{"id":6030,"date":"2008-11-29T12:14:28","date_gmt":"2008-11-29T19:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6030"},"modified":"2021-01-01T00:35:43","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T07:35:43","slug":"soylent-green-1973","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6030","title":{"rendered":"Soylent Green (1973)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[<strong>Note:<\/strong> The following review is of a non-Peary title; click <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=4388\">here<\/a> to read more.]<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Your dead one was a very important man.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Poster-186x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"186\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-60948\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Poster-186x300.png 186w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Poster-635x1024.png 635w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Poster-79x128.png 79w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Poster-168x270.png 168w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Poster.png 693w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 186px) 100vw, 186px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn the radically overpopulated future, a New York City detective (Charlton Heston) enlists the help of his roommate (Edward G. Robinson) in unraveling the gruesome mystery behind the assassination of a manufacturing magnate (Joseph Cotten).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Charlton Heston Films<\/li>\n<li>Detectives and Private Eyes<\/li>\n<li>Edward G. Robinson Films<\/li>\n<li>Joseph Cotten Films<\/li>\n<li>Murder Mystery<\/li>\n<li>New York City<\/li>\n<li>Science Fiction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Soylent Green<\/em> holds the distinction of being perhaps the most &#8220;spoiled&#8221; film of all time, given the notoriety of its final &#8220;giveaway&#8221; line (chosen as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2005\/SHOWBIZ\/Movies\/06\/22\/film.moviequotes.list.ap\/index.html\">#77 on the AFI&#8217;s list of top 100 movie quotes<\/a>, and infamously lampooned by Phil Hartman on &#8220;Saturday Night Live&#8221;). It&#8217;s also notable for containing the last screen performance of Edward G. Robinson, who died nine days after shooting his final touching scene. Therefore, it&#8217;s particularly odd that <em>Soylent Green<\/em> &#8212; based loosely on the book &#8220;Make Room! Make Room!&#8221; by Harry Harrison (who was decidedly unhappy with the changes made to his story) &#8212; is not included in Peary&#8217;s book, especially given that the film itself remains a surprisingly effective, only slightly dated dystopian drama. (And it should be noted that knowing the &#8220;secret ingredient&#8221; contained in the titular foodstuff doesn&#8217;t take away from one&#8217;s repeat viewing pleasure.) <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Green.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Green-1024x440.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"275\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60954\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Green-1024x440.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Green-300x129.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Green-128x55.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Green-768x330.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Green-1536x660.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Green-604x260.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Green.png 1849w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Heston &#8212; &#8220;an actor who has had better last movie lines than any other star&#8221;, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stomptokyo.com\/movies\/soylent-green.html\">according to Stomp Tokyo&#8217;s reviewers<\/a> &#8212; is appropriately stalwart as the hard-nosed detective who is determined to uncover the conspiracy behind Cotten&#8217;s death:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston5.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston5-1024x446.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"279\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60955\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston5-1024x446.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston5-300x131.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston5-128x56.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston5-768x334.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston5-1536x668.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston5-604x263.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston5.png 1795w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>but is never above taking advantage of the amenities (namely wildly overpriced foodstuff) he encounters during his investigation. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Robinson is a class-act in his final role as Heston&#8217;s roommate, a &#8220;Book&#8221; (so-named because he actually reads) who remembers long-gone days of bountiful flora and fauna on Earth; his delight at eating a piece of genuine beef is a joy to watch, and his final scene in the film (considered hokey by some) never fails to move me to tears. I&#8217;m also impressed by the simple yet effective way in which New York City is portrayed as drastically overpopulated, with Heston literally crawling over live bodies sprawled up and down stairwells, and crowd members serving as gruesomely effective &#8220;body armor&#8221; during assassination attempts. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia-1024x448.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"280\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60951\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia-1024x448.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia-300x131.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia-128x56.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia-768x336.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia-1536x673.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia-604x265.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia.png 1829w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The film&#8217;s main flaw is its decidedly anti-feminist portrayal of women, who are (for the most part) either kerchief-clad personae non gratae, or beautiful and sexually compliant &#8220;furniture&#8221; (ouch!) for wealthy men &#8212; yet this gender-biased vision of the future is, sadly, perhaps not all that unrealistic, making <em>Soylent Green<\/em> all the more effective as a disturbing cautionary tale. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Edward G. Robinson (in his final role) as Sol<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson2-1024x434.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"271\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60949\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson2-1024x434.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson2-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson2-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson2-768x326.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson2-1536x651.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson2-604x256.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson2.png 1823w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Charlton Heston as Detective Thorn<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston-1024x431.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"269\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60952\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston-1024x431.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston-300x126.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston-768x323.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston-1536x646.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston-604x254.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Heston.png 1851w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A surprisingly effective portrayal of a devastated future<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia2-1024x429.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"268\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60959\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia2-1024x429.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia2-300x126.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia2-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia2-768x322.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia2-1536x644.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia2-604x253.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Dystopia2.png 1845w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Sol&#8217;s touching final scene<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson-1024x429.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"268\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60950\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson-1024x429.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson-300x126.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson-768x322.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson-1536x643.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson-604x253.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Soylent-Green-Robinson.png 1841w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for its historical notoriety. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0070723\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?res=9D05EFDD1331EF34BC4851DFB2668388669EDE\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stomptokyo.com\/movies\/soylent-green.html\">Stomp Tokyo Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/sciencefiction\/soylent-green-1973.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/2061\/soylent-green#articles-reviews?articleId=406\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/reviews\/75086\/soylent_green.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[Note: The following review is of a non-Peary title; click here to read more.] &#8220;Your dead one was a very important man.&#8221; Synopsis: In the radically overpopulated future, a New York City detective (Charlton Heston) enlists the help of his roommate (Edward G. Robinson) in unraveling the gruesome mystery behind the assassination of a manufacturing magnate (Joseph Cotten). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Charlton Heston Films Detectives and Private Eyes Edward G. Robinson Films Joseph Cotten Films Murder Mystery New&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6030\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-missing-title-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6030"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60960,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6030\/revisions\/60960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}