One of the streams I love most in cinema are Sci-Fi/horror stories from the 70s dealing with either ecological, dystopian or misanthropy themes. Or better yet, a combo of all three together! For this reason, "Silent Running" stood on my must-see list since many years, and I felt quite convinced I would adore it as much as other contemporary classics like "Soylent Green", "Z.P.G." or "Logan's Run". It is indeed a wondrously unique and powerful Sci-Fi fable, and particularly the first half hour I gazed at the screen with pure astonishment in all my facial expressions. The beginning is so incredibly good, with close-up and detailed images of simple nature footage (for example a snail crawling over a leaf) to the tunes of Joan Baez' mind-penetrating ecological protest music & lyrics. Only when the film's credits are finished, the camera zooms out and the viewer realizes all this beautiful fauna & flora is contained within the borders of a huge artificial dome, floating around in space. One man, with the help of a bizarrely cute miniature robot, is lovingly looking after the trees and plants, but suddenly the peaceful tableau is rudely interrupted by two other men childishly racing against each other with motorized go-karts and destroying the crops.
With this, the tone for the film is set. Freeman Lowell, the calm and introvert horticulturist, is the good guy. The other astronauts (Cliff Potts, Jesse Vint, Ron Rifkin) are the ruthless minions that blindly follow the orders from an unseen government, speaking from an earth that is largely devastated by nuclear warfare and disasters. When the unthinkable command is given to destroy all the greenery that they looked after for 8 years, only Lowell revolts and undertakes extreme measure to safeguard the last remaining forest.
As soon as the other crew members are out of the picture, "Silent Running" admittedly becomes much less of a captivating Sci-Fi adventure. As much as I hate to confess it, there honestly isn't a lot happening here, apart from Lowell humanizing his androids (aptly baptizing them Huey, Dewey and - in memoriam - Louie) and philosophizing by himself. "Silent Running" somewhat bounces back and forth between John Carpenter's "Dark Star" and Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" (for which director Trumbull was the special effects supervisor). The former is ultra-low budgeted and heavily plays on parody, whereas the latter is massively expensive and exaggeratedly perfectionist. "Silent Running" is in the middle. Not as cheap as "Dark Star", but only one-tenth as expensive as "2001", and since Trumbull is an effects-wizard, it's plainly clear to see where most of the budget went. The director also tries to narrate the story straightforward and emotionlessly. In the end, you don't feel too much empathy for Lowell, but I don't think you were supposed to.
With this, the tone for the film is set. Freeman Lowell, the calm and introvert horticulturist, is the good guy. The other astronauts (Cliff Potts, Jesse Vint, Ron Rifkin) are the ruthless minions that blindly follow the orders from an unseen government, speaking from an earth that is largely devastated by nuclear warfare and disasters. When the unthinkable command is given to destroy all the greenery that they looked after for 8 years, only Lowell revolts and undertakes extreme measure to safeguard the last remaining forest.
As soon as the other crew members are out of the picture, "Silent Running" admittedly becomes much less of a captivating Sci-Fi adventure. As much as I hate to confess it, there honestly isn't a lot happening here, apart from Lowell humanizing his androids (aptly baptizing them Huey, Dewey and - in memoriam - Louie) and philosophizing by himself. "Silent Running" somewhat bounces back and forth between John Carpenter's "Dark Star" and Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" (for which director Trumbull was the special effects supervisor). The former is ultra-low budgeted and heavily plays on parody, whereas the latter is massively expensive and exaggeratedly perfectionist. "Silent Running" is in the middle. Not as cheap as "Dark Star", but only one-tenth as expensive as "2001", and since Trumbull is an effects-wizard, it's plainly clear to see where most of the budget went. The director also tries to narrate the story straightforward and emotionlessly. In the end, you don't feel too much empathy for Lowell, but I don't think you were supposed to.