SILENT RUNNING [1972 / 2020] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
Man’s most incredible adventure in space . . . a journey beyond imagination!
In 1968, visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull [‘The Andromeda Strain’ and ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’] contributed to the ground-breaking special photographic effects of Stanley Kubrick's ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ Four years later, Douglas Trumbull stamped his own indelible mark on the science fiction genre with his mesmerising directorial debut – ‘SILENT RUNNING.’
In the not-so-distant future, Earth is barren of all flora and fauna, with what remains of the planet's former ecosystems preserved aboard a fleet of greenhouses orbiting in space. When the crews are ordered to destroy the remaining specimens, one botanist, Freeman Lowell [Bruce Dern, ‘The 'Burbs’], rebels and flees towards Saturn in a desperate bid to preserve his own little piece of Earth that was, accompanied only by the ship's three service robots.
Featuring a captivating central performance by Bruce Dern, visual effects that rival anything in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ and a powerful ecological message, ‘SILENT RUNNING’ is a haunting and prescient sci-fi classic that resonates even more strongly today than it did at the time of its original release.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1973 Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival: Nomination: Grand Prize for Douglas Trumbull. 1973 Hugo Awards: Nominations: Best Dramatic Presentation for Douglas Trumbull [Director], Deric Washburn [Screenplay] and Michael Cimino [Screenplay]
FILM FACT No.2: Douglas Trumbull was involved with creating effects for ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ [1968], whose director, Stanley Kubrick, had wanted that film's ‘Stargate’ sequence to be about the planet Saturn; however, technical difficulties prevented completion of the sequence's special effects within the limited time available. The Saturn idea was scrapped, and Kubrick substituted Jupiter instead. Douglas Trumbull developed the sequence after production, and it was recreated for Saturn in ‘SILENT RUNNING.’ The interiors were filmed aboard the decommissioned Korean War aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge (LPH-8), which was docked at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in Long Beach, California. Shortly after filming was completed, the carrier was scrapped. The forest environments were originally intended to be filmed in the Mitchell Park Domes in Milwaukee, but the production budget forced the sequences to be shot in a newly completely empty aircraft hangar in Van Nuys, California. Douglas Trumbull stated in the audio commentary accompanying the DVD release that the geodesic domes containing the last forests of Earth's future on the Valley Forge were based on the Missouri Botanical Garden's Climatron dome. The three drones were played by four bilateral amputees, an idea inspired by Johnny Eck, a sideshow performer of the early 20th century who was born without lower limbs. The 20-pound (9.1 kg) drone suits were custom-tailored for the actors. The suits are in Douglas Trumbull's personal collection. The sound effects, including the drones, were created by uncredited composer Joseph Byrd. They were generated on a modified ARP 2600 synthesizer with added Oberheim Expander Modules.
Cast: Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, Jesse Vint, Mark Persons [grey Drone # 1 “Dewey”], Steven Brown [orange Drone # 2 “Huey”], Cheryl Sparks [orange Drone # 2 “Huey”], Larry Whisenhunt [green Drone # 3 “Louie”], Joseph Campanella [Neal - Berkshire' Captain] (voice) (uncredited) and Roy Engel [Anderson] (voice) (uncredited)
Director: Douglas Trumbull
Producers: Douglas Trumbull (uncredited), Martin Hornstein and Michael Gruskoff
Screenplay: Deric Washburn, Michael Cimino and Steven Bochco
Composer: Peter Schickele
Special Effects: Don Trumbull [drone units], Gerald Endler [mechanical effects] (uncredited), James Dow [drone units], James Rugg [special effects], Marlin Jones [special effects], Paul Kraus [special effects], R. L. Helmer [special effects], Richard O. Helmer [special effects] and Vernon Archer [special effects]
Cinematography: Charles F. Wheeler (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English: 1.0 DTS-HD Master Mono Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 90 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Universal Pictures / ARROW VIDEO
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘SILENT RUNNING’ [1972] opens with an exquisite close-up of brightly coloured flora and slowly moving fauna. The forest is glistening wet – like it's covered in rainfall – but parts of the path are metal, and the starlit sky is framed by triangular bars. The camera slowly reveals this isn't untouched wilderness but a flourishing garden within a giant geodesic dome. A few moments later, the camera zooms out, spectacularly revealing the giant greenhouse is actually one of six located on a spacecraft gliding through space. Even in the darkest depths of the cosmos life persists, but the prominent branding emblazoned on the ship's exterior suggests this isn't a utopian project; far from it, this nature is the property of a freighter megacorporation.
The film's greatest visual trick is its simplest; framing the lush foliage against the pitch black of the universe and whirring machines makes organic life all the more miraculous. By the end, nature has been spared destruction; to an extent, it has been emancipated. One of the final shots, is that of the lonely droid Dewey diligently caring for the plants.
The message of the film is that Earth has become defoliated. An ecological preserve has been lofted into space containing the last specimens of green plants and wildlife. Four astronauts man the space freighter Valley Forge. One of them, a botanist named Freeman Lowell [Bruce Dern], works in the geodesic domes containing a forest lush with plants, trees, and a variety of animals. In his spare time, he tries to convince his three ecologically apathetic companions about the beauty of nature and his dream that future generation on Earth will be able to enjoy the smell of flowers and the taste of natural food.
Then, when the space control station on Earth orders the men to terminate the project by destroying the domes with bombs, Freeman Lowell revolts and kills his three co-workers, pirates the space freighter, and sets the ship catapulting off-course towards the rings of Saturn.
Now Freeman Lowell's only source of companionship is three maintenance drones, pint-sized robots. Freeman Lowell names them Huey, Dewey, and Louie and programs them to follow him around and respond directly to his voice. They play poker with him and help care for the forest. But the anthropomorphized robots cannot alleviate Freeman Lowell's loneliness or feelings of guilt. As the ship moves away from the sun, the plants begin to die and cannot figure out why this is happening.
Eventually, Freeman Lowell is located by the space command centre and is told to prepare for boarding by other astronauts, and he realizes that he has gone too far to back down. Freeman Lowell programs Dewey to be caretaker of the forest and jettisons the garden dome off into space — an Eden of artificial sunlight containing the last remnant of the Earth's lost grandeur. Freeman Lowell then does what has to be done with his own ship, what that act is, you will have to watch ‘SILENT RUNNING.’
‘SILENT RUNNING’ is a really excellent science fiction film for the whole family. It marks the directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull, to be the special effects genius of Stanley Kubrick's ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ Douglas Trumbull has fashioned a dramatically exciting and morally stimulating exploration of humankind's relationship to nature and technology. In ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ “Hal” the Computer was a giant malevolent machine. Douglas Trumbull's Dewey, Huey and Louie look like miniature TV sets; they are obedient, benign, and quite lovable. Technology, according to the director, can be controlled and used effectively for humankind.
The film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ was bankrolled by the success of Dennis Hopper's seminal 1969 road movie ‘Easy Rider.’ Keen to capture the imagination of a newly politicised generation and, in return, reap comparable box office success, Universal studio executives pumped profits from ‘Easy Rider’ into five youth-oriented movies, including ‘American Graffiti.’
‘SILENT RUNNING’ ongoing appeal is owed, in part, to the prescience of this ecologically-inflected premise. In 1972, global warming was over 15 years away from entering popular discourse that happened during a 1988 address to the US Senate. But a popular environmental campaign was already in full swing. In 1970, Santa Barbara celebrated Environmental Rights Day, a one-year commemoration for a devastating oil spill. A few months later, the first Earth Day took place across US colleges, universities, schools, and communities. These events, landmark awakenings of public consciousness, emerged in the path of Rachel Carson's watershed 1962 eco-treatise, “Silent Spring,” which shares an eerie resonance with the title of Douglas Trumbull's film.
‘SILENT RUNNING’ surpasses other ecology films in its ability to stir our awareness and imaginatively create concern for the consequences of ecological neglect. Douglas Trumbull advocates a wiser use of our natural resources and a caretaking attitude toward the Earth. Douglas Trumbull gives us a hero who is so totally committed to his innocent siblings in creation that he's willing to take a moral stand. Douglas Trumbull ecological conscience is a challenge to us all.
Trumbull & Co. worked out a unique alternative to the traditional science fiction robot. Little Huey, Dewey and Louie are played by young bi-lateral amputees skilled in walking on their hands. The lightweight ‘robot’ shells built around their bodies were designed to hide hints of human physiognomy. A big success, the robots have been noted as the precursors to Star Wars’ R2-D2 robot.
The best thing about ‘SILENT RUNNING’ is actor Bruce Dern, whose characteristically fearless performance keeps the episodic story in motion. Bruce Dern isn’t afraid to tap some of the out-there mannerisms of the psychos he often played. Freeman Lowell is essentially a one-man Greenpeace movement, an activist pushed to violence to defend his principles. As Freeman Lowell is the only thing preventing the total extinction of plant life, we are naturally on his side. But he’s also a terrorist outlaw, like the misguided anti-nuke boffins.
In summing up the movie ‘SILENT RUNNING’ it is very app especially with today’s active environmental climate protestors, as the film predicted what was going to happen in the future for our planet Earth and the destruction of nature, so all in all, the movie ‘SILENT RUNNING’ was really ahead of its time.
SILENT RUNNING MUSIC TRACK LIST
SILENT RUNNING (Lyrics by Diane Lampert) (Music by Peter Schickele) [Performed by Joan Baez]
REJOICE IN THE SUN (Lyrics by Diane Lampert) (Music by Peter Schickele) [Performed by Joan Baez]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Universal Pictures and ARROW VIDEO presents us the film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ with an outstanding 1080p image and is shown in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. ARROW VIDEO has really gone all out with this one, improving significantly over the older Universal and Masters of Cinema editions, both of which appear to have used the same older high-definition master. This presentation has a far more film-like texture to it, rendering grain beautifully and delivering the finer details effortlessly: the stitching of that heavy, cotton robe that Dern wears on occasion throughout the film looks absolutely incredible here. Colours look wonderful as well, reds and blues looking saturated perfectly, and black levels are rich and deep for the most part, still allowing for decent shadow detail. A few blacks can look a bit milky in places, but I think that comes down more to the original photography. The restoration work has also been more thorough: a few minor specs remain but on the whole the image is very clean. The film is incredibly grainy, but, as mentioned beforehand, the grain is rendered cleanly, never looking noisy or blocky. This movie ‘SILENT RUNNING’ looks absolutely amazing in the end. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Universal Pictures and ARROW VIDEO bring us the film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ with a wonderful 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio experience. Despite the film being science fiction with handful of action-oriented sequences its more reflective in nature and the soundtrack replicates that feeling. Dialogue is strong and clear, as are effects, all of which shows some surprising range. The film’s music is folksier in nature, but again range is pretty wide, and fidelity is excellent, allowing the music to come off sharp and clear. A surround upgrade probably would have worked, but as it is the monaural soundtrack does a rather wonderful job in handling everything.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original camera negative, which has been sourced from a 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative and approved by director Douglas Trumbull
Special Feature: Audio Commentary by Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman [2000] [1080p] [1.85:1] [89:23] With this featurette, first up to introduce himself is writer, broadcaster and journalist Barry Forshaw and informs us that is the author of “British Gothic Cinema” and “BFI Classics: War of the Worlds” and other books on film genre, and then informs us that sitting next to him is a very recognisable man and that person is Kim Newman who of course is known as an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work includes film history and horror fiction and has a recurring interests that includes film history and horror fiction, but also is a contributing editor to the UK film magazine Empire and Sight & Sound publication and also mentions that he saw Tod Browning's ‘Dracula’ at the age of eleven. But of course both Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman get into an interesting conversation about all aspects of science-fiction, what makes a science-fiction film, and how ‘SILENT RUNNING’ fits the criteria and they both think it is a particular type of science fiction film and especially with its eco awareness and they also both think the film is from a typical period of science fiction, and of course Douglas Trumbull is the autre of science fiction and of course was very famous on working on the classic sci-fi film ‘2002: A Space Odyssey,’ but later on Douglas Trumbull was also famous for turning down the sci-fi film ‘Star Wars.’ They also talk about when ‘SILENT RUNNING’ was released, they did not feel at the time is was an ECO plea, which they both felt is what Stanley Kubrick put that type of message in his films. We are told that from the age of 10, Mark Kermode was a massive obsessed fan of the film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ and his all-time favourite science fiction film, but they also feel that ‘SILENT RUNNING’ relates to very young children. They address how the film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ was a commercial failure, all because the film studio did not bother to spend money on promoting the film, whereas now a growing number of audiences over the years, ‘SILENT RUNNING’ has now become the ultimate cult classic sci-fi film, especially with the ecological hippy fraternity. Also they both say that when the film was released, audiences were very surprised to see the leading character actor was Bruce Dern, who audiences have seen him in his other previous films playing very nasty brutish menacing characters, but of course in ‘SILENT RUNNING’ his character is instead the hero in the film and an ecological warrior, but whereas the other three crew members are instead a bunch of really nasty belligerent misogynous characters who of course eventually get their comeuppance, but despite this, Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman talk in-depth about those three nasty characters compared to Bruce Dern’s character and funny enough we are informed that all actor trained together at acting school and it was Bruce Dern who wanted the other three actors to appear in the film with him. Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman again talk about the film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ and its message is ecological, and that there had been other previous science fiction films with an ecological message, like for instance ‘No Blades of Grass.’ ‘Soylent Green,’ ‘The Omega Man,’ ‘I Am Legend,’ ‘Logan’s Run’ and there was the mini TV series “The Martian Chronicles,’ but then they say what is the thing that is different about the film ‘SILENT RUNNING,’ because this particular film was not based on a novel, because this sci-fi film has absolutely nothing to do with science, but it is to do with a fable. But on the other hand, they say that ‘SILENT RUNNING,’ has come into itself in the 21st century because it is a film about the depletion of resources and what has happened to the Rain Forest and the preservation of the forest in general. Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman get round to talking about the use of music and especially the two songs by Joan Baez for this film, but mainly about music used in science fiction films in general, which is a whole fascinating subject, especially in the 1950’s science fiction films and in that period they used electronic music that was so very popular over that period, then later on they would use well known popular classical music genre, and of course it was well used in the Stanley Kubrick science fiction film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman talk fondly about the three droids and also mention that when audiences first catch sight of them in the film, it was not until the credits at the end of the film, that they find out that inside the three droids were bilateral amputation people, which of course means that these people had the surgical removal of more than one limb, either both lower extremity or both upper extremity. But as we get near to the end of Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman’s audio commentary, where they say they hope the have given the listener a lot of food for thought, and Kim Newman finds the film fascinating to revisit, and keeps on prodding you and asking you what you think of this particular film, and also asking is this a good film or a bad film, and is the character of Bruce Dern a genuine hero or not or both and is the end of the film a tragic ending, and is Bruce Dern fulfilling his vison of being the safe guardian of the forest and humanity, and Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman both think ‘SILENT RUNNING’ runs very well, and they both feel the film now looks much stronger than when it was released in 1972, and this new Blu-ray upgrade transfer, looks even better since they went to see the film in the cinema. To sum up, Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman both have a great fondness for the science fiction film ‘SILENT RUNNING,’ but they are very fair in their assessment of the film so please check it out. Please Note: Due to the amount of space I am allowed to do my Blu-ray Reviews, unfortunately with these audio commentaries I have had to edit them dramatically, but what you do get to read, I do hope it will not spoil your enjoyment.
Special Feature: Audio Commentary by Douglas Trumbull and Bruce Dern [2000] [1080p] [1.85:1] [68:51] With this featurette, we have this second audio commentary and first up to talk about the movie ‘SILENT RUNNING’ is director Douglas Trumbull and informs us that he is talking from the location of Universal Studios and on one of their lot on the 16th October, 2020 and sitting next to him is the actor Bruce Dern who then introduces himself and is also here to talk about the science fiction movie ‘SILENT RUNNING’ and also talk about the film’s production as well. Douglas Trumbull starts to talk about the establishing scene in the film with the close up of the flowering plants in the forest, and also informs us about the specialised lens and camera used and the snail we get to see in another shot, and Douglas Trumbull informs us that the snail was taken from his garden in Georgina Avenue in Santa Monica. Then Douglas Trumbull asks Bruce Dern about the particular project from Universal Pictures that were looking into capitalising on the massive success of Columbia Pictures film ‘Easy Rider’ and went onto financing five films by fresh young directors for less than a $1,000,000 dollars each, with the other four films being Peter Fonda’s ‘The Hired Hand,’ Dennis Hopper’s ‘The Last Movie,’ Milos Forman’s ‘Taking Off,’ and George Lucas’ ‘American Graffiti’ because they could only ahead with the project is each film was on a very tight low budget and in doing so Universal Pictures would not interfere and let these young directors to just get on with directing those films. Both get around to talk about the first part of the film and its locations which was shot inside the newly completely empty aircraft hangar at Van Nuys Airport, Los Angeles, California and had to do looping because there was so much noise because of aeroplanes taking off and landing on the air strip right next to the building and when you see three of the crew driving extremely fast with the small motorised vehicles, and informs us that this was filmed on the empty decommissioned hangar deck of the USS Valley Forge 24 Essex-class aircraft carrier that was built during and shortly after World War II for the United States Navy and when filming had ended would soon then be dismantled for metal scrap, but of course the massive bonus of filming on the empty aircraft carrier, and was very cheap to hire and it was only costing them to film for $2,0000 dollars a week. Noe Bruce Dern comes in to start talking about his acting career and up to the point of starting to film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ had already done 20 movies, but had never been a leading actor in a film until now with this 1972 science fiction movie and Bruce Dern comments that he was really knocked out when he finally viewed the film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ and especially the spaceships and the amazing domes, that in real life were very small in size models. Douglas Trumbull informs us that before filming would start on the movie ‘SILENT RUNNING,’ had not even contemplated who the leading actor was to be, and happened to view five films of actor Bruce Dern and was so impressed, decided that Bruce Dern was going to be the leading actor in the movie ‘SILENT RUNNING,’ despite the fact that most of Bruce Dern’s movies he always plays really nasty menacing vicious characters, but in this film Douglas Trumbull felt Bruce Dern played a really sweet and a very environmental concerned character, and Douglas Trumbull also says that the filming of ‘SILENT RUNNING’ took an amazing 32 days shooting schedule and was also thankful that Bruce Dern was able to carry the whole movie, and each shot only took an average of two shots and then they were able to move on to shoot other scenes in the film, because time is money and Bruce Dern says it was a wonderful easy experience. Bruce Dern also gives great praise about the cinematographer Charles F. Wheeler and Bruce Dern asks Douglas Trumbull why he was chosen and the director informs the actor how many films he has shot up until doing ‘SILENT RUNNING’ and Douglas Trumbull says that Charles F. Wheeler was extremely helpful on this 1972 film especially on the technical side of shooting the film. Doulas Trumbull talks to Bruce Dern about his blue ski jump clothing with all the wonderful array of badges sown onto the outfit and Bruce Dern says that he still has it at his home and really enjoyed wearing it in the film. Bruce Dern also informs us that he earned $1,250.00 dollars a week to be in the film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ and had a brilliant time making the movie. Douglas Trumbull then gets round to talking about the three droids and the here mentions that they were bilateral amputation people inside them, which of course means that these people had the surgical removal of more than one limb, either both lower extremity or both upper extremity and Douglas Trumbull got the idea for the three droids from watching the Todd Browning 1932 movie ‘Freaks.’ Bruce Dern talks about the scene with the other three crew members while he eats his melon and says that before actual filming they would rehearse that scene in-depth and about the serious arguing they would do and what it was they were arguing about, and carried on until they were happy with the results of the rehearsal, and to make that particular scene in the film look good, and Douglas Trumbull says that the and at the time the director felt he did not know what the hell he was doing with filming the kitchen scene was the first ever scene they filmed. Douglas Trumbull talks about the joy of working on the film ‘2002: A Space Odyssey’ and especially working with the amazing genius director Stanley Kubrick. But with the film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ Douglas Trumbull talks mainly about the technical aspects of the film and the effects work, explaining how he really tried to avoid optical effects if he could, and goes as far as even recounting the various deals he made with third parties to keep costs down and get the materials he needed for the film. Douglas Trumbull says that before directing ‘SILENT RUNNING’ he had been working on the special effects for film ‘The Andromeda Strain’ for the director Robert Wise and including his near-bankruptcy when he underbid by $130,000 dollars for his work on the film ‘The Andromeda Strain’ and at the time felt totally stupid and naïve. Whereas Douglas Trumbull had learnt a bitter lesson and made sure the budget on ‘SILENT RUNNING’ was extremely cost effective and so with all the plants they rented by the day and when finished filming those particular scenes, the plants were all dug up and went back to where they were hired from. When you saw Bruce Dern swimming in the water, Bruce Dern says the water was absolutely freezing and a water truck had just filled it up and they had to shoot that scene when it was filled up, so Bruce Dern was given a wet suite to help him out. Bruce Dern asks Douglas Trumbull what was the size of the spaceships and informs him they were 25 feet long and the three you see together were actual three still photographs on a black starry background and were moved left to right in front of a camera. Bruce Dern says that when he put on the blue ski jump outfit, he got into his character especially being in outer space and also getting into his character and also getting pissed off with the other three crewmen annoying his character, because his character felt the other three crewmen were belligerent arrogant idiots, who really wanted to go back to Earth and did not really want to be part of the project and Bruce Dern’s character wondered why the hell did they want to be volunteers with the project, and of course Bruce Dern’s character was 100% behind the project, especially in preserving the forest and the small animal creatures, and also Bruce Dern’s character really wanted to be in full control of the project and the situation. When you see Bruce Dern’s character kills one of the crew member, in rehearsals they used a rubber shovel, but the shovel blade would flop about, so in the end they had to use a real shovel for that scene where Bruce Dern’s character murders the crew member and did it in self-defence and in the name of science and the love and passion for the survival of nature in that dome. Bruce Dern, admitting he doesn’t have the know-how when it comes to the technical aspects of filmmaking, talks primarily about his performance and the filming, and even talks about how the film has held for today’s viewing public. Both Douglas Trumbull and Bruce Dern that it was really nice working on ‘SILENT RUNNING’ and to share the belief in the project and its message was to save nature and the environment, and in 1972 people were not at all concerned about the destruction of Planet Earth’s great assets. As we get near to the end of the film and this second personal audio commentary with Douglas Trumbull and Bruce Dern, both feel that the film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ was a really beautiful film, and totally magical, and there are certain movies throughout both of their careers where you wanted to cry the way the business was changing and where people in the movie business who sadly pass away. On top of all that, they both say that there were a whole lot of people who believed in ‘SILENT RUNNING’ and were also very emotionally involved in the film and that is why both of them were very proud and loved to be part to be involved with the project and believed in it 100%. At that point this second audio commentary with Douglas Trumbull and Bruce Dern finishes. All in all, it is a really great audio commentary track that keeps things very interesting, and if one hasn’t listened to it before I would highly recommend you do so. Please Note: Again I regret to say that due to the amount of space I am allowed to do my Blu-ray Reviews, unfortunately with these audio commentaries I have had to edit them dramatically, but what you do get to read, I do hope it will not spoil your enjoyment.
Special Feature: Isolated Music and FX Sound Effects: [1972] [1080p] [1.85:1] [89:30] With this featurette, you get to experience in hearing the Peter Schickele's lush composed film score and you also get to hear the excellent Joan Baez's songs, but also you get to hear the amazing FX Sound Effects are presented in the pure 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio sound experience. But of course you also get to experience lots of silent gaps, so of course it is up to you to decide whether you want to endure this full length featurette.
Special Feature: No Turning Back: Scoring ‘SILENT RUNNING’ [Audio only] [2020] [1080p] [1.85:1] [13:54] With this featurette, we get to view a brand new audio commentary with Jeff Bond [Author/Film Music Historian] gives an in-depth history about the sci-fi film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ composed film score and how Joan Baez came to incorporate her songs into the film, and at the same time Jeff Bond offers an insight on how the composed music works with the film, and going over a handful of sequences. As an added bonus we get to view lots of clips from the movie ‘SILENT RUNNING.’ This featurette was recorded exclusively for ARROW VIDEO in August 2020. This was a Ballyhoo Motion Pictures Production.
Special Feature: First Run: The Evolution of ‘SILENT RUNNING’ Screenplay [Audio only] [2020] [1080p] [1.85:1] [14:03] With this featurette, we get to view another exclusive ARROW VIDEO new audio/visual essay by writer and filmmaker Jon Spira and explores the in-depth evolution of the movie ‘SILENT RUNNING’ and covering the early draft of the screenplay and does touch on early drafts and explaining a very different film, but through this essay, which makes use of illustrations to help visualize some of the script changes, we get to see the early film was far darker in its content and I found this inclusion especially very interesting. As an added bonus, we get to view some totally amazing black-and-white ink drawn illustrations by Simon Coleby. Voice Artists contributors: Anthony Forrest [Canadian actor], Garrick Hagon [British actor] and Angus MacInnes [Canadian actor].
Special Feature: Here we get to view four Archival Special Features and they are as follows:
The Making of ‘SILENT RUNNING’ [1972] [480i] [1.37:1] [49:17] With this featurette, we get to view a 1972 archival on-set documentary about the making of the classic science fiction film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ and is narrated by Scott Beach. We also get to view lots of behind-the-scenes of filming on the USS Valley Forge 24 Essex-class aircraft carrier. We are also informed that the main dome filming was done in an empty aircraft hangar at the Van Nuys Airport in California and of course this documentary was created at the time of shooting the film ‘SILENT RUNNING’ and at the same time documenting the various aspects of the film, from production design and the costumes to the special effects work. There are also interviews with Bruce Dern, the performers that were in the drone outfits, director of photography Charles Wheeler, associate producer Marty Hornstein, Editor Aaron Stell, and others. The film was shot primarily at a naval base and there’s plenty of footage from the location. Not too surprisingly, some at the base didn’t know what to make of Bruce Dern’s long hair. The documentary includes interviews with the film's cast and crew, who share their experiences of working on the set and discuss the efforts that went into bringing the project to completion. As a bonus we get to view lots of clips from the movie ‘SILENT RUNNING.’ Contributors include: Scott Beach [Narrator], Joan Baez, Dick Dawson, Bruce Dern, Michael Gruskoff, Marty Hornstein, Paul Kraus, Peter Schickele, Cheryl Sparks [Drone 2 / Huey], Aaron Stell, Douglas Trumbull and Charles F. Wheeler.
‘SILENT RUNNING’ by Director Douglas Trumbull [1974] [1080i] [1.37:1] [30:09] With this featurette, Douglas Trumbull talks about learning from the master director Stanley Kubrick. Douglas Trumbull also admits to never taking more than three takes on any shot so this makes ‘SILENT RUNNING’ a really low budget filmmaking and you would never have guessed. We get a much longer filming with Douglas Trumbull talks specifically about ‘SILENT RUNNING’ and its production values. Some of the information expands on topics covered in his audio commentary, but he gets a bit more into the effects work, the development, and such. Once again, we get the bonus of getting to view lots of clips from the movie ‘SILENT RUNNING.’ This featurette was dedicated to the memory of Ann Bolster Vidor.
Douglas Trumbull: Then and Now [2002] [1080i] [1.37:1] [4:52] With this featurette, Douglas Trumbull mourns the loss of photo-chemical film as a viable medium and specifically 70mm film – and I'll join him in that. Douglas Trumbull efers to his Future General Company (ILM's precursor) and its patented “Showscan” process, one that may get a 21st century reprieve from none other than James Cameron and involves an overhaul of the worldwide projection systems and to upgrade projectors to show movies at 60 frames per second, over twice as much as traditional 35mm now project and James Cameron obviously thinks so. But most of all, we get to hear Douglas Trumbull talking about his general career and how the failure of ‘SILENT RUNNING’ led to him getting into the technical side of filmmaking, like designing cameras and equipment, and even designing rides for amusement parks, like the Back to the Future ride.
‘SILENT RUNNING’ – A discussion with Bruce Dern aka Lowell Freeman [2002] [1080i] [1.37:1] [10:57] With this featurette, we have a really nice intimate archival interview with the film’s leading actor Bruce Dern aka Lowell Freeman where the actor was recalling what a pleasant experience it was to make the film. Bruce Dern also expresses his surprise at the fan base the film seems to have developed. Overall, this is a genial chat with the actor behind Lowell Freeman, the incomparable Bruce Dern and talks about typecasting and what a breath of fresh air it was to be offered the role of Freeman. Not sure how that works as Bruce Dern's reputation at that time was for playing villains and oddballs. So is Lowell Freeman the good guy in the movie ‘SILENT RUNNING’ or will it depend on your perspective?
Special Feature: Theatrical Trailer [1972] [480i] [1.37:1] [2:58] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘SILENT RUNNING,’ where we are told there is a "A cataclysm in outer space!" Joan Baez's specially written music stands out in this trailer and at the centre this early example of 1970’s trailer art. It also includes an advert for the Universal Studios Tour. Unfortunately, the quality of this trailer is absolutely atrocious and surely there must be a much better quality trailer in Universal Pictures vaults.
Special Feature: Behind-the-Scenes Gallery: With this featurette, it contains a whopping 635 of stunning 1080p full colour production stills related to all aspects of the amazing 1972 sci-fi movie ‘SILENT RUNNING.’
BONUS: Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Arik Moonhawk Roper who is an illustrator and painter who is based in New York City. Arik Moonhawk Roper grew up in Richmond, Virginia and his parents both being artists, and his creativity was encouraged and Arik Moonhawk Roper spent a great deal of time during his childhood drawing.
PLUS: FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Included is a wonderful colourful illustrated collector’s 32 page booklet featuring writing on the film by Barry Forshaw entitled SILENT RUNNING – DOUGALS TRUMBULL’S VISION OF NATURE. Also Peter Tonguette’s SILENT RUNNING – BRUCE DERN’S STAR TURN AMONG THE STARS. Also include is CAST. CREW. ABOUT THE RESTORATION. PRODUCTION CREDITS. SPECIAL THANKS. But most of all we get lots of colourful images from the film ‘SILENT RUNNING.’
Finally, ARROW VIDEO has certainly up the ante here, and given us a presentation of ‘SILENT RUNNING’ that’s been given very careful restoration attention. With a good quality transfer and extras, it’s definitely the kind of treatment that a sci-fi film of this calibre deserves. The movie ‘SILENT RUNNING’ via ARROW VIDEO is definitely the ultimate edition for this film, and it features a stunning new visual presentation and an amazing excellent assortment of special features covering the film from a variety of angles. If you are a fan of this movie, like I am, and even if you have owned any of the previous editions, this Blu-ray release is the ultimate one to own. ‘SILENT RUNNING’ is one of the very first mainstream ecologically minded movies and its message is projected and forwarded by a certifiable loon played deliciously by Bruce Dern. The effects are first class and it wears its green heart on its spacesuit sleeve. Its only shortcoming from my point of view is its pace but there's more than enough to keep you riveted in performance, action and effects. Most of all, the movie ‘SILENT RUNNING’ is morally challenging science fiction drama with a protagonist who is a genuine ecological hero. It's a solid entry under the ARROW VIDEO banner. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
