stoner@qumix.UUCP (David Stone) (03/21/85)
I really have to many 'BEST' movie's to pick just one though I am rather surprised to see no mention of the movie "Silent Running" (or was it "Running Silent"?) with Bruce Dern and his three robots Huey,Duey,and Luey.If anyone remembers this was a film about Spaceships that had been sent into space with a sampling of earths plant life to preserve it from the destruction of a war then being waged on earth. The the order came thru that the U.S could no longer support the maintenance of the plants and they would have to be destroyed and ...... (No Spoiler).....If you havn't seen the movie I would recomend it. Any comments? And on worst movies if you thought Battle Beyond the Planets was bad then a movie called Space Raiders would have to be considered worse because a lot of this movie was made up of scenes from BBTP. stoner@qumix David A. Stone Qume Corp. San Jose,Calif
@RUTGERS.ARPA:milne@uci-icse (04/03/85)
From: Alastair Milne <milne@uci-icse>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I really have too many 'BEST' movie's to pick just one though I am
rather surprised to see no mention of the movie "Silent Running" (or
was it "Running Silent"?) with Bruce Dern and his three robots
Huey,Duey,and Luey.If anyone remembers this was a film about
Spaceships that had been sent into space with a sampling of earths
plant life to preserve it from the destruction of a war then being
waged on earth. The the order came thru that the U.S could no longer
support the maintenance of the plants and they would have to be
destroyed and ...... (No Spoiler).....If you havn't seen the movie I
would recomend it.
. . .
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I beg your pardon, I mentioned "Silent Running" (yes, that's the name) a long
time ago. Personally, I list it not too far after 2001, which is that rare
beast for me, an absolute all-time favourite. "Silent Running" is beautiful,
with well-done, convincing effects, the sympathetic little drones Huey, Duey,
and Looie (sorry, don't know how to spell them; I have better things to do
than tag about after Walt Disney), and most especially the finest role I have
ever seen Bruce Dern play . Fortunately, unlike 2001, Silent Running is shown
now and again on television. Gives you a chance to enjoy it again just as you
were starting to forget it. (2001 on TV is NOT a good idea. It really needs
a large screen, and a fine sound system).
As I recall, the ships were taking not merely a sampling, but all the plants
left on Earth (the remainder had been wiped out). Furthermore, it wasn't just
plants: small animals, and birds, were among the cargo, so that the ships were
really carrying a lot of parks and forests.. They weren't just flying
greenhouses. A corporate or governmental decision was to be taken whether
the forestry was to be saved (aboard the ships, of course), or discarded, and
the ships returned to Earth for more "useful" work. As the film opens, the
crews are awaiting that decision.
My vote for best effect in Silent Running: the explosions in space. You so
seldom see those done correctly, but they're done correctly here. Of course,
you might argue in favour of the rings of Saturn, and I don't really see how I
could criticise if you did ...
Alastair Milnecanopus@amdahl.UUCP (Frank Dibbell) (04/03/85)
> (David A. Stone:) > I really have to many 'BEST' movie's to pick just one though I am rather > surprised to see no mention of the movie "Silent Running" (or was it "Running > Silent"?) with Bruce Dern and his three robots Huey,Duey,and Luey. (...)one > It was "Silent Running". I saw it too, and was impressed with it. My guess is that it was a bit too "cerebral", and a bit "slow" - reasons why it wasn't more popular. Excellent special effects. It was also interesting to see Bruce Dern play something other than a scruffy cowboy! -- Frank Dibbell (408-746-6493) {whatever}!amdahl!canopus [R.A. 6h 22m 30s Dec. -52d 36m] [Generic disclaimer.....]
leeper@ahutb.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (04/04/85)
>I really have to many 'BEST' movie's to pick just one though >I am rather surprised to see no mention of the movie "Silent >Running" (or was it "Running Silent"?) with Bruce Dern and >his three robots Huey,Duey,and Luey. I have a really good reason for not mentioning SILENT RUNNING among the best of science fiction films. I dislike it. At times very much. There was a film that came out in 1971 called BILLY JACK. At the time it struck a responsive chord and lot's of people liked it very much. Those same people look at the film today totally aghast! Both BILLY JACK and SILENT RUNNING are films that preach to horribly -- and only to the converted. They both pander to a particular political viewpoint that people could groove on when they came out without thinking too much about the content. In SILENT RUNNING we learn that the meanies on earth years ago sent all of the forests into orbit. For a piece of ecological science fiction it stops to think very little about what the ecological effect on Earth would be without the plant life and instead make a sentimental appeal that the forests and all the dewy-eyed animals are gone. There is no explanation as to what people are breathing these days on old Mother Earth with all the trees in space. In any case, just in case somebody in the future gets nostalgic for the days when Earth had oxygen, they keep the forests alive by shooting them into space and having a bunch of not-very-dedicated space cadets tend the forests. Then those nasty earth people decide to use of the last of their oxygen burning their bridges behind them. The ships cost too much to maintain, they have to be nuked. It is a heck of a lot cheaper to jettison the forests in the direction of the sun, or away, where they will not be a hazard to navigation, but nasties and nuking go together so all the forests and the sweet dewy-eyed animals have to be nuked. How much would it cost to let the forests run themselves, as one person figures out at a different point of the film, not one red penny. Automatic systems could maintain the forests on solar power, apparently, but there is not one scientist on Earth who thinks of that before the last of the forests is nuked. They apparently are all hot to see the fireworks display. Ah, but one ecologist rebels. Freeman Lowell -- even the name is corny -- decides to rebel and take his forest away from the sun and out to the orbit of Saturn. There the forest seems to mysteriously get sick. Can you guess why a forest that was healthy in Earth's orbit might get sick out in Saturn's orbit? Ecologist Freeman Lowell can't. Not for a long time, anyway. I guess this is a film with its heart in the right place, but it was just stupid. I like trees and I am an animal rights advocate. But dammit, this film makes a studid argument by saying wouldn't it be sad if these things were gone. Friend, it wouldn't be sad 'cause you need oxygen to be sad. You ain't got oxygen, you ain't gonna be around to miss the chipmunks. A filmmaker who tells you that the reason to protect the environment is just to save the pretty trees and animals is being criminally irresponsible. (I really expect someone to pop up at this point and say that maybe the Earthlings are getting their oxygen from moss or something. I think that currently a fair proportion of our oxygen comes from things SILENT RUNNING is claiming are going away. Even in the dubious possibility that a stable eco-system is possible based on other sources of oxygen, you can't get there from here without a whole lot of disruption that would probably kill off old Homo Saps anyway.) Joan Baez sang the song under the credits which seems somehow fitting. That is not an attack on her (though I really dislike her for other reasons). It is just that she, like this film, tends to appeal to people's emotions rather than their reasoning. The music was pretty good, written by Peter Schickle who is better known for P. D. Q. Bach tours. The robots were played by bi-lateral amputees, incidently, and it is good that they could find work. Still none of these positive points outweighs the major faults of the story. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!ahutb!leeper
nyssa@abnji.UUCP (nyssa of traken) (04/04/85)
For a while, "Silent Running" was what I considered the best movie I had ever seen. It was the only movie to make me cry, back when I saw it in 1972. (I was 11.) Superb.