Synopsis
After the entire flora goes extinct, ecologist Lowell maintains a greenhouse aboard a space station for the future with his android companions. However, he rebels after being ordered to destroy the greenhouse in favor of carrying cargo, a decision that puts him at odds with everyone but his mechanical companions.
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Cast
- Bruce DernFreeman Lowell
- Cliff PottsJohn Keenan
- Ron RifkinMarty Barker
- Jesse VintAndy Wolf
- Mark PersonsGrey Drone #1 “Dewey”
- Steven BrownOrange Drone #2 “Huey”
- Cheryl SparksOrange Drone #2 “Huey”
- Larry WhisenhuntGreen Drone #3 “Louie”
- Joseph CampanellaNeal - ‘Berkshire’ Captain (voice/uncredited)
- Roy EngelAnderson (voice/uncredited)
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
A movie out of the ordinary -- especially if you like science fiction. - 80
Time Out
Full of stunning visuals, the ideas in the film more than compensate for the awkward scene-setting of the beginning. - 80
The Telegraph
Featuring a particularly strong central performance and great effects, the film has had an enormous influence on many subsequent sci-fi films. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Silent Running concentrates heavily on special effects, resulting in some stunning imagery. Dern gives an engaging, against-type performance, though the script is stretched out very thin to support a feature-length film. - 75
Rolling Stone
A movie that has everything — if by everything you mean Bruce Dern as a long-haired homicidal intergalactic treehugger playing poker with droids, talking to bunnies, and feeling really passionately about salad. - 70
Chicago Reader
Despite the triteness of the theme (Dern is in charge of maintaining the last remnants of the earth's vegetation), the film is enjoyable for its intimacy, seriousness, and intelligent character work, virtues not perpetuated by the subsequent new wave. - 70
The Guardian
The screenplay by Deric Washburn and Michael Cimino (later to collaborate on The Deer Hunter) and Steven Bochco (of subsequent Hill Street Blues fame) delivers its ecological message with humour and imagination, and Joan Baez sings the appropriate songs. - 50
The New York Times
Silent Running is no jerry-built science fiction film, but it's a little too simple-minded to be consistently entertaining.
