.


[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]


Silent Running (1972), starring Bruce Dern, as one of several astronauts aboard the spaceship Valley Forge, one of a fleet of Earth ships with an environmental mission to preserve the last forests and animals of Earth, preserved in giant terrariums in space, after pollution has made it impossible for them to survive on Earth. Lowell (played by Bruce Dern) is especially dedicated to preserving the forests, and takes the ships and the remaining forests off into space in an attempt to hide them from the Earth administrators, after the president announces a decision to scrap the forests, and re-allocate the spaceships to other more profitable commercial uses.

On a relatively small budget, this was the first film directed by Douglas Trumbull, who with his father did the special effects visuals in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and went on to do special effects for The Andromeda Strain (1971), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Star Trek: the Motion Picture[/b] (1979), and Bladerunner (1982), among others.

Screenplay writers Steven Bochco ( later creator of the Rockford Files, Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and NYPD Blue), and Michael Cimino (who went on to fame with Academy Award winner The Deer Hunter) showed their early capacity for greatness in this movie.
Silent Runningt has breathtaking visuals, paired with elegant and stirring music by Joan Baez, combined with passionate environmental themes, and unique robot / drones that take on a human aspect and humor, especially when Lowell is alone for long months, and craves their company to fill the void of being completely alone in space.

I first saw this movie in 1973 on the CBS Late Movie, and was just blown away by it. I actually watched it at least one more time again when it replayed on the CBS Late Movie, maybe several times. And when it wasn't replayed anywhere on any other channel into the mid 1980's, I sought it out as a VHS video rental, and dubbed it to watch again later. But the video quality, and particularly the audio, were so bad I didn't watch it again in such a diminished form.

Only about 5 years ago did I look for it on DVD, and enjoy it with the level of reproduction it deserves. And even 50 years later, the story, special effects, music, and environmental themes make it continue to be relevant and powerful.

If you like it as much as I do, the DVD version is very much worth having, with multiple behind-the-scenes documentaries that far exceed the length of the movie itself, and answer virtually any question you could have about how it was created. For the gigantic spaceship Valley Forge, there was a World War II U.S. aircraft carrier Valley Forge that was decommissioned and docked in the Los Angeles area for eventual destrucion, that was used for location filming with some modifications to create the vast interior of the Valley Forge spaceship. I love that the Valley Forge ship of our era was used to portray, and lives on, in the future Valley Forge ship in the movie.

I'm amazed that this great movie never gets any play on any network channel. But, God bless the internet, here it is online for your viewing pleasure.



https://ok.ru/video/2327449963219 (full movie, 1 hour 29 minutes )


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Running