Soylent Green (1973)

One of my "futuristic" sci-fi favorites! The key is-- What IS Soylent Green???

Quote :

In the year 2022, earth's face has completely changed. New York's
population, for example, has grown to 40 million mouths to feed. The greenhouse effect has risen the temperature into nearly unbearable regions, and the people are kept in the cities by law. The rich live in separated luxury apartments (with women as part of the rented furniture) but also experience the lack of natural food. Strawberries are at $150 for a glass of them. Police Detective Thorn (Charlton Heston) investigates a strange murdering case of an official from the Soylent corporation, which feeds the masses with a palette of their creations: Soylent red, yellow, or, even more nutritious, green.

Did you read my review of A Clockwork Orange or are you just psychic? This is my next movie to watch. I didn't read wikipedia's plot summary because I don't want to be surprised (although I already have an idea of what it's about). This movie has a twist ending (because at the bottom there is a wikipedia link for movies with twist endings) so that's always fun. I'm a little worried about that because I'm aware of the famous line "Soylent Green is people". I hope that's not the twist

Quote :

Did you read my review of A Clockwork Orange or are you just psychic?

Yep, I saw you were going to check this out next so I made the thread. Enjoy...

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

Quote :

Did you read my review of A Clockwork Orange or are you just psychic?

Yep, I saw you were going to check this out next so I made the thread. Enjoy...

Oh, okay. So you can't read my mind?

Like I said in my review I won't be watching this today - I'll either watch it tomorrow night (doubtful since it'll be so late) or Wednesday.

I'm about to watch this. Review will be ready in a few hours.

Review:

Okay, well I sat through this waiting for the plot to pick up. It never really did. The twist ending was not a surprise for me so the line "Soylent green is people" wasn't as good as it could have been.

Okay, so soylent green is people - so what? I think Charlton Heston said it best - "We've got to stop them, somehow". That's just it - somehow. There was no real resolution to that. At the end Heston's hand was in the air and the camera zoomed in on him holding up 3 fingers or so. Was that supposed to be significant?

I don't know. I guess this was more of a detective story and they did indeed solve that soylent green is in fact people. I get what themes there are in the movie, but it just didn't do a whole lot for me. This is a science fiction movie but it felt more like a mystery.

Maybe I'm not a good film critic or something, but this wasn't a movie I'm going to want to watch a million times. It didn't make the American Film Institute's Top 100 movies list and I can see why.

I guess I should quit trying to act like this film was even mediocre, it isn't:

64/100
D

UP NEXT: I'm not really sure so first person who wants to choose for me wins. Here are the choices...for what it's worth, the last 2 sound dreadful.

1. The Godfather (ranked #2 by the AFI)
   
2. North by Northwest (ranked #55 by the AFI)
   
3. Casablanca (ranked #3 by the AFI)
   
4. Gone with the Wind (ranked #6 by the AFI)
   

North by Northwest was my choice, so go for that one!

bobrob2004 wrote:

North by Northwest was my choice, so go for that one!

Can do! I'll watch it in less than 7 days. Thank you for not picking either of those last two
Next time I'll have someone chose between the 3 that didn't get picked and whatever I add.
Also, if someone picks one of those last two the next movie will be the other one. They're often associated with each other so if I have to watch one I'll watch both.

I can offer you plenty of commentary on Gone With the Wind. I did a paper on it for a film class in grad school, it's one of my personal favorites, and I even have a personal letter from Olivia deHavilland, who played Melanie in the film (I wrote her in 1977!).

I don't think I'll like Gone with the Wind or Casablanca although I suppose I should watch them at some point. I think they're both love stories and I'm not a fan of that at all.

The Godfather, but you have to watch all 3.

SoulRat wrote:

The Godfather, but you have to watch all 3.

I thought the 3rd one sucked? The Godfather is high on my list of films to see. Bobrob wants me to see North By Northwest and I promised him I'd watch that next. Maybe The Godfather can be after that?

The 3rd one is def the worst, but you absolutely have to see at least 1 and 2.

SoulRat wrote:

The 3rd one is def the worst, but you absolutely have to see at least 1 and 2.

According to the commentaries on The Simpsons (I've watched all 10 seasons worth ) The Simpsons draws its heaviest influence from Citizen Kane and The Godfather. After watching Citizen Kane I realize there's tons of references to it in The Simpsons. The Clockwork Orange has at least one (that thing in the middle with the eyes propped open while watching a film) and Soylent Green has at least one (although I forgot what it was ).

A silent you might consider is Metropolis.

laprimamirala wrote:

A silent you might consider is Metropolis.

Silent film, eh? One of these days I'm going to try one but I can't imagine how you could make a good silent movie. Is Charlie Chaplin in Metropolis? (no, he's not).

We'll see...

Oh, bad news for people excited about picking out my movies for me - I "stole" some DVDs from my dad. Here's what's next on my list:

1. North by Northwest
   
2. The Maltese Falcon (1941 version)
   
3. Roman Holiday
   

After that I might waste 6+ hours and watch Gone with the Wind followed by Casablanca but I'm not sure I can handle those.

Casablanca is pretty much the B&W love story. At least with Gone with the Wind, you have lots of costumes and scenery in addition to the love story!
Also try The Adventures of Robin Hood (Warner Bros. 1938) with Errol Flynn. That was pretty cool too!

laprimamirala wrote:

Casablanca is pretty much the B&W love story. At least with Gone with the Wind, you have lots of costumes and scenery in addition to the love story!
Also try The Adventures of Robin Hood (Warner Bros. 1938) with Errol Flynn. That was pretty cool too!

Hmm...my dad says Casablanca is a good movie while Gone With the Wind is horrible. I don't know - when it gets to having to watch them I'll anticipate an awful film. Worst-case scenario I get what I expected.

most guys don't like GWTW. Bogie is your guy!

I give Soylent Green an 80, based on the year it came out and the sad future view they had in this mystery.

We were also going into a pretty severe recession.

Who can forget the lines at the gas stations?

laprimamirala wrote:

I can offer you plenty of commentary on Gone With the Wind. I did a paper on it for a film class in grad school, it's one of my personal favorites, and I even have a personal letter from Olivia deHavilland, who played Melanie in the film (I wrote her in 1977!).

She's still alive at age 91ish! Her sister is still alive, too although they haven't spoken since 1975. I saw her sister last night in Rebecca.

catbox_9 wrote:

laprimamirala wrote:

I can offer you plenty of commentary on Gone With the Wind. I did a paper on it for a film class in grad school, it's one of my personal favorites, and I even have a personal letter from Olivia deHavilland, who played Melanie in the film (I wrote her in 1977!).

She's still alive at age 91ish! Her sister is still alive, too although they haven't spoken since 1975. I saw her sister last night in Rebecca.

Joan is good too. Rebecca was another foray of David Selznick.

laprimamirala wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

laprimamirala wrote:

I can offer you plenty of commentary on Gone With the Wind. I did a paper on it for a film class in grad school, it's one of my personal favorites, and I even have a personal letter from Olivia deHavilland, who played Melanie in the film (I wrote her in 1977!).

She's still alive at age 91ish! Her sister is still alive, too although they haven't spoken since 1975. I saw her sister last night in Rebecca.

Joan is good too. Rebecca was another foray of David Selznick.

2 best pictures in 2 years. That's quite impressive!

I loved this movie. It took me about a week to watch it, I always fall asleep while watching movies. I knew what it was about because everyone I knew had already seen it. This is one that I could watch again and again and again. I'd give it a 90.

They're showing this on TCM tomorrow (well technically early Friday morning). I'm debating whether to tape this or not.

Oh, and I'm about to watch Touch of Evil if anyone cares.