Silent Running

Douglas Trumbull is best known for his superb work as a special effects artist on films such as '2001: A Space Odyssey'. However he has also directed two feature films, 1972's 'Silent Running' and the less well known but equally fascinating 'Brainstorm'.

'Silent Running' stars Bruce Dern as an astronaut on board a spaceship whose giant greenhouses grow the only remaining forests (those on Earth having long since been destroyed). When he and his fellow crew members are ordered to jettison the forests and return the ship to Earth, he protests and in the ensuing struggle is forced to consider what lengths he is prepared to go to in order to save the forests.

The film is sincere and serious, without ever lapsing into polemic, and Dern's performance is both sensitive and considered. His co-actors, particular those inside the costumes for the film's three robots Huey, Dewey and Louie, provide excellent support and events take place in a brilliantly realised spacecraft (Trumbull's talent for imagining future technology clearly in evidence).

'Silent Running' is a truly unique film that is as emotionally involving as it is thought-provoking. Many a child has cried their heart out witnessing the fate of one of the robots, and few adults could remain unmoved by the film's conclusion. And though 'Silent Running' is undoubtedly a film that is very much of its time (the 1970s ecology movement clearly its inspiration), the film's message has if anything become even more relevant over the decades, making this a must-see film for science fiction fans of any generation.