:
Joe Canutt,
Charlton Heston,
Edward G. Robinson,
more...
:
Richard Fleischer
see all cast/crew...
: 
: Warner Home Video
: Science Fiction
: 97 min.
: English, French
: English, Spanish, French
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Richard Fleischer directed this nightmarish science fiction vision of an over-populated world, based on the novel by Harry Harrison. In 2022, New York City is a town bursting at the seams with a 40-million-plus population. Food is in short supply, and most of the population's food source comes from synthetics manufactured in local factories -- the dinner selections being a choice between Soylent Blue, Soylent Yellow, or Soylent Green. When William Simonson (Joseph Cotten), an upper-echelon executive in the Soylent Company, is found murdered, police detective Thorn (Charlton Heston) is sent in to investigate the case. Helping him out researching the case is Thorn's old friend Sol Roth (Edward G. Robinson, in his final film role). As they investigate the environs of a succession of mad-from-hunger New Yorkers and the luxuriously rich digs of the lucky few, Thorn uncovers the terrible truth about the real ingredients of Soylent Green. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
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| An Inconvenient Truth
by ZenBones
June 23, 2006 - 12:40 AM PDT
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4 out of 4 members found this review helpful
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SPOILERS!!! --
According to this film, we have just sixteen more years until the Earth will be stretching at the seems with overpopulation, global warming will be perpetually keeping the temperature of the planet in the 90s, and food will be reduced to little square soy biscuits (!). It's a silly projection for 2022, but certainly mankind will be facing a dilemma not entirely different in say, sixty years (rent "The Future of Food" and "The End of Suburbia" for coming attractions if you don't believe me). Of course in this film, our oceans are dying so where else can the protein that we need to sustain us come from? I'd like to think that the idea of grounding humans up into Triscuits is totally implausible but then, thirty years ago I would never have guessed that anyone would consider feeding cows to cows.
Seriously, I don't take this film as anything but entertainment, and quite campy entertainment at that. There are wonderful touches, such as a 'futuristic' video game that bears little more sophistication than Pong. I also loved the ending when Chucky Heston is shot in the liver (!) and manages to walk about twenty yards, then get into a prolonged fistfight where he's constantly being thrown over army cots, and then stab his opponent with a knife that conveniently shows up on the floor. While I was convulsing with laughter, I wondered if his victim's last thought in his dying breath was "Damn! I'm going to be a cookie now!". Still, the film bears an uneasiness for me today that it didn't some thirty-three years ago. Today, I choke up at Edward G Robinson's death scene, partly because our society doesn't allow for mercy killings for those who chose to die in such a state of pleasure, and partly because I know that nature IS dying by the acre every half-hour. In all actuality, this isn't a bad companion film to Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth". Just make sure you accommodate your double feature with Triscuits and plenty of organic cheese balls (in biodegradable packaging, of course). In other words, stay concerned, but keep your sense of humor. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.81)
219 Votes
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