Review by Justin Bateman
Stars Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, Jesse Vint, Mark Persons, Steven Brown,
Cheryl Sparks, Larry Whisenhunt | Written by Deric Washburn, Michael Cimino & Steven Bochco
UK certification U | UK RRP £12.93 | BD Region B | Runtime 89 minutes | Directed by Douglas Trumbull
After the incredible and surprising success of Easy Rider in 1969, Universal gave five new directors the chance to make a film without any interference from the studio. Trumbull had worked on the visual effects on 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain but had never directed. His script treatment was worked on by Cimino (who went on to direct the Oscar-winning The Deer Hunter and co-write it with Deric Washburn) and Bochco (who became famous for writing TV classics such as Hill Street Blues and LA Law) and then given the green light.
Set in a not-too distant future in which the Earth no longer has any vegetation, American astronaut Freeman Lowell (Dern) tends a luscious garden in a dome on the spaceship Valley Forge. He takes his work seriously, so when his superiors announce that the project is no longer economically viable he takes the news badly. And so begins his fight to keep the last remaining earthly flora alive, at any cost.
Despite the futuristic setting and advanced technology, Silent Running isn’t primarily a sci-fi film. Its ahead-of-its-time ecological theme and focus on character and relationships are what makes it such a wonderful movie. An idealist, Lowell comes across as a bit of loon, especially in comparison to his fellow crew members. (Incidentally, one of the crew is played by a very young Ron Rikfin who is perhaps most famous for playing the DA in LA Confidential.) But actually he’s the sane one, and when he talks about “the simple wonder of a leaf ... because there’s not going to be any trees”, it’s no longer just ‘hippy talk’. Nearly 40 years on the message is a soberingly accurate reflection of the future from the past.
For the most part, Lowell is the only human on board. But as even happy loners will do, he anthropomorphizes the three ‘drones’, little walking robots, calling them Huey, Dewey and Louie. Their relationship is astonishingly touching, and it’s this that gives Silent Running its heart, soul and charm. It also helps that Bruce Dern plays his part superbly – in spite of his mania, you’re on his side because you know what he’s doing is essentially right, even if his methods are ultimately unacceptable.
The influences of Silent Running are still evident, most recently in Duncan Jones’ Moon and even more so in Pixar’s WALL-E, while fans of the BBC sitcom Red Dwarf will see the origins of much of the show, with the drones clearly the forebears of the Dwarf’s maintenance droids, the skutters.
If there’s one thing that dates Silent Running it’s the soundtrack. The music is written by Peter Schickele (also known as P.D.Q. Bach) and when it’s simple and instrumental it’s fine. But when the Joan Baez songs are introduced it all starts to feel a bit Woodstock. They’re not bad, they’re just very much of their time and to modern ears they sound out of place, particularly in the science fiction setting. What hasn’t dated are the visual effects. A combination of model work and front projected backdrops gives the film a satisfyingly retro but reassuringly real feel, something that even the best CGI today doesn’t quite provide.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the tremendous remastering job done on the film – the Blu-ray looks absolutely beautiful – and credit also to Eureka! for adding this to their increasingly impressive Masters of Cinema collection.
Staggeringly assured for a feature debut, Silent Running is a master class in effective filmmaking, simple story telling and the enduring human spirit.
EXTRAS ★★★★? The Making of Silent Running (50:00) – a terrific and in-depth behind the scenes look at the story behind and creation of the film; Douglas Trumbull (36:00) – an interview with the man behind the camera; A Conversation with Bruce Dern (11:00)– the lead actor tells his story of working on the film; Original theatrical trailer (3:00). As well as the original film, there’s a commentary version with Doug Trumbull and Bruce Dern adding fascinating insights to accompany the visuals. You can also watch the film with English subtitles or, somewhat unusually, with just the music and sounds effects track i.e. without dialogue. Finally, in the limited edition steelbook there's a 48-page full colour booklet with photos and stories from the set.