Soylent Green (1973)

This movie paints a very bleak future for planet Earth. What makes this movie so good is that the future seen may very well be a reality someday. A poisoned environment, an overpopulated planet and total disregard for human life all seem to be in there early stages today. Soylent Green is a very good and very believable film.

Fmovies: Soylent Green IS...a really good movie, actually.

I never would've thought it. I don't really like Heston in his sci-fi efforts. He's one of those actors who, like Superman, manages to come across all sneery and invincible most of the time. I prefer more vulnerable heroes. And indeed, he sneers his way through much of Soylent Green, too, but as he's supposed to be playing an overconfident bully I don't really mind.

I can understand why some people would turn their noses up at this movie. Soylent Green makes no effort whatsoever to create futuristic visuals (what do you know - it looks just like 1973), and it's lacking in action. But I admired the film's vision of a complex, corrupt, and highly stratified society, and I was so pleased to see that Edward G. Robinson had such a moving, funny final role. Nice little character moments - like when he shares some precious food with Heston - really make the movie.

The message of Soylent Green is pretty relevant these days, when nobody seems to know what the hell the government or corporations are up to. Funny, isn't it, to see Heston in a prototype Michael Moore movie...

In 2022, Earth is overpopulated and totally polluted; the natural resources have exhaust and the nourishment of the population is supplied by the Soylent Industries, a food made by plankton from the oceans. In New York, when the Soylent's member of the board William R. Simonson (Joseph Cotton) is murdered apparently by a burglar at the Chelsea Towers West where he lives, the efficient Detective Thorn (Charlton Heston) is assigned to investigate the case with his partner Solomon "Sol" Roth (Edward G. Robinson).

Thorn comes to the fancy apartment and meets Simonson's bodyguard Tab Fielding (Chuck Connors) and the "furniture" (woman that is rented together with the flat) Shirl (Leigh Taylor-Young) and the detective concludes that the executive was not victim of burglary but executed. Further, he finds that the Governor Santini (Whit Bissell) and other powerful men want to disrupt and end his investigation. But Thorn continues his work and discovers that the oceans have exhausted and the bizarre and disturbing secret of the ingredient used to manufacture Soylent Green.

"Soylent Green" is one of the best sci-fi ever made and a film that has not aged. On the contrary, when I saw it in the movie theater in 1973, it was another good film with catastrophic view of the future. Along the years, I have seen this film on VHS at least four more times and every time that I see it, I find it better and better. In Brazil, this film has not been released on DVD or Blu-ray, only in the movie-theater in 1973 and on a rare VHS with the title "No Mundo de 2020" (translation: "In the World of 2020", despite the story takes place in 2022) and I have just bought the imported Blu-Ray and saw it again.

It is impressive how the writer Harry Harrison was capable to foresee the future in 1966 with pollution, overpopulation and menace of exhaustion of the natural resources and write his novel "Make Room! Make Room!". In those years, the concept of ecology did not exist, at least the same way in the present days. The grim view of the cannibalism to fee the population introduced by Stanley R. Greenberg in the screenplay fortunately has not been achieved yet.

"Soylent Green" is also the film number 101 in the career of the unforgettable actor Edward G. Robinson that was with cancer and almost deaf during the shooting and died two weeks after the conclusion of this film. The Blu-Ray has in the extras a tribute to this great actor. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "No Mundo de 2020" ("In the World of 2020")

Soylent Green fmovies. Very interesting. The big twist wasn't as big a shock as maybe they had hoped for and it was very dated but it did get my mind working. It really got me thinking about a world without vegetation or livestock and made me appreciate the world I live in a lot more. Charlton Heston does a good job, as do all the supporting characters, and it was a very realistic film which was surprising. It lacked direction at times and a lot of the settings and background needed more explanation but it was still a surprisingly good and intelligent movie. The main fault that I could find was that I didn't want the film to end when it did, I would have liked to see what happened next.

7/10

This is a brilliant sci-fi movie that is very strange in how men and women both view the same film. I have talked to many people about the film and almost every guy loved it and said it was brilliant--while most women thought it was just disgusting and stupid! This is the only movie I know of that has such polarized views based on gender. Perhaps many women just have a lower tolerance for disgusting or depressing plots--but whatever the cause, I have always found this difference fascinating.

The film begins with a murder and a subsequent investigation headed by Charlton Heston. This is set in the near future and the head of the huge international Soylent Corporation has been assassinated. As the film unfolds, you quickly realize this is a terrible and highly inequitable future American society. The rich live in gorgeous apartments with security and all the pleasures money can buy(including "furniture"--a euphemism for paid mistresses that come along with the apartment). At the same time, the masses are dirt poor, unemployed and in many cases living in abandoned cars or apartment hallways. Overpopulation and smog have taken a severe toll and the future looks awful indeed!

Why the rich man died and the awful truth he could not live with I really should NOT discuss--it could ruin the film for you. However, the film has a great plot and acting and is super-exciting to watch. Plus, it features Edward G. Robinson in his final screen performance as the crusty sidekick to Heston. Though not for the easily depressed or squeamish, this is a great sci-fi film that is allegorical and profound.

I saw Soylent Green back in 1973 when it was first released and maybe another eight times over the years on T.V. or video. It was always one of my favorite sci-fi and/or Charlton Heston films.

Recently, the Egyptian theater in L.A. had a twelve film Charlton Heston retrospective. I flew in from out of state to see six of the films over a two day period. Soylent Green looked great on the large Egyptian screen with a perfect new print. From its opening montage to the going home scene to the great ending the film was fantastic.

Charlton Heston as a cop who lives in a dog eat dog world with few natural resources left and no understanding as to how the world used to be and Eddie Robinson as a man who remembers the past are both great.

Their chemistry together is wonderful. The film also looks so much better in a great 35mm print. Fleisher really knows how to fill the screen,and the cinematoraphy, writing, music used, and everything about it works. The film is also very powerful in its bleak and very possible view of the future. Just think how the world population grew, the rain forest that disappeared, resources used up, green house effect getting worse since 1973. I just wonder why this film has not played in theaters all these years. Its reputation should be better.

Speaking of reputations, often people speak as if Charlton Heston is not a great actor. Seeing him in El-Cid, Soylent Green, The Warlord, The Omega Man, Will Penny, and Major Dundee back to back I am convinced he is one of our best actors. Of course he made about a dozen other great films and for those that care you know what they are.