Silent Running

1972 • 90 minutes

About this movie

As this science fiction classic opens, botanist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) has spent eight years aboard the space freighter 'Valley Forge' preserving the only botanical specimens left from Earth under huge geodesic domes. When he receives orders to destroy the project and return home, Lowell rebels and hijacks the freighter, while plunging the craft into the gaseous Rings of Saturn. From that moment on, he has only the trees, the gardens and two 'Drone' robots, Huey and Dewey, to keep him company on his greatest adventure of all.

Ratings and reviews

Thought provoking story about trying to preserve Earth's ecology, that is still relevant today as it was in 1972. Bruce Dern puts in a powerful performance, coupled with amazing visual images, robot drones that reaches your heart and an almost mournful film score this is a sci-fi film that makes you think long after watching it.

A Sci-fi film that is more about ideas and the impact of choices than the over-blown fx laden battles of today's films.

One of my favourite films as a kid, has an even greater resonance today. Without Huey and Duey you wouldn't have had R2-D2.