Silent Running (1972) (Remastered) coming from Arrow

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I ain’t never seen this one before.

Can anyone give me an enthusiastic thumbs up or thumbs down?

...with a brief explanation.

I can give it a qualified thumbs up.

The film is well made and I like it, but your enjoyment of it will likely depend on your tolerance for a space movie cross-bred with an early 70s slice of counter-culture with an ecological message and a Joan Baez soundtrack.

[notops]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I ain’t never seen this one before.

Can anyone give me an enthusiastic thumbs up or thumbs down?

...with a brief explanation.

Not a popular opinion, but I would go with thumbs down.

I caught it for the first time last year at a screening and while it looks gorgeous (the print I saw was immaculate), it really just left me cold. Which is a shame because I really wanted to connect with it seeing as I love sci-fi of that era and can never get enough Bruce Dern. Maybe a repeat viewing will do the trick

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I ain’t never seen this one before.

Can anyone give me an enthusiastic thumbs up or thumbs down?

...with a brief explanation.

Huge thumbs up for me. Gorgeous production values. Awesome robots. Powerful performance by Bruce Dern. It's a rather somber film. I have to be in the mood for it. But it's one of my favorite 70's sci-fi films.

I also like the songs and soundtrack a lot, but I realize some will not.

[Luke Dodge748]

My Amazon copy just arrived. Looking forward to finally watching this. I started it a month ago on Peacock, and then when I ordered the Arrow blu I quickly turned it off.

[solaris72]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I ain’t never seen this one before.

Can anyone give me an enthusiastic thumbs up or thumbs down?

...with a brief explanation.

For one, if you like the lived-in futures of Alien, Outland, and Blade Runner, this was a prototype.

[Narcissus]

A complete thumbs up.
It addresses a lot of different topics, some more than others and in all honesty could have added 20 minutes to flesh more of that out.

One of the saddest, most down beat endings I have ever seen, even for a sci-fi film, a genre loaded with downer endings.

[DR Herbert West]

Caps

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

Caps

Very noticeable improvements in grain, detail and color.

[MifuneFan]

Arrow looks slightly stretched, or the Eureka squeezed as they are a little different there. Arrow looks much better though, especially in terms of colors.

[HotRats]

Arrow looks much nicer. It's a pity there isn't a way to watch it without Joan Baez, her songs haven't dated well. I also find the drones edge towards annoyingly cute. Makes a good double bill with Dark Star.

Model maker Lou Dalmaso has an incredible four part build of the 49" long resin kit of the Valley Forge on Youtube.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Arrow looks slightly stretched, or the Eureka squeezed as they are a little different there. Arrow looks much better though, especially in terms of colors.

I would hope the newer scan would correct any aspect ratio issues. I can't stand geometry issues so I hope the Arrow isn't stretched.

[mar3o]

Screenshot 8 looks identical in terms of geometry - the entire image is just shifted.

Screenshot 2 also seems to have the same geometry - the Arrow just seems to be pulled back to show a bit more of the image.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by HotRats

Arrow looks much nicer. It's a pity there isn't a way to watch it without Joan Baez, her songs haven't dated well. I also find the drones edge towards annoyingly cute. Makes a good double bill with Dark Star.

Model maker Lou Dalmaso has an incredible four part build of the 49" long resin kit of the Valley Forge on Youtube.

I enjoy the songs. It's obviously a film made in the 70's so I have no issue with it containing songs that are dated to that decade.

[blackadder213]

I just got my order from B&N. It will be great to see this again after so many years!

[thecalm_7]

Silent Running is an acquired taste I think. With a runtime of 89 minutes, it’s to the point but I feel it could have been expanded upon. The cast is minimal with Bruce Dern being essentially the entire movie. 3 brief characters and a voice transmission as well as a few robots assist Dern. Joan Baez sings several songs throughout the film. Very fitting for the time. The setting is simple but very cool. 70s sci-fi is a favorite. My only gripe with this film if it could even be called that is I wish there was a bit more back story about the world. There’s a conversation within the film but I’d be interested in a memory/flashback scene or similar.

[Katatonia]

I received mine earlier and already watched it. It's a solid upgrade over my old Eureka Blu-ray... nice grain structure and thankfully the contrast isn't all blown out this time.

[KC-Technerd]

Originally Posted by thecalm_7

My only gripe with this film if it could even be called that is I wish there was a bit more back story about the world. There’s a conversation within the film but I’d be interested in a memory/flashback scene or similar.

I actually like that the plant life free Earth and how it got that way is left completely up to the imagination of the viewer.

I also think it's a bit interesting to contemplate a potential after-story with the original plot element of a resulting alien encounter added back in.

[Show spoiler]What would the aliens make of a robot with a watering pot in a potentially dead forest (because Lowell blew himself up before remembering the other component necessary for photosynthesis) with a dead human body buried in it? What if Dewey replaced Voyager 6 in the Star Trek: The Motion Picture story?

[Member-222782]

Originally Posted by mar3o

It's obviously a film made in the 70's so I have no issue with it containing songs that are dated to that decade.

I agree but I kinda see what he means. I would never listen to that type of music purposely today

[Jackie Scanlon]

Yeah, stylistically it has dated quite badly in some respects in the same way that Logan's Run has (70s hippy-dippy transposed to the far future), and Huey, Dewey and Louie remain incredibly divisive to this day, but the themes are very prescient at the moment and, if nothing else, it's one of Dern's finest performances - right up there with Coming Home.

As for this specific Arrow release - as I said back on page 1 of this thread, the commentary with Kim Newman alone is worth it, even if the film itself doesn't tick many boxes for today's sci-fi audient.

EDIT - a genuine and sincere warning though, for anyone who is struggling with loneliness during covid, the film has the potential to REALLY amplify those feelings, so it might not be the best one to watch right now.

[Suspiria7]

Originally Posted by Jackie Scanlon

Yeah, stylistically it has dated quite badly in some respects in the same way that Logan's Run has (70s hippy-dippy transposed to the far future), and Huey, Dewey and Louie remain incredibly divisive to this day, but the themes are very prescient at the moment and, if nothing else, it's one of Dern's finest performances - right up there with Coming Home.

As for this specific Arrow release - as I said back on page 1 of this thread, the commentary with Kim Newman alone is worth it, even if the film itself doesn't tick many boxes for today's sci-fi audient.

EDIT - a genuine and sincere warning though, for anyone who is struggling with loneliness during covid, the film has the potential to REALLY amplify those feelings, so it might not be the best one to watch right now.

I find Black Sunday 1977 to be Dern's best performance and his most overlooked but I agree the 2 you mention are very good.