OK, you’ve run out of ideas for NetFlix selections, or maybe you’ve got an Amazon.com gift card burning a hole in your pocket… My suggestion? How about a classic sci-fi DVD? The title I have in mind is the 1972 movie, ‘Silent Running’. While certainly no award winner or box office titan, I think this particular film is still remarkable for a number of reasons.

Preceded by a more notable film, Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’(1968), ‘Silent Running’ is a more traditional sci-fi drama directed (and produced) by Doug Trumbull. Mr. Trumbull also served as special effects photographic supervisor on the ‘2001’ project and expanded on those special effects for ‘Silent Running’. ‘So, big deal’, you might think – actually, in that era it was. There was no CGI, or Industrial Light & Magic to digitally conjure up all the required images - shots of vehicles in space at that time were achieved through the use of models. The models used for this film were reported to be about 26’ long and took months to fabricate. In addition to having to custom build them, the filmed sequences using these models had to be shot perfectly for the expected realism; lest these scenes come off like some of the campier space films of the 50’s (picture pie tins bouncing along on strings clearly visible in each frame).

The Domes On Valley Forge 

The film primarily takes place on the space freighter, ‘Valley Forge’, which is carrying several large greenhouse type domes containing the remnants of some of Earth’s last forests. The Valley Forge is part of a convoy of identical ships carrying similar cargo out toward Saturn. While the reason for this particular destination is never made clear, it doesn’t detract all that much from the story line. Hey, it is science fiction, right? On the ‘Valley Forge, the crewmen are assisted by three robots, named Huey, Dewey, and Louie, to maintain the environment inside the huge dome. Early on, the entity responsible for managing these space-going sanctuaries decides that they should be destroyed. The story plays out from there.

In another innovation for this film, Trumbull used three actors, who were lower limb, double amputees, for simulating the three service robots. He had special suits created for each of these actors and while these suits were boxy looking, there is no mistaking that they must have been an early inspiration for George Lucas in creating R2D2 for his own ‘Star Wars’ franchise.

Bruce Dern and Robot Assistants

Actor, Bruce Dern, plays the main character in the film, Freeman Lowell. Dern has made a career out of playing supporting roles and has the dubious honor of being the only actor that ever killed John Wayne (1972, ‘The Cowboys’) in all of the ‘Duke’s’ westerns. In Silent Running, one of his few leading roles, Bruce gives a dramatic performance of a man torn between duty and his love for the trees he has been entrusted to care for. While appearing to be bordering on insanity, Dern’s character becomes locked in a battle to save the same trees he’s been ordered to destroy. ‘Silent Running’ is truly a classic science fiction film that also carries a strong message.

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067756/

'Silent Running' on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Running

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The much-anticipated film follow up to Dan Brown’s ‘DaVinci Code’ is actually a prequel to that best selling novel, but the ‘Angels & Demons’ script is deftly tweaked to come off as cinematic sequel instead.

Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon in 'Angels & Demons'

Ron Howard (yes, our beloved ‘Opie’ for those of us old enough to remember Andy Griffith and that special place called Mayberry) again takes the reigns as director. David Koeep (‘War Of The Worlds’, ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’) and Akiva Goldsman (‘DaVinci Code’ and ‘I Am Legend’) are onboard as the writers. The only other really familiar face here is, of course, our hero, Robert Langdon (aka Tom Hanks).

I was all ready to be enthralled by this promising thrill ride, but in a very short period of time I was disappointed. Mr. Hanks is forced to run around continually spouting various trivia and facts to provide pertinent historical back-fill for all of the frenetic goings on around him. While quite necessary, it gets tedious very quickly. Also, the plot involves Hanks and the ‘good guys’ racing from location to location in and around the Vatican in a vain attempt to stop a series of executions. These scenes become predictable as the group shows up just seconds too late to avert the mounting body count each time. I also thought that, given the religious theme, the movie had a surprising amount of carnage in it.

Ewan McGregor's Father Patrick McKenna

Ewan McGregor is cast as Camerlengo, Patrick McKenna, and does a fair enough job of it early on, but again, the script takes some absurd turns and R. Howard & Co. opts for mayhem and special effects instead of something more intriguing. I realize the movie is only following the book, but I thought it came off as too over-the-top on screen. Ron Howard does do justice to the various locales with some great shots of the recognizable landmarks, but it’s not enough to offset the all-too-familiar script. – ‘DaVinci Code’ rehashed is more like it. Most of these films, like ‘National Treasure’, play out well the first time, but it takes a certain level of increased creativity to pull it off multiple times. Even the ‘Indiana Jones’ franchise is beginning to look a bit like a retread after too many trips to the well. As I said, I had high hopes for this film, but really felt it fell far short of it’s potential. More like angles and dimness than a riveting ‘whodunit’…

Official Site: http://angelsanddemons.com/

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