On August 27, 2025, PresidentRichard Nixonformed the Environmental Protection Agencyamidst growing concerns about the effects of pollution on the planet. These anxieties often found their way into films of the time, with science fiction acting as a useful genre through which to explore what the world could look like if industry continued to destroy the natural world. One of the best sci-fi movies of this kind wasSilent Running, which imagines a future that feels more likely than it did when it was released in 1972… which is frightening to contemplate.
The directorial debut of special effects wizardDouglas Trumbull(2001: A Space Odyssey,Close Encounters of the Third Kind,Blade Runner), it starsBruce Dernas Freeman Lowell, a botanist aboard a space station orbiting Saturn. Lowell spends his days tending to a greenhouse containing the last remnants of Earth’s vegetation, aided by his robot friends Huey, Dewey, and Louie, in the hopes of reforesting a world that has become ecologically barren. When orders come down to destroy the space station and return home, Lowell goes to extreme lengths to ensure the plants remain unharmed. The prospect of an Earth without any greenery, coupled with Lowell’s militancy to prevent that from happening,makeSilent Runningall the more prescient today.
Silent Running
Freeman Lowell, a botanist aboard a space freighter, is responsible for the care of Earth’s last surviving forests, housed in giant domes. When the crew is instructed to jettison and destroy the domes for a more profitable use of the ship, Lowell takes drastic measures by killing his fellow crew members to save the forests. Isolated in the vastness of space, he strives to maintain the ecological sanctuaries with the assistance of three robotic drones, grappling with solitude and the ethical implications of his rebellion.
‘Silent Running’ Imagines the Implications of a World Without Green
Silent Runningannounces its theme from the opening moments, beginning with shots of blooming flowers, green grass, dew falling from petals. Lowell swims in a lake and plays with rabbits, and it’s only slowly revealed that he’s inside an artificially created environment. As he tends to a garden of flowers, his shipmates, John Wolf (Cliff Potts), Marty Barker (Ron Rifkin), and Andy Keenan (Jesse Vint), callously ride over the plants in their space rovers. Lowell brings his freshly-grown vegetables to the kitchen, and as he stares out the window, the camera pulls back to reveal he’s on a space freighter known as theValley Forge, emblazoned with the American Airlines logo. His mission to protect Earth’s last remaining plant life is being subsidized by a giant corporation, and their survival relies entirely upon the whims of its board members.
Later at dinner, Lowell enjoys some cantaloupe while John, Marty, and Andy scarf down their inorganic meals. Lowell’s fellow crew members can’t stand the smell of fresh fruit, having grown used to eating artificially processed foods. They alsocan’t understand why Lowell feels so passionately about bringing wildlife back to Earth, considering people are pretty happy back home thanks to universal employment. In fact, they’re anxious to get back to Earth themselves, but as Lowell argues, a world without nature isn’t a world worth living in.
He takes that notion to extremes when word comes down from corporate that the crew needs to return their ships for commercial use and destroy everything aboard them.The same profit-driven incentives that devastated Earth’s ecology now threaten to destroy it entirely.Rather than let the plants die, Lowell kills his shipmates and jettisons theValley Forgedeeper into space, claiming technical malfunction. With the help of his three robots, Lowell works diligently to keep the forest thriving. Yet that leads to another existential question: is it worth living in a world filled with the wonders of nature if there’s no one else around to enjoy them with?
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By the half-hour mark, the script bySteven Bochco,Derek Washburn, andMichael Cimino(ofThe Deer HunterfameandHeaven’s Gateinfamy) essentially becomes a one-man show, as Lowell deals with the implications of having killed his crew mates in order to save his plants. He reprograms Huey, Dewey, and Louie to play cards and help tend to the garden, but they can’t replace human connections. Even the garden begins to suffer, as the trees die from lack of sunshine. By the end, when another ship has finally located him, Lowell blows himself up and leaves Dewey in charge of the garden, having come up with the bright idea of replicating the sun’s rays through the use of giant lamps. Ultimately, the film argues,the survival of the planet is too great a burden for one man to carry.
‘Silent Running’s’ Fingerprints Are All Over Other Sci-Fi Films
Science fiction has long been used as a means to tellcautionary tales about Earth’s survival, as the growth of industry leads to the depletion of natural resources.Silent Runningis one of the earliest examples ofa dystopian future film, in which war, famine, and ecological ruin have ravaged the planet. You can see its impact on a movie likeSoylent Green, in which overpopulation has led to mass hunger and a horrifying alternative to food.Blade Runnercan also be said to have taken influence from it in its depiction of a society where urban sprawl has destroyed all forestation (although the original theatrical cut does includea tacked-on happy endingin which Deckard and Rachael escape to the woods).
you’re able to even see its impact onStar Wars, which took science fiction in a decidedly more positive direction.George Lucaswasreportedly so impressed with the creation of robotsHuey, Dewey, and Louie (played in puppet suits by bilateral amputeesMark Persons,Cheryl Sparks, andLarry Wisenhunt) that he asked Trumbull’s permission to model R2-D2 off of them. Lucasalso hiredJohn Dykstra, who worked on the visual effects team forSilent Running, to work on the VFX for his film (for which Dykstra won an Oscar).
‘Silent Running’ Is More Relevant Today Than it Ever Was
WhenSilent Runningwas released in 1972, its vision of the future felt fantastical. Now, as the threat of climate change has become more imminent, its predictions no longer seem so far-fetched. Climate activism has become more pronounced in the 21st century, asgroups like The Sunrise Movementhave marched and protested in the hopes of preventing irreparable damage to our environment. As was the case in 1972, corporate profits often outweigh ecological concerns, and the survival of the planet is too vast a problem for one person to take on. Yet asSilent Runningmakes clear,a world in which nature can survive and thrive is a world worth fighting for.
Silent Runningis available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.
