Soylent Green Movie Review

The future is… no future. That's the basic message behind this relentlessly dark film that is turned into more than just a grim ecological shocker through excellent performances, including that of Edward G. Robinson in his final role. In the year 2022, New York City is jammed with 40 million people (mostly unemployed), suicide is not only legal – it's encouraged, jam is $150 a jar, and crowd control is done with bulldozers. The most common (and only affordable) food for the masses is the green wafer, Soylent. Policeman Thorn (Chuck Heston) is a worn-out, hard-nosed cop assigned to the murder of a Soylent Company exec. Tab (Chuck Connors) is one of those cleaner types for the company, getting rid of loose ends, one of which is Thorn. Their fight at the apartment is a doozy. Thorn's researcher (Edward G.) remembers when there were trees, vegetables, democracy, and real sunshine. His demise is the “pretty” part of this film. If you thought things were bad, watch this movie…watch it anyway. Based on the novel Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison.

1973 (PG) 95m/C Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Connors, Joseph Cotten, Edward G. Robinson, Brock Peters; D: Richard Fleischer; W: Stanley R. Green-berg; C: Richard Kline. VHS, Beta, LV MGM