We've always had a soft spot in our heart for Silent Running, which makes it difficult for us to acknowledge that viewed objectively the film has dated into a true period piece from the 60's -- so we won't acknowledge it.

Taking place in the futuristic year of 2008 when all of Earth's natural plant and animal life has been destroyed by airborne and nuclear pollutants (a deadline that the current administration is fervently hoping to meet), the remaining forests are placed in spacebound greenhouses and sent into orbit around Saturn. When the ships receive orders from Earth to detonate the forests (why couldn't they have been simply detached and left in orbit?) and return the ships home to active service, astronaut and National Forest Service specialist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern, looking like a hippie Nic Cage) decides that the forests must be saved at all costs.

Despite the setting and the inspired special effects, the film remains humanistic at its core, with believable character portrayals and an appropriate melancholy tone throughout (although the mystery of why the orbiting forests began to die should have been patently obvious to a forestry expert such as Lowell). The film has achieved cult status over the years, due in part to the music (the only film ever scored by Peter Schikele, a.k.a. P.D.Q. Bach, with the title song written and sung by Joan Baez -- a song that is truly cringeworthy in its 60's naiveté) and the extraordinary "droid" characters of Huey, Dewey and Louie, brilliantly designed and portrayed by four bilateral amputees. The movie looks far more expensive than its very modest budget; interior cabin scenes and theATV race were filmed aboardthe decommissioned aircraft carrier Valley Forge (the name also given to the spacecraft in the final film), and its key sets appear so expansive that the film takes on an epic quality. Noteworthy, too, is the writing team of Deric Washburn, Michael Cimino, and Steven Bochco. The first two went on to Oscar nominations for 1978's The Deer Hunter, while Bochco found fame with TV's Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue... and infamy with Cop Rock.

The film was the brainchild and directorial debut for Stanley Kubrick special-effects protegé Douglas Trumbull, who at the age of 25 was given the title of Special Effects Supervisor for Kubrick's masterful 2001 (he began working on the idea for Silent Running during the years-long effects work for 2001). After the success of the low-budget Easy Rider, Universal decided to experiment further with indie-type filmmaking by ordering up five films; the ground rules were that they were to be done by relatively unknown writers/directors/actors, they were each given a budget of only one million dollars, and -- as long as they came in under that amount -- the filmmakers would have free reign on the production with little or no interference by Universal. Trumbull was tapped for one of the films.

Trumbull had always been disappointed that he was unable to place the third act of 2001 in the vicinity of Saturn (as it is in the novelization); after some abortive attempts at creating a realistic ringed planet, the schedule became too tight and Jupiter was chosen instead. Silent Running allowed Trumbull to finally bring Saturn to the screen; he was assisted by John Dykstra and Richard Yuricich, the three men being the triumvirate ofSFX men in the business. Dykstra went on to Star Wars, and Trumbull and Yuricich reached their peak with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Blade Runner.

Film Synopsis: Earth's Last Battle Will Be Fought In Space
As this science fiction classic opens botanist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) has spent eight years aboard the space freighter "Valley Forge" preserving the only botanical specimens left from Earth under huge geodesic domes. When he receives orders to destroy the project and return home, Lowell rebels and hijacks the freighter, while plunging the craft into the gaseous Rings of Saturn. From that moment on, he has only the trees, the gardens and two "Drone" robots, Huey and Dewey, to keep him company on his greatest adventure of all.

Technical

Video:	Widescreen 1.85:1 (Anamorphic)
Audio:	ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo [CC] FRENCH: Dolby Digital Stereo SPANISH: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles:	French, Spanish, Closed Captions
Chapters:	20

The film is presented in 1.86 widescreen with anamorphic enhancement for widescreen TVs. The image is often a little soft, but this is typical of films from the early 70's; the video presentation is easily the best the film has ever gotten, with no noticeable dirt or scrathes, and with consistent and unwavering colors. The video shows some noticeable jiggling, however, and is something that we wish had been digitally removed during the cleanup process.

The soundtrack has been given a Dolby Digital 5.1 remix; the soundspace is conservative and clean, with stereo being used primarily for localizing voices and the rear channels used purely for ambience, but we prefer the original 2.0 mono soundtrack -- something that has thoughtfully been included on the DVD.

Supplements

• Feature Commentary with Douglas Trumbull and Bruce Dern
• The Making of Silent Running (1972) (49:11)
• Silent Running by Douglas Trumbull (30:05)
• A Conversation with Bruce Dern (10:05)
• Douglas Trumbull: Then and Now (4:50)
• Theatrical Trailer (2:56)
• Production Notes (8 frames)
• Cast and Filmmakers:
• Bruce Dern (Freeman Lowell)
• Cliff Potts (John Keenan)
• Ron Rifkin (Marty Barker)
• Jesse Vint (Andy Wolf)
• Douglas Trumbull)
• Recommendations:
• 12 Monkeys
• Duel
• Dune
• It Came From Outer Space
• Legend
• The Thing

By far, the most significant supplementary feature is the documentary "The Making of Silent Running." A labor of love by Director/Cinematographer Charles Barbee (http://www.BarbeeFilm.com), this documentary was produced by Barbee and Tom Piskura and financed by attorney Brian Rohan, through an agreement with Universal Studios that was facilitated by Douglas Trumbull who was eager have someone document his work.

The documentary visits MGM Back Lot #2 (which no longer stands), and profiles and talks with director Trumbull, director of photography Charles Wheeler, assistant director/unit production manager Brad Aronson, film editor Aaron Stell, and actor Bruce Dern. There is a detailed study of the creation of he "droids," as well as information on the sets andeffects work (including the 25-foot main model -- in this sequence Kubrick's effect on the young Trumbull are clearly seen, as he continuesKubrick's pioneeringuse of front projection in to make an in-camera composite using Kubrick's preferred Arriflex cameras).

When the documentary was released in educational distribution in the early '70's (in 16mm print form, as VHS was not yet available), it won several film-festival awards, including CINE Golden Eagle, ATLANTA bronze medal, and the IFPA CINDY for outstanding achievement in furthering education in motion picture techniques. In the late'70'sthe 16mm distribution agreement with Films Incorporated expired, and the documentary disappeared from circulation.

Over the years Barbee and his partners tried unsuccessfully to interest Universal Studios in redistribution of the documentary on video, until 1996 when Barbee decided to begin personally distributing it on VHS and advertising it via the internet. Late last year, Barbee was contacted by Universal (at Trumbull's suggestion) and the documentary found its way onto the DVD.

A new half-hour featurette, "Silent Running by Douglas Trumbull," goes over similar ground to the "Making of..." but with the crucial perspective of thirty years later, and details the origins of the film, including his original ideas (where Lowell was to be contacted by aliens). The Orson Wellesian brashness of the young director is gone, but it is clear that Trumbull is rightfully proud of the film and the ideas behind it. Post-Brainstorm, Trumbull has drastically lowered his Hollywood profile, concentrating his talents instead to new formats -- notably the high-frame-rate Showscan process and immersive venues such as Universal Studios' "Back To The Future" ride. But with SFX effectively driving the movie business today, it's a pleasure to watch him as he reflects on his groundbreaking (and spacebreaking) accomplishments in the field. The featurette is presented in fullscreen, with scenes from the film being letterboxed within.

Less watchable is "Douglas Trumbull: Then and Now." Filmed in the same setup as the previous featurette, Trumbull's ego is evident, and one cannot help but notice that Trumbull consistently points out an external cause for each of his post-movie disappointments.

The original theatrical trailer for Silent Running is a true rarity, and although the fullscreen presentation is in very rough shape and full of dirt, scratches and gate drift, it's a worthy addition to the DVD.