Review: Silent Running


Bruce Dern is a botanist on a space station that houses the last vegetation samples taken from Earth after man has finally gone and buggered everything up and the forests have died. Dern is picked on by his immature colleagues (veteran slimeball Ron Rifkin, Jesse Vint, and Cliff Potts), but things really go south when orders come in for the men to return home...after they destroy the forests! Now, Dern’s a peace-minded fella (albeit a little insular, preferring the company of plants and specially programmed robot worker drones he later affectionately dubs Huey, Dewey, and Louie). However, when he’s given orders to destroy the very things he’s lovingly tended to for so long...well, he’s about to go postal in outer space.


Thoughtful, ecologically-minded 1971 sci-fi flick from former FX man Douglas Trumbull (his directorial debut, he would later helm the ill-fated “Brainstorm”, the last feature film of Natalie Wood), is a one-of-a-kind, ‘flower power’-fuelled experience (that actually plays quite well in today’s climate change-obsessed society). Uber-intense Dern is ideally cast in the lead, and although very little really happens in the film, his terrific performance (he’s crazier than a loon, but somehow you want to be on his side- he’s saving the plants!) makes you forget its shortcomings (including a little dodgy science and even dodgier Joan Baez songs). Call it fascinating or thoughtful, rather than invigorating or exciting, but this is a damn interesting and unique sci-fi film. The screenplay is by Deric Washburn (“The Border”, “The Deer Hunter”), Michael Cimino (director of “The Deer Hunter” and “Heaven’s Gate”), and legendary TV producer Steven Bochco (“NYPD Blue”).


Rating: B

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chil...
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit t...
Read more

Review: Jinnah

The story of Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Sir Christopher Lee) the politically moderate founder of Pakistan. A Muslim lawyer, Jinnah fought to form a separate nation from India for the Muslim minority, whilst Mahatma Gandhi (Sam Dastor) wished for India to stay united and proposed Jinnah as the new PM as a compromise. James Fox plays British viceroy Lord Mountbatten, Indira Varma plays Jinnah’s wife, and veteran bit player Vernon Dobtcheff plays a British dignitary.   Although Christopher Lee’s title performance received some critical notice and the actor himself was very proud of the work, this modestly budgeted 1998 biopic from director Jamil Dehlavi ( “Immaculate Conception” with Melissa Leo) and co-writer Farrukh Dhondy ( “Red Mercury” with Stockard Channing and Ron Silver) was largely ignored at the time and still very little-known today. Part of that is probably due to the poor marketing of the film, and difficulty in finding a distributor. It’s hard to get people to talk abo...
Read more