In the future, all forests on Earth have become extinct from careless environmental exploitation. As many specimens as possible have been preserved in a series of enormous greenhouse-like geodesic domes serving as closed ecological systems attached to large cargo spaceships, forming part of a fleet of eight "American Airlines Space Freighters", stationed outside the orbit of Saturn.
Freeman Lowell, one of four crewmen, is the resident botanist and ecologist on one of these ships, the Valley Forge. He carefully maintains a variety of plants for their eventual return to Earth and the reforestation of the planet. He spends most of his time in the domes, cultivating the crops and attending to the animal life.
The crew of each ship receives orders to jettison and destroy their domes and return the freighters to commercial service. After four of the six Valley Forge domes are jettisoned and destroyed with nuclear charges, Lowell rebels and opts to save his ship's plants and animals. He kills Wolf, one of his crewmates who arrives to plant explosives in his favorite dome, and his right leg is seriously injured in the process. He then jettisons and triggers the destruction of the other remaining dome to trap and kill the remaining two crewmen.
Enlisting the aid of the ship's three service robots, Lowell stages a fake premature explosion as a ruse and sends the Valley Forge speeding toward Saturn in an attempt to hijack the ship and flee with the last forest dome. He then reprograms the drones to perform surgery on his leg and sets the Valley Forge on a risky course through Saturn's rings. Later, as the ship endures the rough passage, Drone 3 is lost, but the ship and its remaining dome emerge relatively undamaged on the other side of the rings. Lowell gives the surviving drones the names Dewey (Drone 1) and Huey (Drone 2), while the lost Drone 3 is named Louie (a nod to Disney characters Huey, Dewey, and Louie).
Lowell, Huey, and Dewey set out into deep space to maintain the forest. Lowell reprograms Huey and Dewey to plant trees and play poker. He also has them bury Andy Wolf in the bio-dome. Lowell begins speaking to them constantly, as if they are children.
Huey is damaged when Lowell accidentally collides with him while driving a buggy recklessly, and Dewey sentimentally refuses to leave Huey's side during the repairs. As time passes, Lowell is horrified when he discovers that his bio-dome is dying, but is unable to come up with a solution to the problem. When the Berkshire—another space freighter waiting to see if the Valley Forge has survived the trip around Saturn—eventually reestablishes contact, he knows that his crimes will soon be discovered. It is then that he realizes a lack of light has restricted plant growth, and he races to install lamps to correct this situation. In an effort to save the last forest before the Berkshire arrives, Lowell jettisons the bio-dome to safety. He then detonates nuclear charges, destroying the Valley Forge, the damaged Huey, and himself in the process. The final scene is of the now well-lit forest greenhouse drifting into deep space, with Dewey tenderly caring for it, holding Lowell's battered old watering can.
Cast
During a shooting break, double-amputee actor Mark Persons is visible inside the tiny Drone 1 (Dewey) costume with its cover plate removed.
Note: Although the end credits do not associate the main actors with their character names, each crew member may be correctly identified by a patch on their right breast. The patch is in the form of a maritime signal flag corresponding to the initial letter of their surname.
Production
Trumbull was involved with creating effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), whose director, Stanley Kubrick, had wanted that film's Stargate sequence to be about Saturn; however, technical difficulties prevented completion of the sequence's special effects within the limited time available. The Saturn idea was scrapped, and Kubrick substituted Jupiter instead. Trumbull developed the sequence after production, and it was recreated for Saturn in Silent Running.[citation needed]
Three freighters are shown in the film: the Valley Forge, the Berkshire and the Sequoia. Five other ships that carried domes – the Yellowstone, Acadia, Blue Ridge, Glacier, and Mojave — are also mentioned. Each ship features a designation on the hull that notes the area from which some of its flora and fauna samples were taken. The Valley Forge is listed as "Bahia Honda Subtropical," indicating at least some specimens were taken from this area of the Florida Keys.[citation needed]
The model of the Valley Forge was 25 feet (7.6m) long, and took six months to build from a combination of custom castings and the contents of approximately 800 prefabricated model-aircraft or tank kits. After filming was completed, American Airlines expressed an interest in sending the model on the tour circuit, but this was not feasible due to its fragility. (During filming, pieces of the model frequently detached.) It was subsequently dismantled after sitting for several years in Trumbull's personal storage facility. Several pieces, including the domes, wound up in the hands of collectors. Several domes survive, including one that now rests in the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, and another that was sold at auction in 2008.[citation needed]
The three drones were played by four bilateral amputees,[2] an idea inspired by Johnny Eck, a sideshow performer of the early 20th century who was born without lower limbs.[3] The 20-pound (9.1kg) drone suits were custom-tailored for the actors. The suits are in Trumbull's personal collection.
The sound effects, including the drones, were created by uncredited composer Joseph Byrd. They were generated on a modified ARP 2600 synthesizer with added Oberheim Expander Modules.[citation needed]
The soundtrack was written by Peter Schickele, a bassoonist who also composed comedy music under the name P. D. Q. Bach.[4] It contains two songs written by Schickele and Diane Lampert, which were performed by vocalist Joan Baez: "Silent Running" and "Rejoice in the Sun".[5] The two songs were issued as a single by Decca (32890). An LP was released by Decca in 1972 (DL 7-9188) and later reissued by Varese Sarabande on black (STV-81072) and green (VC-81072) vinyl. In 1998, a limited-release CD by the Valley Forge Record Groupe included an additional track with the spoken introduction "God Bless These Gardens." A CD with audio restoration was released in 2016 by Intrada, Special Collection Volume 369.[6]
The title song was later covered by David Matthews on his 1977 album Dune.[7]
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 71% based on reviews from 34 critics. The critical consensus states: "It doesn't fulfill the potential of its ambitious themes, but Silent Running stands as a decidedly unique type of sci-fi journey marked by intimate character work and a melancholic mood."[8] On Metacritic the film has a score of 67% based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[9]
Vincent Canby, reviewing the film for The New York Times, said that Silent Running "is no jerry-built science fiction film, but it's a little too simple-minded to be consistently entertaining."[2]Carl Sagan criticized the "technically proficient" film for depicting a future in which people have forgotten the inverse-square law, and that plants need sunlight.[10]Roger Ebert awarded the film his highest rating of four stars and praised Dern as "a very good, subtle actor."[11]Gene Siskel gave the film two stars out of four and compared it unfavorably to 2001: A Space Odyssey, saying that it had "the same effects but none of the wit or intelligence."[12] Arthur D. Murphy of Variety lauded the "excellent special effects" and "broadly entertaining script" but faulted the "crucial miscasting" of Dern, explaining, "Walking around often in robes which crudely suggest some kind of airborne vegetarian Noah, and otherwise suggesting an out-to-lunch mentality, his characterization does not evoke empathy."[13]Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times praised the film for avoiding "the usual heavy hokum associated with the [sci-fi] genre" and called it "a solid and well-disciplined first film. The spaceries really are impressive and the movie is an ingenious family entertainment which offers something to think about."[14] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called the film "the most original and interesting science-fiction melodrama since 'Planet of the Apes' and a new classic of the genre."[15]Penelope Gilliatt of The New Yorker wrote: "The robots have endearing qualities, paddling about as if in galoshes, and they play a wonderful game of poker, but this is sci-fi with the soul of an editorial."[16] British film critic Mark Kermode has said that the film is a personal favorite and that he prefers it to 2001.[17]
Nods and various easter eggs to the film would make their way in numerous genre media, including Ronald D. Moore's 2003 Battlestar Galactica miniseries and Steven Spielberg's 2018 film adaptation Ready Player One. As testament to the film's cult status, a screen-matched costume jumpsuit worn by Bruce Dern originating from Douglas Trumbull's personal collection sold for $40,625 USD in 2020.[18] In Super Mario Odyssey, various steam-powered robots are upkeeping a biome in a wooded area, much like the film.
Adaptation
A novelization of the film was published by Scholastic Books in 1972. It was written by longtime children's book author Harlan Thompson, based on the screen story and screenplay by Cimino, Washburn, and Bochco. It features expanded scenes (in flashback) taking place on Earth.[19]
Home media
The film has been released several times on home video by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, beginning with the Betamax "pan and scan" release in 1982, and several VHS releases that followed. A DVD was released featuring the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio on May 21, 2002.[20] A Blu-ray of the film was released on 14 November 2011 by Eureka for the film’s 40th-anniversary, initially in a steelbook case.[21] Another was released by Arrow on 17 November 2020, from a 4K scan and 2K restoration of the film, with an additional extras.[22] Both were released under license from Universal Studios, with transfers approved by director Douglas Trumbull. This same approved 4K transfer was used to create a 4K UHD version of the film, again released by Arrow Video in December 2022.[23]
The Starlost is a Canadian-produced science fiction television series created by writer Harlan Ellison and broadcast in 1973 on CTV in Canada and syndicated to local stations in the United States. The show's setting is a huge generational colony spacecraft called Earthship Ark, which following an unspecified accident has gone off course. Centuries after its original launch however, most of the descendants of the original crew and colonists are unaware that they are even aboard a spaceship. The series experienced a number of production difficulties, and Ellison broke with the project before the airing of its first episode.
Peter Schickele was an American composer, musical educator and parodist, best known for comedy albums featuring his music, which he presented as being composed by the fictional P.D.Q. Bach. He also hosted a long-running weekly radio program called Schickele Mix.
Bruce MacLeish Dern is an American actor. He has received several accolades, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and the Silver Bear for Best Actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Coming Home (1978) and the Academy Award for Best Actor for Nebraska (2013). He is also a BAFTA Award, two-time Genie Award, and three-time Golden Globe Award nominee.
The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million specimens, is the second largest in North America, behind that of the New York Botanical Garden. The Index Herbariorum code assigned to the herbarium is MO and it is used when citing housed specimens.
USS Valley Forge was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during and shortly after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the first US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named after Valley Forge, the 1777–1778 winter encampment of General George Washington's Continental Army. Valley Forge was commissioned in November 1946, too late to serve in World War II, but saw extensive service in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. She was reclassified in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), then to an antisubmarine carrier (CVS), and finally to an amphibious assault ship (LPH), carrying helicopters and Marines. As a CVS she served in the Atlantic and Caribbean. She was the prime recovery vessel for an early uncrewed Mercury space mission. After conversion to an LPH she served extensively in the Vietnam War. Valley Forge was awarded eight battle stars for Korean War service and nine for Vietnam War service, as well as three Navy Unit Commendations.
The Japan World Exposition, Osaka, 1970 or Expo '70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as Ōsaka Banpaku (大阪万博). It was the first world's fair held in Japan and in Asia.
Douglas Hunt Trumbull was an American film director and visual effects supervisor, who pioneered innovative methods in special effects. He created scenes for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner and The Tree of Life, and directed the movies Silent Running and Brainstorm.
John Charles Dykstra, A.S.C. is an American special effects artist, pioneer in the development of the use of computers in filmmaking and recipient of three Academy Awards, among many other awards and prizes. He was one of the original employees of Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects and computer graphics division of Lucasfilm. He is well known as the special effects lead on the original Star Wars, helping bring the original visuals for lightsabers, space battles between X-wings and TIE fighters, and Force powers to the screen. He also led special effects on many other movies, including Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Stuart Little, X-Men: First Class, Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2.
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's film version and published after the release of the film. Clarke and Kubrick worked on the book together, but eventually only Clarke ended up as the official author. The story is based in part on various short stories by Clarke, including "The Sentinel". By 1992, the novel had sold three million copies worldwide. An elaboration of Clarke and Kubrick's collaborative work on this project was made in the 1972 book The Lost Worlds of 2001.
A Dyson tree is a hypothetical genetically engineered plant capable of growing inside a comet, suggested by the physicist Freeman Dyson. Plants may be able to produce a breathable atmosphere within the hollow spaces of the comet, utilising solar energy for photosynthesis and cometary materials for nutrients, thus providing self-sustaining habitats for humanity in the outer solar system analogous to a greenhouse in space, a shell grown by a mollusc or the actions of thermogenic plants, such as the skunk cabbage or the voodoo lily.
Creature is a 1985 American science fiction horror film directed by William Malone, starring Stan Ivar, Wendy Schaal, Lyman Ward, Annette McCarthy, Robert Jaffe, Diane Salinger, and Klaus Kinski. It features early special effects work by Robert and Dennis Skotak, who would go on to design the special effects for Aliens.
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series created by Glen A. Larson that aired on the ABC network from September 17, 1978, to April 29, 1979. It stars an ensemble cast led by Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch, and Dirk Benedict. The series follows a group of humans fleeing the destruction of their homeworlds aboard the titular spacecraft, searching for a new home while being pursued by the Cylons, a fearsome society of robots intent on exterminating all humans.
Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries is a three-hour television miniseries starring Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. It was the first part of the Battlestar Galactica remake based on the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series, and served as a backdoor pilot for the 2004 television series. The miniseries aired originally on Sci Fi in the United States starting on December 8, 2003. The two parts of the miniseries attracted 3.9 and 4.5 million viewers, making the miniseries the third-most-watched program on Syfy.
Saturn has made appearances in fiction since the 1752 novel Micromégas by Voltaire. In the earliest depictions, it was portrayed as having a solid surface rather than its actual gaseous composition. In many of these works, the planet is inhabited by aliens that are usually portrayed as being more advanced than humans. In modern science fiction, the Saturnian atmosphere sometimes hosts floating settlements. The planet is occasionally visited by humans and its rings are sometimes mined for resources.
"Saga of a Star World" is the pilot for the American science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica which was produced in 1978 by Glen A. Larson. A re-edit of the episode was released theatrically as Battlestar Galactica in Canada before the television series aired in the United States, in order to help recoup its high production costs. Later, the standalone film edit was also released in the United States.
In Saturn's Rings is a large format movie about Saturn made exclusively from real photographs taken by spacecraft. Director Stephen van Vuuren used more than 7.5 million photographs and numerous film techniques to create the effect of flying through space around Saturn and among its rings. CGI and 3-D modeling were not used in any capacity to create the realistic feel van Vuuren wanted for the viewer's experience. Most of the photos were taken by various major space missions.
Aaron Stell was an American film editor with one hundred feature film credits and many additional credits for his television work. Stell worked for more than a decade at the start of his career at Columbia Pictures, which was a major Hollywood studio in that era. Among his most noted films are Touch of Evil, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Silent Running.
↑ Ravas, Tammy (2004). Peter Schickele: a bio-bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group. p.7. ISBN0-313-32070-5.
↑ Nash, Jay Robert; Ross, Stanley Ralph; Connelly, Robert (1987). Nash, Jay Robert; Ross, Stanley Ralph (eds.). The motion picture guide. Vol.7. Cinebook. p.2920. ISBN0-933997-00-0.
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