Review of Silent Running (1972) by Daniel Q — 24 Jun 2010

While this film has some traces of classic sci-fi, and a great message it is unfortunately brought down by corniness. Bruce Dern does a great job in this film. While I can understand the claims of poor acting, I could not disagree more.

I thought he did a great job portraying a tree hugging hippie. The biggest flaw of the movie and when the corniness alert goes off the charts is the singer/songwriter selection. While the instrumental soundtrack is cool and fitting the style of singer is too much an acquired taste for the likes of film.

When choosing a song for a film like this, you need to be more universal in your selection. As far as visuals it's stunning. The film is directed by the person who did most of the visual effects in 2001: a space odyssey.

Ultimately the film is light years ahead of it's time but it's reminded of it's present every so often which hinders it's chance of being a timeless classic.