Fused Film Friday Classic (on Monday): Soylent Green
I know its Monday but Friday isn’t that far away and since we forgot to post this last Friday and we reviewed it on the last podcast we thought we should post it today. So Happy Friday! early!
Soylent Green
Director: Richard Fleischer
Starring: Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Conners, Joseph Cotten and Brock Peters
Genre: Science Fiction, Tech Noir, Post Apocalyptic
Release Date: April 19, 1973
Runtime: 1 hr. 37 min
Rating: PG
Richard Fleischer directed this science fiction nightmare vision of an over-populated world, based on the novel by Harry Harrison. In 2022, New York City is a town bursting at the seams with a 40-million-plus population. Food is in short supply, and most of the population’s food source comes from synthetics manufactured in local factories — the dinner selections being a choice between Soylent Blue, Soylent Yellow or the newest Soylent Green. When William Simonson (Joseph Cotten), an upper-echelon executive in the Soylent Company, is found murdered, police detective Thorn (Charlton Heston) is sent in to investigate the case. Helping him out researching the case is Thorn’s old friend Sol Roth (Edward G. Robinson) — in his last role – As they investigate the environs of a succession of mad-from-hunger New Yorkers and the luxuriously rich digs of the lucky few, Thorn uncovers the terrible truth behind the Soylent Company and its synthetic food.
A true classic this Heston in the type of role he is great in. The 1970s had a lot of these social sci-fi films commentating on the actual society problems of the time and this is just one of many Heston starred in around the time, others being Planet of the Apes and The Omega Man. This is a classic that through history has been referenced throughout cinema for years, especially in episodes of Star Trek, Stargate and many others programs like Family Guy, The Simpsons, American Dad, Buffy, Angel and more!
Other sci-fi techno films around this time were, Logan’s Run, The Omega Man, Planet of the Apes and The Andromeda Strain.
