8. Silent Running

     What would happen if all of the forests and lush vegetation were
in danger of being completely erased from the face of the Earth?
This is the premise underlying this movie.  Vast ships have been
sent into orbit containing biomes of all of Earth's vegetation and eco
life.  Meanwhile, pollution and war obliterated what was left on
Earth.
 
     Our main character, Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern), is a
botanist on the space freighter "Valley Forge" who dreams of the
day that his crew will be ordered to re-foliate the Earth.  However,
Lowell's other crew members are completely unenthused by their
duties as sentinels of Earth's great eco systems.  This division
comes to a head when the Valley Forge is ordered to release and
nuke all of the biospheres and return home.  The Earth has
forgotten it's lush forests and does not miss their absence now that
great domes cover the cities.
 
     Lowell can only go so far with this destructive purge until he
turns on his crew mates and seizes control of the ship in order to
save it's remaining biospheres.  With only two Drone robots to
keep him company, Lowell must find some sanity in what has
suddenly become an insane world.
 
     This movie is not flashy and it does not have some real catchy
ending or statement to make.  However, it is a great exploration
of what happens when a man and his dream become obsolete.
This movie has some of the qualities of those best episodes of "The
Twilight Zone."  In this movie our main character finds that all that
he has ever hoped or worked for is meaningless to everyone but
him.  Clinging on to a shrinking world Lowell will do whatever he
can to avoid giving up the dream.  This is a soul searching movie.




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