Silent Running (1972) Part 7

After creating many of the innovative special effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Douglas Trumbull tried his hand at directing, and 1972's Silent Running marked an impressive debut. (In addition to creating the visual effects for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and directing 1983's Brainstorm, Trumbull later turned to the creation of high-tech cinematic amusement park rides.) One of the best science fiction films of the 1970s, Silent Running stars Bruce Dern as Freeman Lowell, a nature-loving astrobotanist aboard the Valley Forge, a gigantic spaceship in a small fleet that carries the last surviving forests of the Earth, which has fallen victim to overpopulation and ecological neglect.

Freeman's name reflects his nonconformist philosophy, which runs counter to the prevailing recklessness of his three ill-fated crewmates, who are eager to jettison their precious payload and return to the bleakness of Earth. Before they can sabotage the forests, Freeman does what he must, and spends the remainder of his mission with three robotic "drones" as his only companions, struggling to maintain his sanity in the vastness of space. Dern is superb in this memorable role, representing the lost soul of humankind as well as the back-to-nature youth movement of the 1960s and the pre-Watergate era. (Appropriately, Joan Baez sings the film's theme song.) A rare science fiction film that combines bold adventure with passionate social conscience, Silent Running will remain relevant as long as the Earth is threatened by the ravages of human carelessness.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Silent
• Running
• Bruce
• Dern

[flash715]

They couldn't make movies like this anymore because it's a story plotted movie and not action oriented...too bad they don't make them like this, but it's all about the money.

[ghostmanlostsoul]

This is a must see movie!

[jer1ndie]

"I want you two guys to report right away to the recreation room" lol

[RavnDream]

"He'll try to keep his sanity...with the help of his robot friends!"

[1138thz]

@flash715

That is a sad truth

[SpiderFan23]

omg huey and dewey are officially the cutest robots ever! i want one!

[Domzdream]

Gimme a lonely little island to be stranded on, rather than in deep, cold space.

[MithrilDwarf81]

If I was in his position, i'd probably end up going crazy and blowing the ship to smithereens anyway. No human contact.

[Fhilbo]

@flash715 oh I dunno, i thought Wall-E was a pretty good successor to this

[aberdown]

I think he,s aware he,s done a very bad thing and now he has to pay the price.

Two wrong don,t make a right.

[CaptainBuckRogers]

I wouldn't mind being on that ship. Cute robots, freshwater falls, wildlife. Nice peaceful place.

[rangeclerk]

Cut my teeth on the C-8 when I worked at Tessmann Planetarium (Santa Ana Ca) but there is no way Earth would appear that large in a C-8 from the location of the Space Freighter! Saturn is the second largest planet in our Solar System and from Earth, at a max mag of 400X Saturn still is very small. Loved the SL and used the music; when I developed and gave planetarium shows at Tessmann in the late 70s, used the music from SL!