The ’70s Sci-Fi Epic Drama No One Remembers And That’s A Crime
These days, science fiction films have become some of the most beloved in the Hollywood world. Movies like Interstellar, Ad Astra, and Zack Snyder’s latest outing Rebel Moon, have all garnered massive financial success and cult followings for their inventive ideas, creative storytelling, and insightful wisdom. One sci-fi classic, 1972’s Silent Running, has been all but forgotten by the pop culture zeitgeist despite being a verifiable work of art.
Silent Running Streaming
Silent Running is not currently available to stream on any subscription-based service, though the film can be rented for only $3.79 on Amazon Prime Video.
The film serves as the directorial debut for visual effects legend Douglas Trumbull, best known for his work on films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Blade Runner.
It touts a small but talented cast comprising Ron Rifkin, Jesse Vint, Cliff Potts, and The Hateful Eight‘s Bruce Dern.
Repurposed Footage
Certain VFX sequences in the film were actually repurposed from unused footage meant to be in 2001: A Space Odyssey, including stunning shots of Saturn hanging in the distant reaches of space.
The film also contains drone models that would go on to inspire George Lucas’ design of R2D2 in Star Wars. Given that Silent Running has so much cultural impact, it is truly shocking that the film isn’t more well-known and revered by modern audiences.
Future Dystopia
Silent Running centers on a future dystopia wherein all plant life has gone extinct on planet Earth. As a result, cargo spaceships have been enlisted to grow plants in space under massive greenhouse conditions. One such greenhouse, the Valley Forge, remains docked outside of Saturn’s orbit, where Bruce Dern’s Freeman Lowell works as a deep-space ecologist.
Humans And Nature
When Lowell is called on to jettison all the plant life from the ship, he rebels, killing the crewmen who attempt to get in his path.
Despite his commanding officers demanding the ships be utilized for combat service, Lowell attempts to hijack and flee from his command with the greenhouse plants intact.
As Silent Running continues on the film becomes a deep meditation on what it means to be human in the face of hopelessness and highlights the need for human beings to coexist with nature as a significant function of their mental health and wellbeing.
Critical Reception
The film received positive reviews from critics, with some even hailing Silent Running as a better film than the highly cerebral 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Today, the movie enjoys a 71 percent critical score on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. While many fans enjoyed the unique science fiction thrill ride, the film is said to have bombed at the box office, losing the studio an untold sum of money.
Aged Well
The financial failures of the film may explain why Silent Running is so rarely brought up in modern film discussion, or highlighted by any streaming service.
Still, the movie has aged incredibly well, with some of the practical effects rivaling modern Marvel blockbusters. If you’ve never seen Silent Running before, it may be worth the $3.79 to rent on Amazon, as the film consistently fails to garner the recognition that it deserves.
