Overrated and overhyped

Disturbing yet enthralling

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

There is something undeniably appealing about the art direction of Silent Running. Its Apple-Esque set design is simple, white and functional, and the spaceship crew in 70s Formula One style boiler suits completes the effect. Bruce Dern gives an interesting performance and the film begins with real verve and good humour. Dern is given the con for the rest of the proceedings and the story of an uncomplicated man faced with awesome, uncomplicated situation is made quite well, and entertainingly. His beloved eco-system in the end is nothing without people and although there is an inevitability to this, it is enjoyable to watch it unfold. The special effects are never tiresome, nor dated, and there is an interesting poignance about a future civilisation that underpins the story.

No need to recap plot points. I note that many critics fault the movie for its 'hippie environmental message'. Well, I guess writers Cimino and associates get the final kudos now that global warming is endorsed by 95% of climate scientists. In that critical sense, the film's quite prescient for its time. Plus, the nutritional food message also proves prescient given the health hazards of so many processed foods. "Hippie" or not, these are difficult lessons for many folks, given traditional habits. Thus the movie's basic message turns out to be more pressing than ever.Nonetheless, I'm in sympathy with those who find the movie boring. The second half is more visual effects than engaging drama. For example, the various movements among modules or whatever are left unexplained. Thus their comings and goings are no more than visual occurrences meant, I guess, to impress us with the movie makers technical prowess. At the same time, astronaut Dern is now alone in deep space, having jettisoned his shipmates. Clearly, an entertainment problem is created by nothing more than a man alone in deep space. Thus the cutesy robots become major actors. These also allow Dern to break silence and share his thoughts with the audience. In that sense, it's too bad the other three astronauts are taken out so early. Keeping them around longer would have replaced the parade of effects with more human interest. Besides, any movie without at least one well- turned ankle needs a lot of compensation. Anyway, the 90-minutes remains well ahead of its time. Oddly, however, it's a movie I respect more than I enjoyed.

Was it the early Seventies when the world was first made aware of the potentially devastating environmental disaster that civilisation was spiralling towards? Certainly, when you place this 1972 movie alongside the lyrics of Joni Mitchell's 'Big Yellow Taxi,' there is a case to be made for it being the time when "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." The movie has a lot going for it. To begin with, there's a performance from Bruce Dern that is worthy of comparison with Gene Hackman's Oscar-winning performance that year in a way the other nominees simply were not. He provides a passionate and intelligent performance in which he is hardly ever off-screen and makes the viewer share his anger at the treatment of his mission. Then, too, there is the rarity of a science-fiction film which does not attempt to overwhelm the viewer with unnecessary special effects – one in which the drama is driven by the character and the scarily believable story. If you are looking for a film about environmental concern that works on every level, then forget about Al Gore's worthy but dull contribution and watch this beautifully-realised film. Then watch it again... and again. It really is that good!

Read a brief synopsis and Silent Running looks interesting. The film imagines the dreadful prospect of a dystopian world that's bereft of wildlife and personality. It's well intentioned, prescient and chimes with contemporary environmental issues. This should be compelling, but it's just a drag.Silent Running takes place aboard a spaceship which has several domes containing an array of plants and wildlife. These are maintained by Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern), a man whose strong views on ecology make him a pariah among the other crewmen. When Lowell's forestry is arranged to be destroyed by the powers that be, he reacts in a way that is, to understate, morally dubious.One of the main reasons why this is all such a drag is because we're given no depth, it isn't explained why Earth is a barren dystopia or why they're going to Saturn. You expect the crew members to imbue the film with substance however the character development is cut fatally short when Lowell blows them up early in the film. This plot development doesn't do many favours for the sole remaining character either, because as much as Lowell's indifferent and stupid colleagues annoyed me, did they really deserve to die? The film seems to justify their hurried dispatching, we're supposed to care for this drab murderer and his forest.One-man shows like 'Cast Away' require a good leading man in an extraordinary situation. The last one I saw was 'All Is Lost' with Robert Redford. It was the most extreme example of the genre I'd seen and was grossly overrated on the 'tomato-meter' at 94%, but the ambitious film just about worked for me.Silent Running gets neither an interesting lead character nor a compelling situation. Outside of an impassioned diatribe against his colleagues' indifference about the environment and the human condition, Lowell is a long faced, shaggy haired non-entity. Once he is the sole remaining homo-sapien, Lowell's only companions are three charisma bereft robots called Huey, Dewey and Louie (this is cute apparently), whose organs of communication are metal flaps that emit a quiet, meaningless sort of whistle.The supposed spectacle of Silent Running is also underwhelming. Director Douglas Trumbull worked on the special effects in '2001: A Space Odyssey', they're very much of their time in parts but nonetheless sensory and epic in scope. In Silent Running, however, the exterior shots of the spacecraft often look decidedly fake and miniature and the explosions are lamentably dated and intangible.I watched this film on Mark Kermode's recommendation, he loves this film, he considers it superior to 2001 and shockingly names it one of the greatest films ever made. He says that it's a human tale, that Dern's relationship with the robots is deeply affecting, I couldn't disagree more. The reason why Kermode likes it so much is because it's nostalgic for him, he saw at just 11- years-old and subsequently grew up loving the film – I've had similar attachment to films like Jaws, which is of course infinitely better.After a while I was willing for the film to end, I became entirely indifferent towards the narrative's dreary developments and the politics beneath them. I love nature and beautiful landscapes, I empathised with Lowell to a certain degree, however his actions make the film's message all rather muddled. Silent Running may appeal to Green extremists, however I think even they'll grow tired once they realise how little there is beyond its eco-friendly sentiment.50%www.hawkensian.com