IMDb > Silent Running (1972)
Silent Running
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Silent Running (1972) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   6,884 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 10% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Deric Washburn (written by) &
Michael Cimino (written by) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Silent Running on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
10 March 1972 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Amazing companions on an incredible adventure... that journeys beyond imagination! more
Plot:
The loner crew member of a spaceship harbouring Earth's last nature reserves goes renegade when he is... more | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(13 articles)
Kieron’s Top 13 Films of 2009
 (From Reel Loop. 14 December 2009, 6:54 AM, PST)

Sam Rockwell Remembers His Year Of Space Travel And 'Iron Man 2'
 (From MTV Movie News. 24 November 2009, 12:00 AM, PST)

User Comments:
The memory cheats, but it's still an important movie more (145 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Bruce Dern ... Freeman Lowell

Cliff Potts ... John Keenan

Ron Rifkin ... Marty Barker

Jesse Vint ... Andy Wolf
Mark Persons ... Drone 2 - Huey
Steven Brown ... Drone
Cheryl Sparks ... Drone 1 - Dewey
Larry Whisenhunt ... Drone
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Running Silent (USA) (working title)
more
Runtime:
89 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
After the success of Easy Rider (1969), Universal Studios hit upon the idea to let young filmmakers make "semi-independent" films for low budgets in hopes of generating similar profits. The idea was to make five movies for low budgets (one million dollars or less), not interfere in the filmmaking process, and give the directors final cut. The movies were: this movie, The Hired Hand (1971), The Last Movie (1971), Taking Off (1971) and American Graffiti (1973) more
Goofs:
Continuity: Early in the movie it's established that the galley is on the starboard side of the ship; the final shot of the vessel shows the lighted galley window on the port side. more
Quotes:
Freeman Lowell: It calls back a time when there were flowers all over the Earth... and there were valleys. And there were plains of tall green grass that you could lie down in - you could go to sleep in. And there were blue skies, and there was fresh air... and there were things growing all over the place, not just in some domed enclosures blasted some millions of miles out in to space. more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
Rejoice in the Sun more

FAQ

Are there people inside the "Drones?"
more
81 out of 100 people found the following comment useful.
The memory cheats, but it's still an important movie, 21 July 1999
7/10
Author: The_Movie_Cat from England

Watching Silent Running for the second time, many years later, I was amazed how different it was from my recollection. I remembered a story with a slight environmental message, cute robots that talked and a totally sympathetic lead character played slightly woodenly by Bruce Dern.

Seen again, the green message ISN'T subtle, the robots DON'T talk, and far from wholly sympathetic, Dern plays a man suffering a complete nervous breakdown. Not only that, but it has an incongruous, jarring soundtrack by Joan Baez.

So, it was a different film to how I'd remembered, but perhaps someway the better. Dern is far from wooden, and gives the performance of a lifetime. Even though this performance was overlooked for an Oscar nomination, it is still remarkable that the film was made at all. Can you imagine pitching this film to a Hollywood exec of the 90's?

"There's this guy who's in his late thirties who looks after a forest in space. There's no love interest, instead the guy is lonely, a little nerdy, socially inept, and kills all his friends in cold blood. The remainder of the film hangs not on tension but on whether or not his plants whither. Oh, and some robots help him out, but they might be psychotic, too".

As a result, Silent Running is utterly unique, and even if not judged as the best sf film ever made, it is certainly one of the most important.

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