To a degree, Science Fiction really came into its own in the late 1960’s.
For what it’s worth, one could argue that SciFi and Fantasy overall owe a debt of gratitude to visionary storyteller Stanley Kubrick. His serious and kinda/sorta sobering 2001: A Space Odyssey arguably not only raised the bar for what was possible in genre entertainment but also practically pushed studios to begin taking the category seriously. This isn’t to say that there weren’t some thoughtful and intelligent Science Fiction films before as one only look to productions like The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951), Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956), and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) to see that thought and messaging were possible in a canvas once dismissed for little more than rocket ships, aliens, overgrown monsters, and scantily-clad females. The high-minded prospects for fantastical commentary had come of age; and, thankfully, Hollywood responded even though I’ve read that some had to be pulled kicking and screaming into the modern age. Michael Crichton’s Westworld (1973) warned less about our cultural fascination with consumption and instead put the bulls eye on where some unchecked capitalism could lead us awry. 1976’s Logan’s Run cast a bit of light on a distant future wherein social overlords could draw the line on even something as personal as longevity.
Can you see it? We were spiraling out of control, circling the drain with the prospect of falling into oblivion … and the stories that came out of this were truly exceptional. This is why I’ve always been into the flicks of the 1970’s. Now that Kubrick had shown the way, th suits offered up a veritable pantheon of good ideas that slowly but surely worked their way into both movie and television scripts across the decade. Yes, we were destroying ourselves, but what did that destruction and the inevitable outcome resemble? 1971’s The Andromeda Strain brought to the debate man’s ability to push back with learnable science, so maybe there could be a little room for hope. After all, Peter Martin eventually escaped the dreaded gunslinger (in Westworld), so perhaps not all was lost.
While 1972’s Silent Running truly tried to be one of the first Science Fiction films to push for a change in cultural consciousness, the ecological drama failed to ignore mankind to push for a change in the ways they treated the planet. Box office numbers aren’t available for the Douglas Trumbull effort; and, minimally, 1973’s Soylent Green – directed by Richard Fleischer tried once more to posit just how dire the treatment of the Earth might lead to unimaginable catastrophes. Thematically, the two ventures are linked in the fact that they’re both cautionary tales; but Running’s setting was outer space where Soylent used nothing less than the big city – complete with urban decay – in hopes that audiences might finally take an existential threat seriously. Even though Soylent was likely the more relatable story, it, too, failed to recoup little more than its production costs across its theatrical run. That’s a shame because it’s definitely one of the best films to come out of the 1970’s regardless of being a Science Fiction film.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A nightmarish futuristic fantasy about the controlling power of big corporations and an innocent cop who stumbles on the truth.”
It’s the near future, and the population of planet Earth has grown unmanageable. A series of environmental cataclysms have largely forced those hoping to survive into residency of New York City where an incredible forty million people take their daily marching orders from the local government. Food, water, and housing are supplied and administered from various checkpoints; and residents are required to abide by the mobilization of martial law. Those who refuse to go along are offered two choices: punishment by the state or, if they’ve reached their limits, they’re free to surrender to the promised painless process of government-assisted suicide.
While Soylent Green was initially credited to author Harry Harrison’s novel “Make Room! Make Room!” the truth is that screenwriter Stanley R. Greenberg looked to Paul R. Ehrlich’s 1968 nonfiction tome “The Population Bomb” for greater inspiration. In Bomb, Ehrlich (wrongly) predicted a kinda/sorta fastly approaching End Times scenario wherein our world was heading into unmitigated chaos over the inability to feed civilization, and he and co-author Anne Ehrlich went about suggesting global strategies to avert disaster. Even though a great deal of what was prognosticated never came to pass, the book retains an almost cult-like following made up of politicians and other leaders who maintain that there’s still work to be done – much in the same way Global Warming’s advocates do – if we are to save ourselves from extinction.
Such a Dystopian premise naturally appeals to genre entertainment; and Greenberg’s script rather obviously uses Bomb’s foundation to make Soylent into the watershed moment it earns in Science Fiction. Who among us wouldn’t be shocked to learn that the government has been taking citizens off the street and grinding their meat and bones into tasty morsels that can be used to feed their remaining friends and neighbors? Given the fact that director Fleischer manages to accomplish all of this is a relatively bloodless affair and still puts a human face to so much of what transpires makes Soylent a film worth discovering over and over again by subsequent generations even though its central story was conceived on a faulty premise.
Naturally, such a secret getting out could hasten the pace toward our own annihilation, and that’s where Greenberg’s script banks on its most-understandable approach: NYPD Detective Robert Thorn (played by Charlton Heston) is tasked with investigating the murder of William Simonson (Joseph Cotten), a senior member of the Soylent Corporation’s board of directors. Transforming a SciFi story into a standard police procedural – especially at a time when cop shows were all over the place – remains a stroke a genius because it widens the possibility of an audience to find the film: those who might otherwise have been turned off (with the SciFi elements) were more inclined to tune in to watch a cop doing his thing and giving that role to Heston likely even stoked their interest even more.
To his benefit, Greenberg filled out his cast of characters likening them more to detective story archetypes than anything else. Simonson’s gal pal – Shirl (Leigh Taylor-Young) – is a beautiful ‘squeeze’ who, in these unfortunate times, is something considered akin to a modern appliance: Thorn even calls her ‘furniture’ as her existence as a life partner is tied first to the apartment and then to its resident. Back at the station house, Thorn has an overbearing boss to answer to; and veteran character actor Brock Peters makes the irascible Hatch come to life as the typical grumpy police captain. Our detective is even gifted with a bit of a professional sidekick: Sol Roth (Edward G. Robinson in his last screen role) stars as a roommate with a penchant for collecting information that has grown scarce in the hard times, and Thorn relies heavily on the old bookworm to root out what tidbits of information are required reading in order to get to the bottom of the central murder mystery.
Because audiences – both at the movies and at home – had seen this formula many times before, one would think that Soylent Green might’ve enjoyed greater success in its era. The truth is that it failed to resonate, and even critics were mixed. I’ve read that some found its SciFi elements vastly more engaging that the cop-with-a-badge framework, so perhaps this meal needed a bit more time in the oven before unleashing it on the masses. It’s true to suggest that the detective formula being applied to densely might have had some expecting a bit more from the pieces (when everything evolves a bit too stereotypically, how were viewers expected to take the core premise with the required seriousness?); but – even with its closing action sequence leaving Thorn’s ultimate fate in question – I’ve always like this one for what it was, namely a chilling look into a tomorrow with today’s necessary window dressing.
Soylent Green (1973) was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been handled by the fine folks at Arrow Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure readers that the provided sights and sounds are exceptional across the film’s run time. Frankly, this 4K upgrade looks damn fabulous; but there are few scenes were the audio was a bit tinny. (Street and/or crowd scenes just don’t work or feel as big as they look, and I suspect that’s owed to source material weaknesses.) Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? There are two commentaries available (I’d heard the Fleischer/Taylor-Young before so I knew it was good, and the Brooke/Mains one was meh in spots) along with some other shorts that deal more with the film’s perception than its production. It’s good: I just prefer material that’s more picture specific.
Strongly Recommended.
As an unabashed lover of 1970’s Science Fiction and Fantasy, I can’t help but profess my love for Soylent Green (1973). At times, it’s occasionally an odd duck of an experience – it mixes SciFi and Detective tropes but does so mostly effectively – and never quite shakes the dourness behind its central premise – Soylent Green is people, you know. Frankly, I’ve always wished it better established Thorn and Roth’s relationship – we’re only given the fact that they share an apartment and an affinity for real food – but it works well enough for the story as presented. Arguably, it’s one of the better pictures to deal with social consciousness tied to its themes; and the fact that it delivers that Twilight Zone style ending helps to keep it pitch perfect regardless of any minor narrative quibbles.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray copy of Soylent Green (1973) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
For what it’s worth, one could argue that SciFi and Fantasy overall owe a debt of gratitude to visionary storyteller Stanley Kubrick. His serious and kinda/sorta sobering 2001: A Space Odyssey arguably not only raised the bar for what was possible in genre entertainment but also practically pushed studios to begin taking the category seriously. This isn’t to say that there weren’t some thoughtful and intelligent Science Fiction films before as one only look to productions like The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951), Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956), and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) to see that thought and messaging were possible in a canvas once dismissed for little more than rocket ships, aliens, overgrown monsters, and scantily-clad females. The high-minded prospects for fantastical commentary had come of age; and, thankfully, Hollywood responded even though I’ve read that some had to be pulled kicking and screaming into the modern age. Michael Crichton’s Westworld (1973) warned less about our cultural fascination with consumption and instead put the bulls eye on where some unchecked capitalism could lead us awry. 1976’s Logan’s Run cast a bit of light on a distant future wherein social overlords could draw the line on even something as personal as longevity.
Can you see it? We were spiraling out of control, circling the drain with the prospect of falling into oblivion … and the stories that came out of this were truly exceptional. This is why I’ve always been into the flicks of the 1970’s. Now that Kubrick had shown the way, th suits offered up a veritable pantheon of good ideas that slowly but surely worked their way into both movie and television scripts across the decade. Yes, we were destroying ourselves, but what did that destruction and the inevitable outcome resemble? 1971’s The Andromeda Strain brought to the debate man’s ability to push back with learnable science, so maybe there could be a little room for hope. After all, Peter Martin eventually escaped the dreaded gunslinger (in Westworld), so perhaps not all was lost.
While 1972’s Silent Running truly tried to be one of the first Science Fiction films to push for a change in cultural consciousness, the ecological drama failed to ignore mankind to push for a change in the ways they treated the planet. Box office numbers aren’t available for the Douglas Trumbull effort; and, minimally, 1973’s Soylent Green – directed by Richard Fleischer tried once more to posit just how dire the treatment of the Earth might lead to unimaginable catastrophes. Thematically, the two ventures are linked in the fact that they’re both cautionary tales; but Running’s setting was outer space where Soylent used nothing less than the big city – complete with urban decay – in hopes that audiences might finally take an existential threat seriously. Even though Soylent was likely the more relatable story, it, too, failed to recoup little more than its production costs across its theatrical run. That’s a shame because it’s definitely one of the best films to come out of the 1970’s regardless of being a Science Fiction film.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A nightmarish futuristic fantasy about the controlling power of big corporations and an innocent cop who stumbles on the truth.”
It’s the near future, and the population of planet Earth has grown unmanageable. A series of environmental cataclysms have largely forced those hoping to survive into residency of New York City where an incredible forty million people take their daily marching orders from the local government. Food, water, and housing are supplied and administered from various checkpoints; and residents are required to abide by the mobilization of martial law. Those who refuse to go along are offered two choices: punishment by the state or, if they’ve reached their limits, they’re free to surrender to the promised painless process of government-assisted suicide.
While Soylent Green was initially credited to author Harry Harrison’s novel “Make Room! Make Room!” the truth is that screenwriter Stanley R. Greenberg looked to Paul R. Ehrlich’s 1968 nonfiction tome “The Population Bomb” for greater inspiration. In Bomb, Ehrlich (wrongly) predicted a kinda/sorta fastly approaching End Times scenario wherein our world was heading into unmitigated chaos over the inability to feed civilization, and he and co-author Anne Ehrlich went about suggesting global strategies to avert disaster. Even though a great deal of what was prognosticated never came to pass, the book retains an almost cult-like following made up of politicians and other leaders who maintain that there’s still work to be done – much in the same way Global Warming’s advocates do – if we are to save ourselves from extinction.
Such a Dystopian premise naturally appeals to genre entertainment; and Greenberg’s script rather obviously uses Bomb’s foundation to make Soylent into the watershed moment it earns in Science Fiction. Who among us wouldn’t be shocked to learn that the government has been taking citizens off the street and grinding their meat and bones into tasty morsels that can be used to feed their remaining friends and neighbors? Given the fact that director Fleischer manages to accomplish all of this is a relatively bloodless affair and still puts a human face to so much of what transpires makes Soylent a film worth discovering over and over again by subsequent generations even though its central story was conceived on a faulty premise.
Naturally, such a secret getting out could hasten the pace toward our own annihilation, and that’s where Greenberg’s script banks on its most-understandable approach: NYPD Detective Robert Thorn (played by Charlton Heston) is tasked with investigating the murder of William Simonson (Joseph Cotten), a senior member of the Soylent Corporation’s board of directors. Transforming a SciFi story into a standard police procedural – especially at a time when cop shows were all over the place – remains a stroke a genius because it widens the possibility of an audience to find the film: those who might otherwise have been turned off (with the SciFi elements) were more inclined to tune in to watch a cop doing his thing and giving that role to Heston likely even stoked their interest even more.
To his benefit, Greenberg filled out his cast of characters likening them more to detective story archetypes than anything else. Simonson’s gal pal – Shirl (Leigh Taylor-Young) – is a beautiful ‘squeeze’ who, in these unfortunate times, is something considered akin to a modern appliance: Thorn even calls her ‘furniture’ as her existence as a life partner is tied first to the apartment and then to its resident. Back at the station house, Thorn has an overbearing boss to answer to; and veteran character actor Brock Peters makes the irascible Hatch come to life as the typical grumpy police captain. Our detective is even gifted with a bit of a professional sidekick: Sol Roth (Edward G. Robinson in his last screen role) stars as a roommate with a penchant for collecting information that has grown scarce in the hard times, and Thorn relies heavily on the old bookworm to root out what tidbits of information are required reading in order to get to the bottom of the central murder mystery.
Because audiences – both at the movies and at home – had seen this formula many times before, one would think that Soylent Green might’ve enjoyed greater success in its era. The truth is that it failed to resonate, and even critics were mixed. I’ve read that some found its SciFi elements vastly more engaging that the cop-with-a-badge framework, so perhaps this meal needed a bit more time in the oven before unleashing it on the masses. It’s true to suggest that the detective formula being applied to densely might have had some expecting a bit more from the pieces (when everything evolves a bit too stereotypically, how were viewers expected to take the core premise with the required seriousness?); but – even with its closing action sequence leaving Thorn’s ultimate fate in question – I’ve always like this one for what it was, namely a chilling look into a tomorrow with today’s necessary window dressing.
Soylent Green (1973) was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been handled by the fine folks at Arrow Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure readers that the provided sights and sounds are exceptional across the film’s run time. Frankly, this 4K upgrade looks damn fabulous; but there are few scenes were the audio was a bit tinny. (Street and/or crowd scenes just don’t work or feel as big as they look, and I suspect that’s owed to source material weaknesses.) Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? There are two commentaries available (I’d heard the Fleischer/Taylor-Young before so I knew it was good, and the Brooke/Mains one was meh in spots) along with some other shorts that deal more with the film’s perception than its production. It’s good: I just prefer material that’s more picture specific.
Strongly Recommended.
As an unabashed lover of 1970’s Science Fiction and Fantasy, I can’t help but profess my love for Soylent Green (1973). At times, it’s occasionally an odd duck of an experience – it mixes SciFi and Detective tropes but does so mostly effectively – and never quite shakes the dourness behind its central premise – Soylent Green is people, you know. Frankly, I’ve always wished it better established Thorn and Roth’s relationship – we’re only given the fact that they share an apartment and an affinity for real food – but it works well enough for the story as presented. Arguably, it’s one of the better pictures to deal with social consciousness tied to its themes; and the fact that it delivers that Twilight Zone style ending helps to keep it pitch perfect regardless of any minor narrative quibbles.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray copy of Soylent Green (1973) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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