Silent Running (1972)

Director:

Douglas Trumbull

Writers:

Deric Washburn (written by) &
Michael Cimino (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

10 March 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Amazing companions on an incredible adventure... that journeys beyond imagination!

Plot:

The loner crew member of a spaceship harbouring Earth's last nature reserves goes renegade when he is...

Plot Keywords:

Forest | Murder | Space | Robot | Nuclear Weapon

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

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)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures
• Trumbull/Gruskoff Productions (as Douglas Trumbull-Michael Gruskoff Productions)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Films de España (1973) (Spain) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1974) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1972) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Video Associates  promotions
• American Airlines  our most sincere thanks to
• AMF  our most sincere thanks to (as AMF Incorporated)
• American Optical Company  our most sincere thanks to
• Concord Communications Systems  our most sincere thanks to
• Dow Chemical Company  our most sincere thanks to
• Duro-Test  our most sincere thanks to
• Fairchild, Republic Division  our most sincere thanks to
• Kasper Instruments  our most sincere thanks to
• Polaroid  our most sincere thanks to
• Rapistan  our most sincere thanks to
• Scientific Products  our most sincere thanks to
• Spacelabs  our most sincere thanks to
• Tektronix  our most sincere thanks to
• Thetford  our most sincere thanks to
• Division Sperry Rand Corporation  our most sincere thanks to (as Univac Division, Sperry Rand Corporation)
• U.S. Forest Service  our most sincere thanks to (as The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service)
• Ritek Digital Studios  DVD authoring and encoding

Also Known As:

Running Silent (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG | Norway:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:G | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Aircraft Hanger, Van Nuys Airport - 6590 Hayvenhurst Avenue, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Although only three "space freighters" are visible ("Valley Forge", "Berkshire", and "Sequoia"), several other freighters are mentioned in radio communications. They are "Yellowstone", "Acadia", "Blue Ridge", "Glacier" and "Mojave" (each freighter is asked to report the final jettisons of their domes). Each freighter's name refers to an American National Park or Preserve.

Goofs:

Continuity: Freeman's damaged leg swaps sides.

Quotes:

Freeman Lowell: On Earth, everywhere you go, the temperature is 75 degrees. Everything is the same; all the people are exactly the same. Now what kind of life is that?

Movie Connections:

References Donald's Nephews (1938)

Soundtrack:

Rejoice in the Sun

Unique and memorable science-fiction classic

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.