SILENT RUNNING
(1971)
Possibly the most
beautiful beginning to any science fiction movie, and not
an alien in sight.
Bruce Dern plays the sensitive, futuristic eco warrior,
Freeman Lowell, who is fighting to protect a beautiful
dome, filled with trees and plants, vegetation and small
creatures, from being destroyed. Earth, by this time, is
a treeless world. Dern's intense performance as Lowell is
probably the finest performance of his career.
The beautiful music by Peter Schickele, and equally
beautiful singing by Joan Baez of 'Silent Running' and
'Rejoice In The Sun' complements the film wonderfully
well.
Douglas Trumbull's first film as a director, and also as
a producer (he had earlier won fame with his special
effects wizardry on '2001: A Space Odyssey'), is a film
which is certainly thought-provoking.
Lowell ends up killing his own companions, to try and
save some of the beauty which humans had so randomly
destroyed. Assisted by cute as hell little robots Huey,
Dewey, and Louie, Lowell tries to continue as normal,
but, by the end of the film, he realises that he has only
one get-out.
A fine film, up there with 'Dark Star' as one of the
underrated gems of sci-fi movies.
Recommended
relevant sites
Another review, and stills from
the movie
The Making of 'Silent Running'
- Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.
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Silent
Running Main Cast List
Bruce Dern as Freeman Lowell
Cliff Potts as John Keenan
Ron Rifkin as Marty Barker
Jesse Vint as Andy Wolf
Steve Brown as Drone
Mark Persons as Drone 2/Huey
Cheryl Sparks as Drone 1/Dewey
Larry Whisenhunt as Drone
Directed
by Douglas Trumbull
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