Review of Silent Running (1972) by Stuart K — 07 Feb 2013

The directorial debut of special effects whiz Douglas Trumbull, (2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)), this is an amazingly sparse and beautifully moving science fiction film.

It cost only $1 million to make and was shot in 32 days, and Trumbull claimed this was his answer to 2001, it manages to be an awe-inspiring adventure with a gentle edge and 3 robots who steal the film.

In the future, plant life on Earth has become extinct, and spaceships with glass ecodomes carry what remains in order to preserve and hopefully restore Earth. The forests on board the spaceship Valley Forge are maintained by botanist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern), who spends most of his time in the ecodomes, while getting teased by crew members John Keenan (Cliff Potts), Marty Barker (Ron Rifkin) and Andy Wolf (Jesse Vint).

However, when an order comes from command headquarters to jettison the ecodomes and destroy them with nuclear charges, something snaps inside Lowell, already taunted to breaking point, and he rebels. It's an amazing film, with Bruce Dern giving a brilliant performance, his character may have done something wrong, but you understand his intentions and side with him.

It's also an indictment of what could happen to the world if we don't protect the environment, but it isn't preachy. It's a moving and engaging film.