67
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertA movie out of the ordinary -- especially if you like science fiction.
- 80Time OutTime OutFull of stunning visuals, the ideas in the film more than compensate for the awkward scene-setting of the beginning.
- 80The TelegraphThe TelegraphFeaturing a particularly strong central performance and great effects, the film has had an enormous influence on many subsequent sci-fi films.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineSilent 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.
- 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.
- 70Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrDespite 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.
- 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.
- 50The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbySilent Running is no jerry-built science fiction film, but it's a little too simple-minded to be consistently entertaining.
- 50Silent 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.
- 50Slant MagazineEd GonzalezSlant MagazineEd GonzalezWhile 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.