Soylent Green (1973)

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Talking about old movies we often say that they're "still relevant today"; it's a talking point. What's horrifying in the case of Soylent Green isn't that it's still relevant today, it's that it was relevant then. Its issue is overpopulation: if it was of concern in 1973, what does that make it now, with another five billion people stacked on the pile?

Charlton Heston plays Thorn with the same arrogant misogyny as he did Taylor in Planet of the Apes, but it's a role he's very good at; and despite the retro feel, it's one of the more-convincing attempts at world-building I've ever seen in a science fiction film.

It might just be that the marathon was into its tenth hour by this point and I was falling asleep in my chair, but I thought it was fantastic.

- Sam - 2006-12-10 08:25:22