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Silent Running
Year: 1971
Rated: G
Film Length: 90 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16x9 enhanced (1.85:1)
Earth's last battle will be fought in space
The year is 2008. While disease has been wiped
from the face of planet Earth, so has all its
forests. There is no more beauty nor imagination
left on the planet. Hovering miles above the
planet's surface in outer space is the space station
called Valley Forge. This freighter is preserving
the only botanical specimens left from Earth.
Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern)is among the crewmen
who tend to these forests and care for them with
the help of three robot drones dubbed Huey, Duey
and Luie. He's sort of a loner, as his three
human crew mates don't have much respect for him
or his passions towards the forests he preserves.
It is Lowell's hope that soon the government of
Earth will financially be able to repopulate the
earth with the lost greenery it once had.
When orders come in to destroy all the on board
forests, Lowell rebels and hijacks the freighter,
forced into a showdown with the other crewmen, who
want to follow the orders and return home.
The rest of the film becomes a one-man show
as Lowell is left alone with two drones as they
try to save the last remaining forest from
extinction.
It's difficult for post-Star Wars era sci-fi
enthusiasts to really enjoy a film like Silent
Running. Watching this film 30 years after
its initial release can be rather difficult, as
the film has become sorely dated. It's not the
type of sci-fi action film that young audiences
are used to. The film explores the relentless
claustrophobic tedium of life in space while in
the company of 2 extremely boring drones. You
can't ignore the fact, however, that the film does
present an extremely important message about
preserving our forests as the film tends to get
preachy with extensive footage of forest growth
shown against the songs of Joan Baez. It's not
too surprising to see that the film's ecological
and social themes still carry weight today.
How is the transfer?
Generally, Silent Running looks pretty
good. Most all the problems are related to the
film's source material, including a lot of film
blemish most evident in the opening shots, but
also occasionally seen throughout the film. There
is also a noticeable amount of video noise in
many of the film's scenes, most abundantly in the
special effects shots. Surprisingly, as vivid as
the colors are on this film -- especially in the
crew member's jump suits -- the flesh tones remain
very accurate.
The sound is 2.0 mono, and for the most part
sounds okay. The sound is more "tinny" than
robust, and this really affects some of the
interesting visuals by Director Douglas Trumbull,
whose work never gets the sonicly matched impact
it deserves.
Special Features
It's nice to see that Universal made an
effort at including a sizeable amount of extras
for a title such as this.
The Making of Silent Running is an award
winning documentary film about the first
directorial effort of Douglas Trumbull, the
brilliant special effects master who's credits
include "2001, A Space Odyssey", "Andromedia
Strain", "Blade Runner", "Brainstorm", "Close
Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Star Trek,
The Motion Picture". What struck me most about
this documentary was the fact that it was shot
aboard a retired aircraft carrier also called,
"Valley Forge". This was done so that one million
dollar film budget could be met. The documentary
interestingly explores the young double amputees
who made up the drone characters. We go behind
the camera to watch Bruce Dern rehearse the poker
game that he has with the drones. Bruce talks how
he improvised that scene as he felt needed respect
had to be given to the machinery. The aircraft
carrier not only served as the ship's set, but
as offices, dressings room, cafeteria and school
for the actors and crew. Some of the crew talk
about the claustrophobic experiences of it all, but
the practicality of shooting the picture in this
manner. One of my favorite pieces in this documentary
is a visit with Film Editor Aaron Stell. From
inside the ship's hull, he is busy editing the final
cut of the film as he explains the importance of
editing rules as well as the importance of breaking
them. When not filming, Bruce Dern is seen jogging
around the ship's deck. Once again we go behind the
camera to see how the racing terrain vehicle
sequences were shot. The documentary ends with a
look at scoring the film, as Peter Schickele takes
us through the entire process with the help of
singer Joan Baez. (length: approx. 48 minutes)
A full-length Feature Commentary with
Director Douglas Trumbull and Bruce Dern.
Silent Running by Douglas Trumbull
introduces us to the visual effects icon who
at the age of 29 turned Director for this film.
He talks about how at the time, Universal was
at a stage where it wanted to make 5 films at
a million dollars apiece -- something which
Silent Running was a part of. He recalls
advice and training he received from Stanley
Kubrick, as well as the experiences he learned
through his first Directorial debut. Some of
film's effects work and production design are
discussed, including the building of miniatures
and a front projection machine to shoot the
visual effects shots.
(length: Approx. 29 minutes)
A conversation with Bruce Dern is an
all-new interview with the very gray-haired
actor who recalls meeting Douglas Trumbulll and
without an audition, was selected to play the
lead role. He hails the fact that this was the
most organized film project he had ever been a
part of, almost like a game. He elevates the
Director to the status of "genius", right up there
with Alfred Hitchcock. At that point I should
have turned the documentary off, but alas, this
is a review. (length: approx. 10 minutes)
Douglas Trumbull Then and Now is a final
retrospective from the Director on his experiences
with Silent Running. Afraid that the era of
big 70mm cinema was dying, Trumbull introduced the
"Showscan" process which used increased frame rate
(60fps) to make a large screen movie seem more alive.
This is more of a look of what Trumbull has been up
to since his Silent Running days, as well
as where he sees the future of cinematic entertainment
is heading.
Rounding out the extras is the film's original
theatrical trailer as well as Production
Notes and Cast and Filmmaker filmographies.
Final Thoughts
This is a tough film to recommend. We have come
such a long way with science fiction movies these
past 30 years. Watching Silent Running seemed
to be more of a chore than sheer entertainment.
Though credit must be given to the environmental
issues it so lovingly preaches, what was probably
an eye-opening film in its era has now become
stale through time since.
Release Date: May 21, 2002
