Soylent Green

The world of the 1973 sci-fi drama SOYLENT GREEN is what we could be seeing if we aren't careful. It is a world in which New York City's population has topped the 40 million mark in the year 2022. Overpopulation, air pollution, year-long heat waves, and food shortages are the rule. The only hope comes from a food product called Soylent Green. But what is this particular food stuff really made of? That question is at the heart of this admittedly somewhat dated but still intriguing film, based on Harry Harrison's 1966 novel "Make Room! Make Room!" Charlton Heston stars as Thorne, an NYPD detective who comes across the murder of a top corporate executive (Joseph Cotten). As it turns out, Cotten was on the board of directors of the Soylent Corporation, the people responsible for all those food stuffs that the people have to consume in lieu of the real thing. Heston believes that this wasn't just a garden-variety murder, that Cotten was bumped off for a reason. He gets a lot of help from his slightly cantankerous but very astute "book" (Edward G. Robinson, in his 101st and final cinematic appearance), and a few timely reminders of what the world used to be like. What Robinson finds out about Soylent Green shocks him beyond all imagination; but before he can tell Heston all of what he knows, he has himself euthanized. And when Heston does indeed find out the secret of Soylent Green...well, that part has become immortalized into cinematic history.

Under the very professional guiding hand of director Richard Fleischer (THE BOSTON STRANGLER; FANTASTIC VOYAGE), SOYLENT GREEN is a fairly grim but thought-provoking look at a Dystopian future that humanity might be living if we don't curb our tendency to strip our planet of its natural resources. Indeed, this was a project that Heston himself had had in mind for filming as far back as 1968, after he had struck gold in the sci-fi genre with PLANET OF THE APES--a fact that probably gets lost whenever his ultra-conservative political philosophy comes up in conversation (after all, SOYLENT GREEN is hardly a tract for unrestrained capitalism). Robinson, as always, is the consummate professional in his last role; the sequence where he is euthanized (as he looks at video of the world from a better era, set to the music of Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Grieg) is quite simply heartbreaking. The film also benefits from solid supporting help from Chuck Connors (as a very convincing heavy), Brock Peters (as Heston's superior), and Leigh Taylor-Young as the woman who tries to help Heston in his inquiries.

It must seem easy these days to dismiss SOYLENT GREEN for being dated. But those who do it ought to think twice; for this film's world may end up becoming ours in actuality if we don't watch what we do with what we have today.

I saw this movie shortly after it first came out - when I was a kid. The scene that sticks with me to this day is when the scoops come to break up the riot. The cop says, "The supply of Soylent Green has been exhausted. The scoops are on the way." Then the front-end loader trucks come and scoop the people up like so much garbage. The fact that 2022 looks like 1973 is entirely plausible because society has gone retrograde. Charlton Heston's performance is beautifully nuanced and believable. Edward G. Robinson is unforgettable as Sol. References to this movie pop up in shows like "The Simpsons" and "Millennium" for the simple reason that it is a visionary look at the future with real heart - a true classic.

It is one of those films that once seen is never forgotten. I am not really a fan of sci-fi but this one is a great story, based on the Harry Harrison book, Make Room! Make Room! I thought the book was a good title although the film really has to be even better, because all the time we wonder what those biscuits are made of. Clearly there are the very rich who have splendid food, and they don't have to live crowded in the street or on the steps, but of course they have these wonderful rooms and furniture. The 'furniture' are beautiful ladies, they have no rights and are just like, concubines. And it seems that the rich and important are all men. Charlton Heston is fine and it is great to see Edward G Robinson in his last film and this rather good scene, I've always remembered, his finale.

I saw Soylent Green back in 1973 when it was first released and maybe another eight times over the years on T.V. or video. It was always one of my favorite sci-fi and/or Charlton Heston films.

Recently, the Egyptian theater in L.A. had a twelve film Charlton Heston retrospective. I flew in from out of state to see six of the films over a two day period. Soylent Green looked great on the large Egyptian screen with a perfect new print. From its opening montage to the going home scene to the great ending the film was fantastic.

Charlton Heston as a cop who lives in a dog eat dog world with few natural resources left and no understanding as to how the world used to be and Eddie Robinson as a man who remembers the past are both great.

Their chemistry together is wonderful. The film also looks so much better in a great 35mm print. Fleisher really knows how to fill the screen,and the cinematoraphy, writing, music used, and everything about it works. The film is also very powerful in its bleak and very possible view of the future. Just think how the world population grew, the rain forest that disappeared, resources used up, green house effect getting worse since 1973. I just wonder why this film has not played in theaters all these years. Its reputation should be better.

Speaking of reputations, often people speak as if Charlton Heston is not a great actor. Seeing him in El-Cid, Soylent Green, The Warlord, The Omega Man, Will Penny, and Major Dundee back to back I am convinced he is one of our best actors. Of course he made about a dozen other great films and for those that care you know what they are.

As far as dystopian thrillers from the early '70s go, Soylent Green is a pretty good look into what society could turn into if overpopulation and resource abuse came into serious affect. It's debatable whether it would have turned out any better had the filmmakers got Harry Harrison (the author of Make Room! Make Room!) to consult on the creative input in this adaptation of his work, but I'm sure the essential themes would have still remained intact.

In regards to the actual story, the murder investigation of Soylent Organization member William R. Simonson has a little bit of weight in it from to the seediness of certain key figures within said field. In addition, Charlton Heston plays the lead detective Robert Thorn with an appropriate amount of gravitas, even if some of the scenes he's in can be quite cheesy. Although the idea of "furniture" being used for high class women isn't a bad idea, Thorn's love interest Shirl is just used as plot fodder and an excuse for corny romance. In addition, the film seems to favor action over nuanced drama, and some of the fight scenes can come off a little awkward from time to time, like the editing took center stage and not in a good way. If the pacing can sluggish at times, then the fight scenes are too briskly paced for their own good.

However, for all of the film's faults, its depictions of the lower impoverished class are well executed, especially in regards to those living in squalor. On top of the Soylent products being nearly all that humanity can survive off of, the overabundance of homeless people barely hanging on by a thread are enough to make one shudder at how timely the film is in that depiction alone. In addition, this film marked the final appearance of acclaimed actor Edward G. Robinson before he passed away, and his vulnerably endearing performance as aged researcher Sol Roth could send a tear down one's eyes. In fact, without giving the character's final scene away, it is perhaps the most poignant representation of how beautiful natural our planet is at its core, far beyond artificial living. While the film possibly could have benefited from more music, the blending of Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Gynt and Grieg is nothing short of miraculous.

So perhaps Soylent Green isn't quite as substantial as it could have been, but its deeply concerning vision of a possible bleak future still holds up for the most part. I do recommend this for science-fiction and dystopian enthusiasts, although I'm sure Harrison's original book is debatably a better recommendation in that regard. It was definitely worth checking out in the theater, and seeing it in 2025 when some of its depictions hold up scarily well.