Silent Running (1972)

Director:

Douglas Trumbull

Writers:

Deric Washburn (written by) &
Michael Cimino (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

10 March 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Amazing companions on an incredible adventure... that journeys beyond imagination!

Plot:

In a future where all flora is extinct on Earth, an astronaut is given orders to destroy the last of Earth's plant life being kept in a greenhouse on board a spacecraft.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Future | Spacecraft | Forest | Astronaut

Awards:

1 nomination

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joseph Campanella	...	Neal - Berkshire' Captain (voice) (uncredited)
Roy Engel	...	Anderson (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Douglas Trumbull

Writing credits
Deric Washburn		(written by) &
Michael Cimino		(written by) (as Mike Cimino) and
Steven Bochco		(written by) (as Steve Bochco)

Produced by
Michael Gruskoff	....	producer
Marty Hornstein	....	associate producer (as Martin Hornstein)
Douglas Trumbull	....	producer

Original Music by
Peter Schickele

Cinematography by
Charles F. Wheeler		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Aaron Stell

Set Decoration by
Frank Lombardo		(as Francisco Lombardo)

Makeup Department
Dick Dawson	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Marty Hornstein	....	production manager (as Martin Hornstein)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Brad H. Aronson	....	assistant director (as Brad Aronson)

Sound Department
Charles T. Knight	....	sound (as Charles Knight)
John H. Newman	....	sound editor
Richard Portman	....	sound re-recordist

Special Effects by
Vernon Archer	....	special effects
Jim Dow	....	creator: drone units (as James Dow)
R.L. Helmer	....	special effects
Richard O. Helmer	....	special effects
Marlin Jones	....	special effects
Paul Kraus	....	creator: drone units
James Rugg	....	special effects
Don Trumbull	....	creator: drone units
Gerald Endler	....	mechanical effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Richard Alexander	....	special designer
John Baumbach	....	special designer
John Dykstra	....	special photographic effects
Leland McLemore	....	special designer
Gary Richards	....	special designer
Robert Shepherd	....	special designer (as Bob Shepherd)
William Shourt	....	special designer (as Bill Shourt)
Wayne Smith	....	special designer
Douglas Trumbull	....	special photographic effects
Richard Yuricich	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Bill Bohny	....	assistant camera
Jim Hoover	....	assistant camera
Dick Johnson	....	camera operator
Harry Sundby	....	special lighting effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ann Vidor	....	wardrobe advisor

Music Department
Peter Schickele	....	conductor

Other crew
Joseph Byrd	....	special electronic consultant
Winfield Chitister	....	technical advisor (as Chief Winfield Chitister-BMCM USN Ret.)
Richard Foy	....	titles consultant
George McCart	....	technical advisor
Tom Piskura	....	video consultant
Ray Quiroz	....	script supervisor (as Raymond Quiroz)
Beverly Walker	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures
• Trumbull/Gruskoff Productions (as Douglas Trumbull-Michael Gruskoff Productions)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Films de España (1973) (Spain) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1974) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1972) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Eureka Entertainment (2011) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (limited edition)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Video Associates  promotions
• American Airlines  our most sincere thanks to
• AMF  our most sincere thanks to (as AMF Incorporated)
• American Optical Company  our most sincere thanks to
• Concord Communications Systems  our most sincere thanks to
• Dow Chemical Company  our most sincere thanks to
• Duro-Test  our most sincere thanks to
• Fairchild, Republic Division  our most sincere thanks to
• Kasper Instruments  our most sincere thanks to
• Polaroid  our most sincere thanks to
• Rapistan  our most sincere thanks to
• Scientific Products  our most sincere thanks to
• Spacelabs  our most sincere thanks to
• Tektronix  our most sincere thanks to
• Thetford  our most sincere thanks to
• Division Sperry Rand Corporation  our most sincere thanks to (as Univac Division, Sperry Rand Corporation)
• U.S. Forest Service  our most sincere thanks to (as The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service)
• Ritek Digital Studios  DVD authoring and encoding

Also Known As:

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG | Norway:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:G | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Aircraft Hanger, Van Nuys Airport - 6590 Hayvenhurst Avenue, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The haunting music for the film was written by Peter Schickele, who is known primarily for his classical music parodies under the name of P.D.Q. Bach.

Goofs:

Factual errors: They converse with Earth at a normal pace, yet Saturn is never closer to Earth than 750 million miles, which would make the delays in their conversation more than an hour.

Quotes:

Freeman Lowell:On Earth, everywhere you go, the temperature is 75 degrees. Everything is the same; all the people are exactly the same. Now what kind of life is that?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in On the Edge of 'Blade Runner' (2000) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Rejoice in the Sun

Delightful

This film is by no means flawless. Its various problems have been well documented, but I have to say this is a film that stays with you over the years.

The ambiance is unique, there is nothing else like it - although everyone else pinched bits of it! The film has a charm way beyond that which it is technically entitled to.

If the environmentalism seems laid on with a trowel, remember this film would have been one of the first, if not *the* first, to put such things on the big screen. Subtlety would only work I think, when the audience is already familiar with the basic premise - that concreting over the entire planet is not such a good idea.

It has a message beyond the fairly obvious environmental one though - the sheer contentment earned by those who do what is necessary, regardless of the thanks they won't get for it! The hero is not especially smart, but hes still smarter than everyone else. We are used to our heroes being mostly perfect, but where is that written in stone? This is just one bad tempered hippy, who for his crimes, gets followed around the place by a screaming Joan Baez.

Notable also for one of the saddest scenes in the history of film - the two droids staring with complete incomprehension at the remains of their friend.