and_ concepts in movie history , affecting MUCH of how such stories were presented , _since_ ! Just a thought, but ... .
Soylent Green was released just as the 1973 Oil Embargo started. OPEC countries cut oil production, refusing to send oil to the U.S. because of our support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War. This resulted in an oil crisis, with skyrocketing gas (and other) prices, long gas lines, and food shortages. When people went to see Soylent Green in the theaters, it appeared to mirror what was occurring in real life.
I watched this movie when it first came on television in 1973 or 1974 and loved it ever since. It's amazing how similar it is to life today and holds a secret to the future of the world. Omega Man is also an interesting film about the spread of a man-made virus. Loved that one when they showed it on TV way back then.
Went to movie theater to watch Soylent Green. When leaving they had boxes and samples of Soylent Green. I’m going to get some strawberry 🍓 preserves 🎉 The Soylent Green crackers were the same as Hamster 🐹 food. Charlton Heston had a great walk in gun safe ❤
I have been telling people that this NEEDS to be remade precisely for the reasons you list. It was the most socially relevant film of Charleton Heston's career. Thank you for this.
If it gets remade by today's Hollyweird, it will quickly become one of the most irrelevant movies in cinematic history. There would be over the top CGI and Wokeness would infect every line and element in the plot. You'd need Tarantino or someone influenced by past classics and who doesn't bow or take a knee to the Wokeness movement to pull of a successful remake.
I haven't seen this movie, only bits & clips online. I have seen a few of Charlton Hestons disaster movies (earthquake, Airport' 75, the omega man) so if I see this streaming anywhere I'll watch it. Minty, I've been watching your videos for the past few years and I've enjoyed every one. It's pretty neat to find out something you didn't know about a favorite movie or show, usually it makes me appreciate an actor/director/writer that much more. Keep up the great work, enjoy those game cabinets (nice collection btw). 👍
