5 Star

Rich or Poor It’s the Same Truck.

Thanks to Arrow Films this Sci-Fi classic is now a wonderful restoration, and it does look amazing. It brings back that threat of a horrible future, of Global warming, food and water shortages. Oh wait, we didn’t listen. That warning came in 1973 with Richard Fleischer‘s (Red Sonja, Fantastic Voyage, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) version of Harry Harrison‘s (Bill the Galactic Hero) science-fiction novel Make Room! Make Room!, and he has a writing credit for the film. With a nice set of special features (See Below) this makes it a must-have for the Sci-Fi/ crime fan in your home.

With an intro that shows American fields being harvested and going through time as towns become cities, cities become metropolis’, with overcrowding and resources becoming scarce. Skip nearly fifty years to the future of 2022. The Earths’ surface is almost barren, and only the rich can get fruit, vegetables and meat. But the masses do not have any luxuries, even the water is rationed, electricity is via batteries that have to be manually charged.

I know, people were better – the World was better.

Aw, nuts. People were always lousy… But there was a World, 

once.

Food is supplied by the company Soylent; and they supply the small crackers that are Soylent Yellow, and Soylent Red, and the new Soylent Green. They are healthy as they are made from plant extracts and the Soylent Green made from the abundant plankton of the planets seas. This feeds this overpopulated city of New York.

Two of these residents are NYPD Detective Robert Thorn (Charlton Heston, The War Lord, Ben-Hur) who lives in a cramped apartment with his aged co-worker and friend Sol Roth (Edward G. Robinson, BLACK TUESDAY, Double Indemnity). The rules of life have changed, in that Sol is known as a ‘Book’ and he is Thorn’s source of information, as he used to be a professor, and has access to other books through the Supreme Exchange, a collective of academics, but like a secret society.

Elsewhere in the city, board member of Soylent Corporation William R. Simonson (Joseph Cotten, The Third Man, Citizen Kane) is relaxing in his posh suite. His ‘Furniture’ (building sex slaves, who have no rights) Shirl (Leigh Taylor-Young, I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series)) and his bodyguard Tab Fielding (Chuck Connors, The Big Country, Move Over, Darling) have gone shopping as miscreant Gilbert (Stephen Young, Patton, The Silent Partner) makes his way into Simonson’s secure building.

He confronts Simonson, who seems resolved to the idea of his demise, for what he knows.

Thorn is the detective appointed to Simonson’s robbery gone wrong murder.

I know. I know. When you were young, people were better.

Aw, nuts. People were always rotten. But the World was beautiful.

But he believes it was an assassination, as he took more stuff from Simonson’s suite than the alleged burglar.

The truth is out there, and it must be found.

Soylent Green is a true Sci-Fi Classic, and now on 4K UHD it belongs in your crime/sci-fi collection.

Soylent Green Limited Edition 4K UHD [Blu-ray] [Region Free] is available now.

 

4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• Brand new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative by Arrow Films
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original lossless mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Archive audio commentary with director Richard Fleischer and star Leigh Taylor-Young
• Brand-new audio commentary with film historian Michael Brooke and author Johnny Mains
• Charlton Heston at the BFI, an archive on-stage interview with the star of Soylent Green
• Richard Fleisher at the BFl, an archive onstage interview with the director of Soylent Green
• A Look at the World of Soylent Green, a vintage featurette
• MGM’s Tribute to Edward G. Robinson’s 101st Film, a vintage featurette
• Theatrical trailer
• Image galleries
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh
• Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing by Frank Collins and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas