Soylent Green
April 09, 2008
By: 
rollerkaty
Category: 1973, Charlton Heston, Soylent Green
What is the secret of Soylent Green?
The year? 2022.
A catastrophic environmental disaster threatens the existence of humankind. Fresh foods are virtually non-existent. The world’s hungry masses must compete for processed “Soylent” wafers in order to survive.
The place? New York City.
Overpopulation, hunger, and unemployment are rampant. Hordes of starving people riot in the streets, desperate to get their hands on “Soylent Green” wafers.
Our hero?
Police Detective Robert Thorn (Charlton Heston). He lives in a squalid apartment with his partner Sol Roth (Edward G. Robinson), a librarian of sorts who assists Thorn through researching old books.
His mission?
He must discover who murdered William R. Simonson, a member Soylent Corporation’s Board of Directors. And as the case unravels, he must first find out the secret behind Soylent Green.
Why should you watch this movie?
You will find out why Soylent Green means life. You will find out why Soylent Green means death. Plus the movie stars Charlton Heston at his manly, sweaty best.
Spoiler Alert: the trailer pretty much gives the secret away. If you want to watch this movie without having the ending spoiled, then you’ll want to skip the trailer and avoid any Internet research on the movie… as the most famous quote from the movie reveals Ihe Secret of Soylent Green!
Soylent Green Trailer:
This post is one in a series to celebrate Heston Week here on The RollerBlog.
| 2.5 |
April 9th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Of note: this was Edward G Robinson’s final role.
April 10th, 2008 at 4:18 am
I love Edward G Robinson’s character. The concept of referring to a person as a “Book” is intriguing - especially to someone like me who has an affinity for librarians
His death scene is particularly memorable as well.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:50 am
I also like how the chick comes with the apartment, like “furniture”. Shocking!
April 10th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Heston did some really cool movies. Never heard of this one. Thanks for sharing.
RN
April 10th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Heston’s saying what soylent green is made of is the only line of the movie I have seen.
Groovy blog!
April 10th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
the idea of soylent green always seemed more possible than most sci-fi films to me.
April 10th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I’d like to check out the book this movie was based on, “Make Room!Make Room!” (1966) by Harry Harrison.
April 16th, 2008 at 4:23 am
Make Room Make Room, the original, is an excellent book. It focuses on the issue of over population, and differs in may ways from the film. Less lurid for starters. Harrison details the effects of catastrophic numbers on all aspects of human relationships.
And I love a good detective story!
July 18th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I just recently watched this movie again. It has really held up well over time, and interestingly featured a scene in the beginning of the movie with the first coin-operated computer arcade game. Space Wars was the first vector graphics arcade game, and the basis for all the later arcade games of the late 70’s and early 80’s.