Silent Running
SILENT RUNNING (U)
D: Douglas Trumbull
Universal (Michael Gruskoff)
US 1972
89 mins
Science Fiction
W: Deric Washburn, Steven Bochco & Michael
Cimino
DP: Charles F. Wheeler
Ed: Aaron Stell
Mus: Peter Schickele
Bruce Dern (Freeman Lowell), Cliff Potts (John Keenan), Ron
Rifkin (Marty Barker), Jesse Vint (Andy Wolf)
From a filmmaking perspective, Silent Running is a milestone
piece of work, truly ahead of its time and giving special effects creator Douglas Trumbull his directorial debut and allowing him to create a world of futuristic space travel akin to the visuals
he designed for Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Unfortunately, the story is dated, taking place in 2008 abroad
a space station containing all the world's vegetation and plants, cared for meticulously by resident botanist Bruce Dern, who constantly rebels against his other crew members.
When an order is received to terminate the horticulture, Dern
murders his crewmates and entrusts the greenhouse project to a couple of robotic drones.
The production design and visual effects, for 1972 are well
above the expected standard for this type of picture, but Bruce Dern's character is too pretentiously unlikeable to carry the entire story.
A
landmark film, worth watching for science fiction fans or film buffs, but the year of its prophecy has now been and gone.
8/10
