Lucy Blogs
SILENT RUNNING (1972)
Posted by Donnie in Entertainment and Pop Culture Movies.
It’s the future and the last remaining forests from Earth are now traveling through space underneath massive greenhouse domes. Bruce Dern (HBO’s “Big Love”) stars as botonist Freeman Lowell who sorta freaks out when word comes from earth that the forests are to be destroyed and the American Airline-sponsored ships are to return to Earth.
While the few other humans aboard are overjoyed with the thought of returning home, good ol’ Freeman has an oath to uphold. Also along for the ride are three service robots named Huey, Dewey and Louie who soon move from being mere service droids to doctors, gardeners and poker players. Honestly, not much happens in this movie but I highly enjoyed this ecologically themed movie. I remember as a kid but all I recalled was the basic premise and the ending which made me quite sad.I am now a 35-year old married man so it couldn’t possibly have the same effect on me could it? Well, since I brought it up, you know the answer to that one don’t ya? Maybe it was the music by Joan Baez.
Director Douglas Trumball is a legend within the sci-fi community because of his groundbreaking effects work in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, BLADE RUNNER and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and this cult classic is still being acknowledged today. References are still being made in modern science fiction staples like “Red Dwarf,” classic and current “Battlestar Galactica” and Danny Boyle’s SUNSHINE. Possibly the weirdest thing about this whole movie are the co- writers are still active today but couldn’t be farther from the genre. Steven Bochco (”NYPD” Blue”) and Michael Cimino (DEER HUNTER) deliver a script that is environmentally friendly without being preachy but certainly makes me wonder what kind of world we are gonna leave our children if thinks don’t start to change.
Entertainment and Pop Culture, Movies |2 Responses to “SILENT RUNNING (1972)”
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Silent Running is a wonderful movie. From an environmental perspective, it is a bit dated and shows some budget limitations. Lowell’s garden in the film includes plenty of astroturf and even some domesticated rabbits that would not survive in the wild. Maybe the filmmakers were trying to say something about the world in that movie’s continuity. That wilderness is so foreign that we find quintessential nature in domesticated animals/plants. The ending is a bit haunting, not to give anything away.
Speaking of influences, the creators of Mystery Science Theather 3000 have publicly stated, many times, that Silent Running was the inspiration for the show. Man, I love that show. La-la-la.
Yeah, i’m gonna have to buy that and take a closer look at it but only if it’s the original poster cover and not the half assed photoshopped crappy cover. I’m dorky like that.