Very well executed

Too much of everything

Sick Product of a Sick System

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

My mind boggles that so many people have rated this a 10. Stupid story, bad acting, incredibly corny, with terrible production quality and very dated. So many 70's movie cliches.

When watching this movie in 2017, one can't help but think what an inaccurate view of the future they had in 1973. Other sci-fi films of that generation did a much better job of future predictions. The actors did a fair job. I think however, with such a good premise, the film could have been very good with better technical effects. I found it hard to think of it actually being in the future.

Not as potent as it was nearly 45 years ago, "Soylent Green" is a variation of the "1984" theme, a grim view of an undesirable future. It's 2022 New York City, overpopulated and certainly not an apple right off the tree. In fact, there are very few trees left in the city, and very little food. When food does become available, it's from the Soylent company, and here green is the preferred product. What it is exactly is no surprise to film historians, but to those who do not know, it is beyond shocking. At times, the film moves very slowly, but it's a slow road to the inevitable revelation. This is a frightening works where the living are nearly dead inside and desperation is severely felt. You can almost feel the stench, one that even in the heat of the summer, New York hasn't felt yet. In a sense, the film has to move at this speed to get the emotions in the viewers going, and once the film reaches its destination, you are so numbed by the horror of the future that the impact of it all is that much stronger. Reunited from "The Ten Commandments", Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson are friends here, not foes, and when police officer Heston brings Robinson home some surprises, the joy on EGR's face is tear inducing. In fact, Robinson gives a performance so beautiful, it's the best screen swan song an actor could have. He gets a farewell in a scene so poignant that you might be shaking in emotion. Robinson didn't get the Oscar nomination he richly deserved, but an honorary one was given to him, sadly posthumously. A supporting cast of many well known actors of the time goes from Joseph Cotten as a murdered millionaire, Chuck Conners as a brutal assassin, Leigh Taylor Young as a presumed high class prostitute, Brock Peters as Heston's supervisor aware of the conspiracy, Leonard Stone as a slimy pimp, Whit Bissel as the governor (running the state from a tent in what used to be Gramercy Park) and Paula Kelly as Conners' mistress. This is sometimes hard to watch because it sometimes seems so possible, yet ridiculously outlandish in normal times. But normal times have long disappeared, and sensitive viewers may indeed see this as a living nightmare of where society is heading...or possibly reached.

I still love watching Soylent Green as it's the only movie that has the guts to examine the issue of extreme overpopulation depleting the planetary resource pool, which it will OBVIOUSLY do at some point. This was predicted long ago by Malthus, and doomsday Heston is there with Eddie Robinson in his final role, and he makes this movie a real gem. His final scene, with Orange as his favorite color, is an unforgettable moment and Heston plays brilliantly off it. Also, Brock Peters as his Police Lieutenant is very good, and was a friend of Hestons who appeared in 2 other of his movies including Major Dundee, a vastly underrated western. But with several novelties, and without too many special effects, this movie is pure sci-fi by the acting and the story, and the final sequence. LINCOLN KILPATRICK as the Priest is the other supporting Gem. The blank expression and horror at the truth he heard show clearly on his face, and is one of those unforgettable moments. But this is one of Heston's best roles, and he plays a sweating, clever cop of the future with no inkling of the beauty that was earth of the past perfectly.