A '70s Film that inspired a Show that satirized Films- makes sense! This is Silent Running, a Classic Film for those who think that 2001: A Space Odyssey is too popular.
'I can't like that- people know it. I like this instead!'
Jokes aside, it has a strong pedigree behind it. It was Directed by Douglas Trumbull, the man behind Back to the Future: The Ride (I miss it) and did Special Effects for countless Films (including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Trek: The Motion Picture). One of its Writers was Stephen Bochco (who created L.A. Law and NYPD Blue). The other two Writers were Deric Washburn (who officially wrote The Deer Hunter) and Michael Cimino (who unofficially wrote it and Directed it).
That enough for you?
The Plot involves a Space Farm/Garden running into some trouble. Can one man run it? Will he be able to do it in spite of the fact that he 'used those special parts to make his robot friends?'
Repeat to yourself it is a just a Movie, I should really just read on...
A man- Bruce Dern- is keeping a habitat full of plants, vegetables and animals running.
Aw.
The catch- he's in deep space on a ship with a crew that is transporting them in search of a habitable planet.
Dig those Trumbull Space Effects!
The Crew is informed that the experiment has been cancelled and that they should return home.
That also means disposing of the gardens before they go...for some reason.
He doesn't take it well, as you can see.
He fights one of his friends- getting wounded in the process- and kills him.
He blows up the other garden to take out the other two...which seems counterintuitive to his plan, no?
He uses the three drones- played by humans with missing limbs inside- to fix his leg and prepares to make the trip to Saturn.
He can hide there and figure out his next move.
One of the drones is lost- it doesn't go inside before they launch- and he's sad.
He starts to treat the drones like his human companions, even doing 'surgery' on one that he accidentally hits in his little car thing.
In the first Scene, he scolded his companions for driving recklessly, so...irony?
For a while, he manages to run the garden well, using the drones.
He 'bonds' with them as he even plays cards with them like he did his friends.
This all comes to an end, however, when his ship is spotted.
Can he keep the secret?
I guess not.
He finds out why the plants were dying (not enough light) and leaves one drone to take care of them.
He decides to take the other one- which he hit- with him, since it 'can't take care of the plants.'
Instead, he launches the garden away from the main ship...
...and blows himself (and the drone) up!
Sucks to be you, red drone!
As the credits begin, we see the floating garden being tended to. That's...something, I guess.
 |
| Hopefully those batteries never run dry. |
A well-made Film- no question. Will it be for everyone? Most certainly not.
The Film is very much a Character Study on Bruce Dern's Lead. The Plot is pretty barebones, essentially just seeing what leads him to turn and then how he handles it.
Dern, for his part, is great here.
The Film is often compared to 2001: A Space Odyssey (which Trumbull worked on). I can see that, although obviously the antagonist is reversed.
I guess I was just expecting more to happen here...but it doesn't. What you see is good. The nuance to Dern is there. I just wanted more actual Plot.
That said, the Film looks great and did, in part, give us this...
Next up, I say a sentence that rarely ends well- 'Let's look at a Remake.' They aren't all bad, so wish me luck!
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