Product Description

The is the year 2022. Overcrowding, pollution, and resource depletion have reduced society's leaders to finding food for the teeming masses. The answer is Soylent Green - an artificial nourishment whose actual ingredients are not known by the public. Thorn is the tough homicide detective who stumbles onto the secret so terrifying no one would dare believe him.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73668 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2007-11-27
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 97 minutes

Customer Reviews

Brilliant....
This film is a work of genius; a truely terrifying portrail of a highly probable distant future. The acting is superb, the music cannot be ignored, and like the other reviewer pointed out, the final lines of the film are highly memorable.
However, there are those out there who may view this film as "boring". These are the same individuals who fail to realize that, before the sweeping changes in special effects brought about with Star Wars, science fiction was generally intelligent. So no, if you're looking for explosions, robots, and bright flashing lights, go someplace else. I shudder to think of what these people would think after watching Stanley Kubrick's 2001.

More compelling than "An Inconvenient Truth"
Also science fiction, but made in 1972 and without any political waffle (and starring an actor many would pin as "Conservative"), this movie projects - some 50 years into its future - a frightening set of events:

* overpopulation
* polluted atmosphere
* global warming causing high temperatures
* unusual food sources
* cynicism

Charleton Heston plays Thorn, a duty-driven cop/detective, assigned to find out why an executive from the Soylent corporation was murdered...

Of course, most people know what Soylent Green was made from (people), but having seen this movie yesterday, it was still gruesome to watch.

Okay, the styles of 1972, down to sideburns, are a revived fashion statement in 2022. Okey dokey. And given there were no home game systems or VCRs at the time, the prediction of such video game units was interesting, if a little dated (black and white screens). Still, the mindset of the time and showing off the disparity between social classes just cannot be understated.

I was also surprised by how much swearing was in the film. But keep in mind, the film is trying to say something about the decay of morality along with everything else in civilization. It's not about shock jock tactics. It's trying to be grim. That's the point of art, and our modern day media and its audiences keep forgetting about that: the underlying reasons. It's not about the explosions or special effects. All creativity has to have concepts, otherwise those explosions, no matter how well realized on screen, don't work.

I really have to admire Charleton Heston. If I may digress, it's interesting to note he was an actor who played many Biblical roles in the past; mostly due to his deep voice and stature. What's interesting is that, with "Planet of the Apes" onward, he plays roles of doomed or hapless individuals. Rather better too, when compared to lines like "Let my people go!" and it doesn't sound as boisterous as it could have been but still worked...

Right, back to the movie. Yes, it is slow going. But before modern day movies (think "Star Wars"), plots were moved along by plot, mystery, and suspense. Not raging fistfights and gunfights every fifteen minutes. I found little that could be legitimately described as "slow", mostly because the direction and camera angles offered glimpses into background scenery. Not quite the depth of "The Graduate", but significant nonetheless. Most of the underlying stuff is said by the characters anyway.

As for the DVD:

The film transfer is very good overall, with some surprising flecks dotted about here or there. But colors and brightness are excellent.

The sound is pristine.

The extras are of much praise:

* The commentary by the director and leading lady provides much insight into the movie, why it was made, and some interesting dish on the lives of the people playing their roles.

* There is a making-of doco on "Soylent Green", circa 1973. This extra was NOT color restored, so we get a glimpse of what the film would have looked like if it wasn't remastered. More importantly, it says a thing or two about the movie as well.

* The other bits, like Edward G Robinson's 101st film are appreciated as well.

Fans will definitely like the extras, and anybody who hasn't seen this movie really should. You'll then, if nothing else, understand why so many sci-fi and pop-culture shows refer to it. But it's a welcome film for its own merit.

A Must See Movie
I first saw this move in the 70's and it scared me to death. Not because the movie is a horror film as we usually define them, but because it was so possible in its horror. It is the story of our world as it had become in 2023-Instead of blue skies there was grey polluted ones; instead of grassy fields there was concrete. People lived in the streets and fought each other for beds,space,sustainance. The world as we know it today didn't exist and it was all because of its inhabitants. Us...For people interested in the environment and preserving our way of life, this is a MUST SEE...For people who want their children and grandchildren to have a world to grow up in, this is a MUST SEE...It is so possible it should be manditory viewing in schools. It IS a horror film, just not one we are used to seeing.