Silent Running
Universal Pictures | Release Date: March 10, 1972 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A movie out of the ordinary -- especially if you like science fiction. Read full review
80
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
Full of stunning visuals, the ideas in the film more than compensate for the awkward scene-setting of the beginning. Read full review
80
The TelegraphStaff (Not Credited)
Featuring a particularly strong central performance and great effects, the film has had an enormous influence on many subsequent sci-fi films. Read full review
80
EmpireAdam Smith
Thoughtful, moving tale which places its spectacular effects within a humane, elegiac story. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Silent Running concentrates heavily on special effects, resulting in some stunning imagery. Dern gives an engaging, against-type performance, though the script is stretched out very thin to support a feature-length film. Read full review
75
Rolling StoneEric Hynes
A movie that has everything — if by everything you mean Bruce Dern as a long-haired homicidal intergalactic treehugger playing poker with droids, talking to bunnies, and feeling really passionately about salad. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
Despite the triteness of the theme (Dern is in charge of maintaining the last remnants of the earth's vegetation), the film is enjoyable for its intimacy, seriousness, and intelligent character work, virtues not perpetuated by the subsequent new wave. Read full review
70
The GuardianPhilip French
The screenplay by Deric Washburn and Michael Cimino (later to collaborate on The Deer Hunter) and Steven Bochco (of subsequent Hill Street Blues fame) delivers its ecological message with humour and imagination, and Joan Baez sings the appropriate songs. Read full review
50
The New York TimesVincent Canby
Silent Running is no jerry-built science fiction film, but it's a little too simple-minded to be consistently entertaining. Read full review
50
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Silent Running depends on the excellent special effects of debuting director Douglas Trumbull and his team and on the appreciation of a literate but broadly entertaining script. Those being the highlights, they are virtually wiped out by the crucial miscasting of Bruce Dern. Production lacks dramatic credibility and teeters on the edge of the ludicrous. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineEd Gonzalez
While the drones are still cuter than Ewoks, Lowell remains a cloying representation of a ‘70s acid freak shoving his save-the-trees mantra down your throat. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneStaff (Not Credited)
Special-effects wiz Douglas Trumbull made his directorial debut on this flawed movie. Its ecological sensibilities, however noble, emerge as severely dated just 16 years later. Nevertheless, this is nifty robovideo. [21 Apr 1988, p.95]
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Andrew Ryan
Clunky and preachy, but Freeman's three robots - named Huey, Dewey and Louie - are adorable. [21 Jul 2011]
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