Review of Silent Running (1972) by Richard C — 21 Oct 2009

This is a really peculiar film. The protagonist is not likable at all. He's that one really passionate guy at school or at work that you just despise. When they're ordered to destroy the space gardens, he sabotages the mission by killing his fellow crew members who, aside from being obnoxious, were innocent in every way.

He then ex-communicates himself from Earth and decides to preserve the gardens and remain lost in space, with no one but 3 robot drones as company. Yes, very weird indeed. You can see how films like Wall-E and Moon were influenced by this film (enviromentalism the former and isolation the latter).

All I kept thinking was how much I wanted to re-edit this and trim some of the cheese out of it without losing anything of the significance. Overall, this was a unique science-fiction film and, though it may not be for everyone, its an interesting journey for those who wish to take it.