Sci-Fi Classic Review: SILENT RUNNING (1972) 

Easily one of the best movies I've ever seen. I only managed to find it by looking up movies a random comment mentioned, never even seen it mentioned before this month. I mourn the death of intelligent cinema everyday but we'll always have the classics.

Silent Running will forever be a brilliant masterpiece! I will never forget seeing this movie as a kid, and yes Huey and Dewey were the predecessors to R2D2 and C3PO.

I saw this as a kid and knew it had, _something._ Later viewings as I got older confirmed this. Using amputees for the androids was absolute genius. Your brain tells you they can’t be real because of their size, yet their movements convey such incredible emotion and humanity. Plus, as a kid, I cried when Louie got destroyed.. ☹️

Soylent Green is based on the book "Make Room, Make Room" written by the respected sci-fi author Harry Harrison. thought i'd point that out because he never gets mentioned.

Wer hätte 1972 gedacht, dass dieser Film irgendwann mal die Realität zeigt. Nur die kleinen Roboter sind heute anders, als man es sich dachte. Aber ich habe als Kind verstanden und mit dem zurückbleibenenden Roboter sehr geweint. Ich war sechs Jahre alt als er entstand und gesehen habe ich ihn mit neun oder so und so geweint. Ich konnte nicht schlafen und hatte Angst vor der Zukunft. Und nun ist es fast so. Nun sind wir ALLE als Menschen gefordert um etwas zu verändern solange es noch geht. 👍🌳🌴🌵🌾🌿☘🍀🌱🌲

Laughed out loud when you got to the initial budget. :) Okay, that's some scary-efficient filmmaking!

Mystery Science Theater 3000 borrowed some ideas from Silent Running(1971). Some of the VFX shots were recycled on the 1978 Battlestar Galactica TV show. R2-D2 from Star Wars(1977) is similar to those droids.

I remember watching this movie on TV in the early 70's and being kind of devastated at the end the humans were wiped out. The robots were too cool, and the six-wheel atv's (remembered that way, probably from the Banana Splits, I see they were 4 wheel) just completed the movie. The music was spacy - sweet by spooky, complimented the tone of the movie. The Joan Baez sound really plants this movie in the early 70's. Bruce Dern's over-the-top acting probably made it obvious to me as a kid what was going on - not subtle, in the least.

I may be a bit older than the Geek, here. When I first saw this movie, Eco movies were the rage, and it was kind of expected that they'd be preachy, so the heavy-handedness of Lowell's portrayal was a bit of an annoyance, but not really off-putting. Keep in mind, you'd have been comparing it to Planet of the Apes, which was at least as heavy-handed. Anyway, I liked it a lot. The drones were great, and Dern did a fantastic job with the tragedy of his character.

The only real problem I have with the film is the failure of Lowell to realise why the forest/plants are dying. Something every school child would know and a contrived way to create suspense. The score itself (besides the songs) is very effective. I first saw 'Silent Running' on a BBC TV broadcast at 6pm on a weekday. Which was too early a broadcast time for so melancholy a film. As a pre-teen, I just found it depressing then. Not all SF is suitable for children and someone should remind cable/TV stations not to lump all SF together for a supposed 'adolescent' audience.

The plot of Silent Running was spot on for the 21st Century.

A major reason this movie was made was so that Trumble could prove he could do Saturn as a special effect, more to himself. In 2001 the planet is supposed to be Saturn but could not be made to look correct, so they changed it to Jupiter. Silent running allowed Trumble to produce a wonderful Saturn as we see in the movie.

I remember when the original _Battlestar Galactics_ used clips of the _Valley Forge_ and its sister ships as the "farm ships" in their ragtag fleet. Even watching on a crappy 80s TV, they looked so much better than pretty much everything else on the screen.

I saw this in the theater when it was first released when I was 8 because I liked the robots on the tv commercial. It totally went over my head and taxed my parents patience. I haven't seen it since but since Moon in one of my favorite films I should check it out again.

10:42 I agree and felt the same way when rewatching it again years later (although I did like it first time around). I've heard some people complain that Bruce Dern isn't likable but I'm not convinced that he's supposed to be.

I was only 8 years old when this movie came out, so I didn't get to watch it until I was a teenager several years later, but I remember relating to it because the area where I grew up was woods and fields that gradually was developed into suburban neighborhoods, A "paradise lost" so to speak.

Saw this because it was on Comcast "on demand" about 10 years ago. I was 11 years old at the time. I loved the movie but forgot the name of it and never found it again until I just looked up what I remembered from the plot right now. I remember the ending and the killings of his crew members and that's it. Somehow I found the Wikipedia page for silent running just now and it made me really happy. I'm going to rewatch it when I can get a copy.

I haven't seen this one since I was in high school back in the 70s. A good one for you to might be Colossus the Forbin project .

I've just subscribed as I absolutely LOVE this film and your fascinating review does it wonderful justice. Thanks. x

That was wonderful. I would be fascinated to see a similar video about Brainstorm. No pressure though, keep up the good work.

My favourite movie of all time , everything thing about it is perfect

Cute move splashing the Na'vi with the 'The Word For World Is Forrest' shout-out, as that was ONE of the dozen or so Novels Mr. Cameron borrowed from in conceptualizing 'Avatar'! & Yes, the 70's flavor of the film is almost overpowering throughout! (See Under: 'ZPG'!) One bit I always dug about the flic was at the end (Spoiler Alert!) You think he's about to make some profound & inspiring speech as his Final Words & instead just says 'Things haven't really worked out for me.'! Not only was that magnificently anti-climactic, but really does say it all!

Just subscribed. A channel with this much love for it's content deserves more than 1100 subscribers.

Being a native from St.Louis, Missouri I loved how based design domed ships upon Climatron at Missouri Botanical Gardens. Steve Bochco later well known creative force behind Hill Street Blues, a police series that spring whole category tv series well into 1980s and 90s.

I think that this movie is underrated. I liked it as a kid and appreciate it more as a adult.

One of my favorite movies

Thank you for this wonderful review and historical elements that offer contextual underpinnings to the story-line.

Love this movie..❤

Great movie with the most moving droïds ever! And the special FX are amazing for the period! Douglas Trumbull is a genious!

Great review. Thanks.

Brilliant review. Thank you so much for all this extra information.

I think the premise of the film is a bit strained -- why shoot the forests to Saturn when there's probably a lot of room around Earth (Because Trumbell figured out how to do Saturn's rings, which he wasn't able to do for 2001), why did darkness suddenly become an issue, and so on. Still, I think that can be ignored for all the things it does right. Note the patches on their jumpsuits: Dern's is practically covered with them when the others have two or three, so you know he's been in the saddle a long time. He commits murder, and is so horrified by it he sends robots to dig a grave and is tormented by the memory. And, of course, the execution is spot on. Dern is fantastic, but one of my favorite bits of business is the captain doing a forced smile and a kind of "Jesus, don't go there" as the other crewmen rib Lowell. One very minor point: Peter Schickele does not play PDQ Bach; PDQ Bach is a fictional son of JS Bach and Schickele plays "Professor Peter Schickele," the only historian studying him. Apparently he posed for the only "known portrait" of PDQ Bach, and grew a beard to conceal the fact.

Pretty good! You added some interesting points I haven’t heard, especially on the Production angle. Thanks.

I saw this when it was new also so we must both be fossils. But its message is still as revelant as ever. Despite Lowells' moral ambiguity, I suspect most eventually side with his actions despite his own sins. This is discussed frankly by Bruce Dern on the 2000 DVD release

When will we get the Brainstorm review? Dunno about all that 60fps stuff... Might you consider Black Sunday and The Cowboys as well?

The film has not aged badly, there is nothing wrong with the aesthetics or look, its stylised and shares so much in common with 2001 and star wars visually, looking way more interesting than all the fake computer generated or A.I rubbish of today, simply cause.. it's REAL! It's not embarrassing, what's embarrassing is this lack lustre review.

A moving fim for its day, the background and circumstances of 1972, make the film rather dated in its message today. Still you have to admire the use of the Osaka 'Expro 70 tower as the basis of the ship.

This movie has a sad ending. I know it is about saving the last plant life. It has great special effects. Is this its only meaning? I saw this the same day I had a tooth pulled so I may have been a little out of it. I do not think is rewatchable.

The gaping hole in the premise (really, nobody understands sunlight in this future?) makes it hard for me to maintain suspension of disbelief for this one, because "Silent Running" is clearly intended to be taken seriously, not treated as an escapist romp where we can ignore such things. But it's a great-looking movie, especially for the price.

Excellent review!

Excellent analogy!

...you deserve loads more subs...love ur work...

2:22 watching the movie Avatar I'm like huh I've read this book. I strongly feel that The Word for World is Forest was a heavy influence on the movie Avatar.

This one was ok but as I remember it was kind of slow moving. The subject caught my interest but it just didn’t do it for me. If was going to give it a number, it would get a 6.5.

Spacedock brought me here.

They're real people inside those Droids in Silent Running; just prove physical disabilities aren't hindrance to acting performance. Another film used real people with severe disabilities was The Sentinel with Burgess Merith playing role of The Devil. " Friendships can blossom in Bliss".😬👹

What about the forests?

Love this channel.

loved the movie

Coming on 4k ultra hd release july 7

Great review, and good points made! I too was like you, and wanted so hard to like this movie over time. But that damned Baez warbling, and Dern walking around like St. Francis in his robe just kills me still. But I still have to say the last act where Dernsy is on his own with the bots on the ship is the best. But for such a tight budget and limited schedule, I see now why it is what it is. Too bad Trumbull wasn't given more girth having come from Kubrick and all. Definitely a movie that could use a decent reboot today without all the 'Kumbaya Folksy Sledge Hammer' angle for sure.

Wonder of this.was an inspiration for the song?

If science fiction was like grunge music. Silent running is the Pixies and Star Wars is Nirvana.

This film holds up to this day , people in space would not be on social media and looking at their feed all the time, no wi fi in space , the job would after 8 years be incredibly boring , everybody on the valley forge wants to go back home to bullshit media except Lowell , he loves nature and sees its importance

Is it a bad sign when the only characters in your movie that show enough humanity to earn any sympathy from the viewer are robots? I always appreciated this movie from a technical aspect. But from a plot concept, character development and scientific standpoint... yikes! Nobody would put Bruce Dern in charge of something that important. He has crazy eyes... :)

Wouldn't have been cheaper for men to build the domes on earth instead of sending them to saturn?

It's going to be our reality when the polar ice caps melt enough, minus all the cool spaceships and everyone having a job. It’s going to be less of a Silent Running and more of a Soylent Green minus all the neatly packed little green chips and amphitheatric euthanization.

The only thing I wanted to see was the world that thinks tree’s and nature are throw away garbage

I like the movie but could never understand how all of Humanity could just spend all that money to launch a forest into space to preserve it and then just waste it all and blow it up rather than just let the domes float free in space just like Bruce Dern's character ends up doing. It would have been simpler, cheaper, and a tad less irrevocable too. There's just no point in it other than to prop up the plot.

I saw this on first release. I had no idea that it lost money. This was a GOOD behind-scenes review. One critique - HOW can you mention TRUMBULL and not mention 2001 and KUBRICK???

I saw this film as a kid, and it single-handily turned me against Bruce Dern. I don't know why but these days, I just can't stand watching him in anything. I actually almost MISSED Jurassic Park when it came out simply because I had heard that his DAUGHTER was in it. Of course that was a good film, but in Last Jedi I saw that my trepidation regarding Laura Dern was justified. LOL.

Silent Running fit the 70s norms but I have to admit the musical scores make me cringe seeing it today. Still an awesome movie that I would show the children of present. Message is still there louder than ever.

One of the best ecology centered SF movies

A lot of SPOILERS are mentioned early on without warning... otherwise a good video.

I think your alittle critical of the film. And I think your framing of the moral dilemma is rather wrong headed.

A botanist who doesn't understand photosynthesis!Anthropomorphic drones.Spoils an otherwise good film.

This movie is so heavy on the humans suck, it really kills the optimism it's so possible.