Jeff's Reviews

Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

Soylent Green (1973)

Directed by Richard Fleischer

Starring Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Connors

Author

As awkward as you might expect from a 1973 movie. Perhaps it merged thriller and science fiction in a unique way, but today it seems clumsily shot, clumsily edited, and a bit slow. Strangely anti-climactic ending.

Most awkward of all may be Heston. Superficially tall and chiseled, but the man had a weird face, weird teeth, weird body, weird gait. Pretty much all the characters had that awkward, uncoordinated 70’s look and feel, with Leigh Taylor-Young the only one meeting today’s standards of sexiness. Chuck Connor was an interesting guy, and fun seeing an old Edward G. Robinson in his last performance.

They didn’t do a great job setting the story in 2022. It’s interesting that they took on global warming, but cars from the 70’s? Corded phones? Old appliances? Bad hairstyles? The technology and interior design and fashions are all incredibly dated. And what’s with all the brown hats? Admittedly, futurists have gotten better as we’ve learned from past mistakes, but they didn’t even try in this one.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *