Soylent Green

Soylent Green Review

As the final third of Charlton Heston's "Last Man Standing" trilogy, along with The Omega Man and Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green is the most prescient of the three.

To be fair, apes ruling the earth was always going to be unlikely. And while a world decimated by biological weapon-induced plague is at least possible, Richard Fleischer's 1973 film foretold of overpopulation problems that continue to vex today's scientists and urban planners.

"SOYLENT GREEN IS........!!!"

On the slim chance that you have not watched this yet, be advised that while the set design screams 1970, the impact of the film remains unblunted, and with a cautionary tale that presaged later sci-fi classics like The Matrix (especially when Thorn warns of "raising humans like cattle"), Soylent Green still packs the proverbial punch. After all, who is not sickened by the use of garbage trucks to transport human remains? Waste management, indeed!

The opening sequence is brilliant, with a chronological photo essay detailing both the marvels and pitfalls of Industrial Revolution, all set to Fred Myrow's wonderful score.

Better DVD art here than on the current US offering (Soylent Green). It may interest you to know that my Region 2 release from the UK has the same art as this older Region 1 release, *but* includes a nice commentary track with the now-deceased director along with stunner Leigh Taylor-Young. Studios evidently feel the Brits have more interest in film critique. Just hack your DVD player and prove them wrong!

The ending is ambiguous. Does Heston play the true tragic hero and will the secret die with him? After all, Lt. Hatcher was shown to be buyable, no? In closing (appropriately), let me just echo that Edward G. Robinson's final film role here is a fitting goodbye, both for his character and for the actor himself.
The is the year 2022. Overcrowding, pollution, and resource depletion have reduced society's leaders to finding food for the teeming masses. The answer is Soylent Green - an artificial nourishment whose actual ingredients are not known by the public. Thorn is the tough homicide detective who stumbles onto the secret so terrifying no one would dare believe him.