Silent Running almost 30 years later
So last night we watched Silent Running. I hadn't seen it since the 80s, and Trena had never seen it. What I remembered about it was the forest domes, Bruce Dern, and feeling for the little robots.
It turns out that I only remembered these things because they are really the only particularly memorable things in the movie. Unfortunately, this film has not aged well. Its special effects were top-notch at the time (considering the budget of $1 million), which is unsurprising as the director was Douglas Trumbull (who did special effects for 2001 and Close Encounters of the Third Kind).
The main problem with viewing this in today's context is the heavy-handed treatment of nature conservation. The Conservation Pledge even appears in it. Yes, that's my edit in Wikipedia linking it to Silent Running. Joan Baez sings two folksy songs in it about the trees and the children. The combination of her extreme vocal delivery with cheesy edit-sequences of the forest in space is just too much.
The script is weak as well, with too many appeals to the audience to take more interest in conservation.
I should say a few words about the film's good points. They set up Lowell (Bruce Dern) as a hippy type person who gets mad when the other guys drive over his flowers and talks to the robots in a friendly manner. But they also (briefly) develop the other side of his character, which is cunning. He's a poker shark, and uses his bluffing skills to fake out the commanders of the other nearby ships.
The portrayal of the robots was well-done, and made me feel sorry for them in their loneliness in space. They are actually played by people who were unfortunate enough to have lost both their legs, which meant they could fit in the costumes. As much as was possible, cutting-edge tech was used. A real robot is seen placing billiard balls in a diamond on a round table, though it is so slow I'd rather place them myself.
The final shot of the last forest in existence floating off into space with just the one robot to care for it (Lowell has nuked himself and the ship because he doesn't want to go back to Earth) would really be a great one, were it not for Joan Baez singing on top of it.
This film has been greatly influential. It's been cited as inspiration for both Wall-E and Moon. It also gets mentioned whenever someone makes a quiet and dignified sci-fi film. I respect it for what it did well, but it's just too dated to really enjoy it. Before anyone gets the wrong idea about how I feel about old movies, I loved "M" which was made in 1931.
It turns out that I only remembered these things because they are really the only particularly memorable things in the movie. Unfortunately, this film has not aged well. Its special effects were top-notch at the time (considering the budget of $1 million), which is unsurprising as the director was Douglas Trumbull (who did special effects for 2001 and Close Encounters of the Third Kind).
The main problem with viewing this in today's context is the heavy-handed treatment of nature conservation. The Conservation Pledge even appears in it. Yes, that's my edit in Wikipedia linking it to Silent Running. Joan Baez sings two folksy songs in it about the trees and the children. The combination of her extreme vocal delivery with cheesy edit-sequences of the forest in space is just too much.
The script is weak as well, with too many appeals to the audience to take more interest in conservation.
I should say a few words about the film's good points. They set up Lowell (Bruce Dern) as a hippy type person who gets mad when the other guys drive over his flowers and talks to the robots in a friendly manner. But they also (briefly) develop the other side of his character, which is cunning. He's a poker shark, and uses his bluffing skills to fake out the commanders of the other nearby ships.
The portrayal of the robots was well-done, and made me feel sorry for them in their loneliness in space. They are actually played by people who were unfortunate enough to have lost both their legs, which meant they could fit in the costumes. As much as was possible, cutting-edge tech was used. A real robot is seen placing billiard balls in a diamond on a round table, though it is so slow I'd rather place them myself.
The final shot of the last forest in existence floating off into space with just the one robot to care for it (Lowell has nuked himself and the ship because he doesn't want to go back to Earth) would really be a great one, were it not for Joan Baez singing on top of it.
This film has been greatly influential. It's been cited as inspiration for both Wall-E and Moon. It also gets mentioned whenever someone makes a quiet and dignified sci-fi film. I respect it for what it did well, but it's just too dated to really enjoy it. Before anyone gets the wrong idea about how I feel about old movies, I loved "M" which was made in 1931.
posted by Almo at 12:20 PM
1 comments
