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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Monday, July 17, 2017

Silent Running (1972)

Starring Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, Jesse Vint, Mark Persons
Directed by Douglas Trumbull
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

When the Earth decides to scrap a plan to grow vegetation in carriers in outer space, a man assigned to one of the carriers defies orders to save it from destruction.

Most notable for providing the directorial debut for Trumbull, who designed the special effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey and other science fiction classics, the picture is unique and different and worth seeking out.  Dern gives a memorable performance, as do the amputee actors inside the robot drones who become his primary co-stars for most of the film, and there's an elegance and beauty to their relationship.  Although Trumbull, who also supervised the special effects, doesn't offer any visuals on par with 2001, they are serviceable and appropriately secondary to the actors' performances.  The screenplay does leave a great deal unexplained to the movie's detriment, and more action or mystery in the film's second half could have added excitement, but it remains a distinctive and significant piece of work in my mind.

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