| Bruce Dern | ... | Freeman Lowell | |
| Cliff Potts | ... | John Keenan | |
| Ron Rifkin | ... | Marty Barker | |
| Jesse Vint | ... | Andy Wolf | |
| Mark Persons | ... | Drone 2 - Huey | |
| Steven Brown | ... | Drone | |
| Cheryl Sparks | ... | Drone 1 - Dewey | |
| Larry Whisenhunt | ... | Drone | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Joseph Campanella | ... | Neal - Berkshire' Captain (voice) (uncredited) | |
| Roy Engel | ... | Anderson (voice) (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Douglas Trumbull | |||
Writing credits | ||
| Deric Washburn | (written by) & | |
| Michael Cimino | (written by) (as Mike Cimino) and | |
| Steven Bochco | (written by) (as Steve Bochco) | |
Produced by | |||
| Michael Gruskoff | .... | producer | |
| Marty Hornstein | .... | associate producer (as Martin Hornstein) | |
| Douglas Trumbull | .... | producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Peter Schickele | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Charles F. Wheeler | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Aaron Stell | |||
Set Decoration by | |||
| Frank Lombardo | (as Francisco Lombardo) | ||
Makeup Department | |||
| Dick Dawson | .... | makeup artist | |
Production Management | |||
| Marty Hornstein | .... | production manager (as Martin Hornstein) | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Brad H. Aronson | .... | assistant director (as Brad Aronson) | |
Sound Department | |||
| Charles T. Knight | .... | sound (as Charles Knight) | |
| John H. Newman | .... | sound editor | |
| Richard Portman | .... | sound re-recordist | |
Special Effects by | |||
| Vernon Archer | .... | special effects | |
| Richard O. Helmer | .... | special effects | |
| R.L. Helmer | .... | special effects | |
| Marlin Jones | .... | special effects | |
| James Rugg | .... | special effects | |
| Gerald Endler | .... | mechanical effects (uncredited) | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| Richard Alexander | .... | special designer | |
| John Baumbach | .... | special designer | |
| Jim Dow | .... | creator: drone units (as James Dow) | |
| John Dykstra | .... | special photographic effects | |
| Paul Kraus | .... | creator: drone units | |
| Leland McLemore | .... | special designer | |
| Gary Richards | .... | special designer | |
| Robert Shepherd | .... | special designer (as Bob Shepherd) | |
| William Shourt | .... | special designer (as Bill Shourt) | |
| Wayne Smith | .... | special designer | |
| Don Trumbull | .... | creator: drone units | |
| Douglas Trumbull | .... | special photographic effects | |
| Richard Yuricich | .... | special photographic effects | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Bill Bohny | .... | assistant camera | |
| Jim Hoover | .... | assistant camera | |
| Dick Johnson | .... | camera operator | |
| Harry Sundby | .... | special lighting effects | |
Costume and Wardrobe Department | |||
| Ann Vidor | .... | wardrobe advisor | |
Music Department | |||
| Peter Schickele | .... | conductor | |
Other crew | |||
| Joseph Byrd | .... | special electronic consultant | |
| Winfield Chitister | .... | technical advisor (as Chief Winfield Chitister-BMCM USN Ret.) | |
| Richard Foy | .... | titles consultant | |
| George McCart | .... | technical advisor | |
| Tom Piskura | .... | video consultant | |
| Ray Quiroz | .... | script supervisor (as Raymond Quiroz) | |
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| The Black Hole | Sunshine | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | Moonraker | Lost in Space |
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| News articles | IMDb Adventure section | IMDb USA section |
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Sometime in the future all the forests on Earth have been destroyed. The last forests are transported in giant greenhouses aboard space ships near the planet Saturn. Freeman Lowell, crew member of the space vessel Valley Forge, is an outsider and the only one who cares about what is left of our planet's nature. When orders reach their vessel to destroy the forests, he goes mad. He kills off the other crew members and starts a lonely odyssey...
There's something to be learnt in this movie. More than 30 years old now, it stands the test of time with its message, as mankind is still working on what possibly could end in a scenario like this. Bruce Dern may be overacting in some scenes, but his character is still much more likeable than his crew comrades. Scenery and music are beautiful, fitting well to the dark, moving and unique story. And this is the movie that made "Star Wars" possible. Director Douglas Trumbull and other SFX masters like John Dykstra and Richard Yuricich were chosen to work on "Star Wars" because of the state-of-the-arts special effects they did for "Silent Running". In 1971, they were ahead of their time. In fact, they are easily as good as today's CGI effects, but much more memorable for their time. Even the droids that help Lowell are predecessors of the ones in "Star Wars"... A must-see movie for SF fans and everybody interested in Hollywood classics.