Soylent Green (1973)

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In an overpopulated futuristic Earth, a New York police detective finds himself marked for murder by government agents when he gets too close to a bizarre state secret involving the origins of a revolutionary and needed new foodstuff. (imdb)

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Directed By: Richard Fleischer

Written By: Stanley R. Greenberg, Harry Harrison

Starring: Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, Whit Bissell, Joseph Cotten, Chuck Connors, Brock Peters, Cyril Delevanti, Celia Lovsky, Paula Kelly, Robert Ito, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Leigh Taylor-Young

Genres: Drama, Sci-fi, Suspense/Thriller, Horror

Country: USA

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Soylent Green belongs to 25 collections

1. Mindfuck (collaborative: moderated by Mockus - 86 stars)

2. The Guardian's 1000 films to see before you die (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)

3. Dystopia (collaborative: moderated by Nouilles - 29 stars)

4. Based on a Book (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 21 stars)

5. The 100 Greatest Sci-Fi Movies (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 19 stars)

6. Humanity and the Natural World (collaborative: moderated by paulofilmo - 18 stars)

7. 101 Sci-Fi Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by von krogh - 15 stars)

8. Future (collaborative: moderated by djross - 12 stars)

9. Twist endings (collaborative: moderated by BeeDub - 9 stars)

10. Big-time Hollywood science fiction (public: djross - 7 stars)

11. List: Taschen (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 6 stars)

12. Cannibalism (collaborative: moderated by edkrak - 5 stars)

13. Near future (collaborative: moderated by djross - 4 stars)

14. Wikipedia's list of dystopian films (collaborative: moderated by ND Geek - 4 stars)

15. Alternatif Film Öneri Listesi (public: Ozancan - 4 stars)

16. Coheed's Celluloid Pit (public: Coheed - 1 star)

17. Timeout 100 Best Sci-Fi Movies (public: Ozancan - 1 star)

18. Post-Apocalypse (public: Zangy - 1 star)

19. Leaving Criterion Channel 1/31/20 (public: kubricksucks - 1 star)

20. saturn award nomination or win (collaborative: moderated by Luna6ix)

21. Ratings (collaborative: moderated by cheapthrills)

22. Owned (BD) (public: bizarre_eye)

23. 1973: Year in Review (public: polanski28)

24. Hitlist (public: bktan)

25. Sci-Fi to See (public: CinematicESP)

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All Ratings | With Reviews

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TCI | Percentile | Date Rated | # Stars (Reviews)

Stars	User	Rating
6	Paxton	68 _53rd
Spoiler Alert! Soylent Green is high in cholesterol.
4	FrederikA	40 _18th
Interesting but mind-numbingly boring.
4	afx237vi	70 _69th
It's a shame that the ending is the only thing that ever gets talked about when you mention this film. It has a lot of other things going on - the themes of over-population and food shortages, the influence mega-corporations have on governments, even the role of women. Some of it is a little dated (you can never second-guess fashion or technology), but dystopian New York still looks cool... all cramped and dirty and grimy. Plus it has one of my favourite death scenes ever.
3	Difontaine	68 _49th
Dystopian sci-fi done the 70s way i.e. looks a bit cheap now. Decently done though although the end looks like they ran out of money and so couldn't do the big explosion ending. Maybe that's on purpose. Extra points for making the Charlton Heston character kind of a dick.
3	paulofilmo	67 _32nd
Great ideas, but it never drew me in. I love the whole /nostalgia for things we take for granted/ thing.
2	doctor7	74 _59th
It's good film, no doubt about it, but that's mostly from it's shock ending. I'd say it's required viewing not for the skill with which the film is made, as it's not particularly impressive in any regard, but simply due to the cultural impact it has had. It's one thing to know that Soylent Green is people but it's another to know exactly how such a phrase came into being.
2	lrampartl	48 _27th
Neat premise about the terrible future, but pretty underwhelming.
2	TheDiceman	60 _62nd
Very good.
2	gleeb	69 _32nd
Not great, but there are some scenes, like the one with Heston and Robinson sharing a meal, that are memorable.
2	vesupria	6 _61st
I'm a bit of a sucker for dystopian films that are done well; and the fact that this one doesn't present 2022 (50 years after it was first made) as some hi-tech paradise is its highest praise. The pacing is really good after a sluggish start... Sol's death scene is very memorable, as it the stellar finish that isn't as predictable as many of these films (ie "good" triumphing over "evil.") The fact that we still know little about the "Soylent Company" adds to the charm.
2	Barthalen	65 _45th
In theory, this movie features an impressively bleak dystopian future. Too bad Heston is too hammy and the production values aren't that great, so the end result wasn't as effective as I'd hoped. Knowing the big reveal beforehand (how can you not) also makes the film a bit of a drag.
2	JackDurden	6 _26th
I can understand why this film is remembered today, for it's ingenious shock ending, but everything else isn't that impressive. Not bad, mind you, it serves its purpose but I won't remember it.
2	WWallce4prez	67 _39th
It is too bad the ending of this classic dystopian story is so well known, as I'm sure it packed quite a punch in its day. Fleischer's view of the future is a hot and hazy one, with police dressed like train conductors and prostitutes playing a very large role in society (or at least in this film's runtime).
2	psim	75 _49th
For a movie that is famous for being inevitably spoiled through pop culture, it was surprisingly different from how I imagined it. Not bad!
2	DavidBlast	40 _28th
A cult item for 'X-files' fans. But for 70s oddball sci-fi, the straightforward detective story fades amongst other greats. For a dystopian future turn to 'THX1138', for eco-message-madness go for 'Silent Running'. For satire choose 'Death Race 2000', and for stripfest weirdness take 'Barbarella' (or - for the ladies - 'Zardoz'). 'Soylent Green' is a great meme, but a flat film, in which the most important part seems to be Charlton Heston and his scarf. Oh, sorry; I mean 'self-important'.
2	pewbeng	78 _65th
Going down in history as the movie you can't google without getting the punchline shoved in your face.
2	MontyCircus	20 _11th
"SOYLENT GREEN IS BORING!!!" I spent the middle of the movie looking up "Computer Space", which was the world's first arcade coin-op video game, and also the first video game to appear in a movie (this one!). Other than that, the pacing is so goddamn slow and everything looks so damn cheap. I guess it would be better if I didn't know the "big twist" since I was a toddler. Kinda neat watching it in 2022, as that is the year it is set. Would have made a great 44-minute "Twilight Zone" episode.
2	DesertPunk	63 _34th
I understand they wanted that green filter to look like smog, but it just looks like someone dumped a can of Mountain Dew into the film can.
2	gyrro7	65 _21st
hasn't aged well. heston is a ham. but is has it's moments i guess. even at 97 minutes it seems long.
2	edward	4 _16th
Underwhelming. Interesting concept; poorly executed. It just made me want to watch Logan's Run instead.
1	TheDenizen	60 _40th
This is an OK futuristic sci-fi flick with a couple of good ideas, but the whole point of the film is the shocking twist at the end...a twist that has been spoiled a million times in a million places since the movie was released. If you didn't already know what Soylent Green is, you'd probably enjoy it more, but watching it with knowledge of the twist is pretty boring.
1	Kavu	44 _20th
The story is good and I suppose the twist used to be good once but acting, directing and the actual screenplay are all quite ridiculous.
1	irvinejump	66 _54th
Known for it's ending, I won't say anything in case you're the only person left who hasn't actually seen it. Edward G Robinson's last film btw
1	djfntstque	54 _20th
Even if it weren't ridiculous - which it is - this movie is still a mess in terms of plain old storytelling.
1	Stain	80 _68th
I think we all know the ending but what the hell
1	prowler	60 _58th
what's with the low ratings, this movie kicks ass
1	Shmendrek	3 _61st
If you haven't seen this yet, the ending has most likely been ruined for you by a myriad of spoofs and send-ups. But if by some miracle you don't know what I'm talking about, see this movie.
1	KasperL	60 _50th
Robinson is good, Heston is Heston, the ideas aren't half-bad and the ending is legendary. Essential sci-fi.
1	BillyShears	65 _42nd
I would constantly be paranoid if I knew Soylent Green was people. "Please don't be a weiner, please dont be a weiner"
1	tathiel	50 _8th
This movie is awfully dated, but of course we are used to much more awful stuff today than in 1973. Yet, I was rather disappointed after this movie.
1	chemical404	62 _64th
It feels dated, and cinematography is very "practical" compared to other dystopian films. So rather than cinematography and the futuristic settings it runs on story. And I would bet a coin, that more of it will become truth, than won't. And that really pisses me off.
1	moraesfelipe	65 _62nd
More a sum of well-imagined, typically 70s pessimistic dystopian images -- trucks removing people from a riot like trash bags, the discovery of the secret behind the soylent green's 'miracle' (nature is dying, too much people around, we finally found a way to make everyone eat something and kinda survive) -- than an actually solid narrative -- overpopulated lol with mithology aspects that are never fully developed, police procedural stuff seems just boring. Robinson's presence is haunting.
1	Ocelot	20 _12th
Edward G. Robinson eats frozen dinners.
1	johnshaft	80 _70th
It is definitely people.
1	SirStuckey	65 _45th
Probably a pretty good dystopian sci-fi for it's time, but it hasn't aged too well. Most of the "futuristic" technological stuff (TV, video game) seem hilariously outdated to today's standards, but the idea of overpopulated cities and a essentially worn-out Earth worked. It's not too long and it's got a good enough ending to make the journey worth it, but it's not anything you really NEED to see.
1	wetwillies	75 _26th
Viewed February 4, 2022. Fleischer's touch is evident in his portrayal of the levels that make up this society: high-class, modernized world of the elite; polluted, hazy, crowded streets; a dark, depressing underworld where regular people live and organize. The script is too disjointed for this to work as well as it should; stuck between fleshing out the characters and fleshing out the world, it doesn't do either all that well, and even the final twist doesn't land as vividly as I anticipated.
1	ratinenj	73 _14th
Not very solid piece of filmaking, but Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robison are charismatic on the leading roles and the film is a rare take on subject of overpopulation and it's consequencies. And there is always the famous ending that one can never forget.....
1	SirRobbie	60 _24th
it's hard to say if the idea of the film is clever or stupid, but it's definitely interesting.
1	Sweekoden	62 _50th
I expected silly "say the line we all know!" pulp, but it actually does its best to be a respectable dystopian sci-fi thriller. Dug it more than Omega Man.
1	li0li	20 _5th
With better pacing, could've been a 100, but it's just too slow. I guess that was intended to make the ending more shocking but it makes it a hard slog to get through.
1	Minorsage	45 _23rd
Grittier than I'd expected, but thin like a TV episode stretched. I do approve of the chosen death model.
1	fra paolo	85 _90th
Fascinatingly prescient film in many ways, and highly watchable despite the rather badly choreographed fights and the antediluvian location of women as 'furniture'.
1	juntakinte99	40 _1st
It's just too silly. I saw someone compare this to a 1970's version of Children of Men: a film that took the era's fears and concerns on the future and blew them up into a dystopian world. But the filmmaking isn't great enough to create a compelling story outside of the ecological worries. The mystery isn't suspenseful. The editing includes bizarre subplots. There's no good action. Rather than end it merely stops. Avoid unless you're marathoning cheesy 70's sci-fi films.
1	simsorut	60 _34th
I like furniture.
1	doyler29	80 _64th
It's tough for this film to play well when you go in knowing the answer to it's central mystery, but it's a pretty solid police film from genre craftsman Richard Fleischer that just happens to be set in the distant future of next year.
1	MovieCinema	79 _81st
Even though I already new the big spoiler, it was a fantastic movie, truly a sci-fi classic
1	Gamul1	86 _69th
Disturbing futuristic suspense, but good.

Average Percentile 50.82% from 1718 Ratings