Review of Silent Running

Over the years this movie has been compared with 2001,basically because Douglas Trumbull, but let me tell you something right off the bat- it shouldn't. These are two vastly different movies, and even when 2001 is superior, this one shouldn't been overlooked. Yes 2001 has a lot of cinematography techniques that made it mind blowing, but the props and the settings in this one are not bad at all. They look very spacious, cluttered with details, and realistic enough. You got of course the typical screens with random symbols passing by and all that Star Trek-ish gibberish, but it's not the focus of the movie and you just gotta roll with it with not too much problems. The effects are cool, yes it suffers from being low budget but you can see the effort putting on the picture so it's cool (better than all that CGI crap). And yes, there is some environmental message going on here. But the movie is bashed for it, and I don't get it. The message is not ham fisted like it seems. Yes, Bruce Dern loves trees and animals and stuff, but to be fair is the only one that does. The rest of the cast look down on him constantly, and the movie doesn't put him like the good guy. In fact, I think him as the bad guy. But unlikeable doesn't mean "bad" character. On the contrary, I really like his character. He is this awkward scientist, devoted to his work and the nature, who at one point of the movie kills the crew in order to preserve "beauty" in the mankind. And this is indeed something morally wrong, mostly because it's explained in the movie that mankind has survived without trees, so they're not needed to survive, but I understand the struggle of the character. He considers environment important, and at the end he even gives his life for a tiny chance of its survival. Another trait I admire about his character is his connection with the drones, which reminds me of Cast Away: they supply him some help and, at the same time, company. There you can see how socially awkward the guy is, connecting deeper with the machines than with the people. The machines resonates with the story too. The way they walk, behave and communicate with each other is warm and cute, and at the end they are the last hope of the plants. This could have been made in a cutesy, manipulative way, but I think the movie is pretty sober about it. And let's talk about Joan Baez. Look people, we all know those early 70s, right? Power to love, peace and trees. And the American folk in that day and age were like that too. But I think there is some quality to the Joan Baez songs in the movie. Like I say, they convey that sense of cuteness and they aren't that ham fisted. In fact most of the movie has no soundtrack, the only time Joan Baez is heard is when we are in the dome or when Bruce Dern is melancholic thinking about his things. So even when the soundtrack could have been better, it's OK.

The writing however has some holes that can't be overlooked either. You'll sometimes have to suspend your disbelief pretty hard. First, I can't understand what they 're doing in Saturn. Why so far away from the Sun (and the Earth)? If they are in some kind of space mission, it would be a lot easier and cheaper to be around Mars, for instance. Or even around Earth for that matter. Why the damaged robot had to die in the end? I can understand he wouldn't be able to help, so what? Couldn't he live without doing anything? What is the logic behind blowing up the domes, except being a plot device so that the crew can die? Overall, I did enjoy the movie. 7.2/10