Silent Running (1972)

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by AE35Unit

One thing I do know about it is that it has a connection with 2001, in as much as the scene showig Saturn was intended for that earlier film, but they decided to feature Jupiter instead(shame that, Saturn is much more aesthetically pleasing!)

Well, this has a lot to do with the fact that Douglas Trumbull was one of the special photographic effects supervisors for 2001....

[AE35Unit]

Yep, absoultely. Would loveto have been on set at the time!

[pyan]

One of the first SF films I ever saw, and definitely one of the contributing forces to a life-long addiction to SF/F.
Yes, it's slow compared to subsequent films, but well worth seeing.

[AE35Unit]

Huey Dooey and Looey are had a big impression on me as a kid, and you so feel for that robot with the gammy leg! poor bugger, and yet its just a machine!!

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by AE35Unit

Huey Dooey and Looey are had a big impression on me as a kid, and you so feel for that robot with the gammy leg! poor bugger, and yet its just a machine!!

Well, they did a very good job with giving them "human" emotions... and without a line of dialogue among the three of 'em....

[AE35Unit]

They certainly did that! God i so love that film(apart from the bad 70s hippy singing which grates after a while) i put it on my wishlist on bookmooch- yes you can get DVDs from there too!

[Rodders]

Sorry guys, i couldn't see anything on this, so i thought i'd start one. Silent Running is one of my all time favourite films. I watched it when i was about 8 years old and it was the first film to make me cry (Ahhhh). Infact, i still get a lump in my throat when i watch it now.

It's safe to say that i liked this film. I liked it's look, i liked Bruce Dern, i liked the Valley Forge, i liked it's soundtrack and i liked it's conscience.

What does everybody else think?

[Shadow Trooper]

Spooky Rodders

I put Silent Running down as one of my choices in the epic film thread!

[AE35Unit]

Yep,wonderful film,definitely a modern classic! Not so keen on the music by Joan Baez but a great film! Did you know that the saturn sequence showing the planet and its rings was originaly meant to be used in 2001 a space Odyssey! Douglas Trumbull did the effects but it was decided to change it to jupiter in 2001 which left the saturn sequence in limbo. Then Silent Running came along and it found a home!

[Rodders]

I liked the title song and the piece of music when the camera pulls away from Lowell whilst he's preparing his dinner at the window and the camera pulls back.

I didn't know that about thne footage though. That's an interesting factoid.

[antiloquax]

This is one of my all-time favourite films. The idea of an Earth which has almost become unfit for human and plant life was a new one for me at the time but the Bruce Dern character (Lowell) and his love for nature had a big impact on me.
Clearly now, with Global Warming upon us, the film is more relevant than ever.
Lowell with his "slow food" approach to agriculture and his willingness to put the survival of other species before that of his fellow astronauts is a kind of "deep ecologist". (The film was made in 1972 and Arne Naess coined that term in 1973).

I have it on DVD!

[Mladen]

I really adore this film, and am willing to forget the sometimes patronizing dialogue and the terrible use of pop music (ugh).
Agree with others here who have mentioned that the topic is as relevant now as it was in the 70s. Kind of surprised they haven't got their grubby 'remake' hands all over it already.

[Rodders]

I hear a lot of criticism on the soundtrack, but i never had a problem. Dare i say, i even enjoy it. Mayhap that's the old hippy in me.