Blu-ray Release: Silent Running

Blu-ray Release Date: Available now
Price: Blu-ray $37.99
Studio: Arrow/MVD


In 1968, visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull (The Andromeda Strain, Close Encounters of the Third Kind) contributed to the ground-breaking special photographic effects of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Four years later, he stamped his own indelible mark on the science fiction genre with his mesmerizing directorial debut – 1972’s Silent Running.

In the not-so-distant future, Earth is barren of all flora and fauna, with what remains of the planet’s former ecosystems preserved aboard a fleet of greenhouses orbiting in space. When the crews are ordered to destroy the remaining specimens, one botanist, Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern, Nebraska), rebels and flees towards Saturn in a desperate bid to preserve his own little piece of Earth that was, accompanied only by the ship’s three service robots.

Featuring a captivating central performance by Dern, visual effects that rival anything in 2001 and a powerful ecological message, Silent Running is a haunting and prescient sci-fi classic that resonates even more strongly today than it did at the time of its original release.

Arrow’s supplemental package for this cult favorite is wide-ranging and impressive, as usual:

  • Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative, approved by director Douglas Trumbull and produced by Arrow Video exclusively for this release
  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
  • Original lossless mono audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary by critics Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw
  • Original audio commentary by Douglas Trumbull and actor Bruce Dern
  • Isolated music and effects track
  • No Turning Back, a new interview with film music historian Jeff Bond on the film’s score
  • First Run, a new visual essay by writer and filmmaker Jon Spira exploring the evolution of Silent Running’s screenplay
  • The Making of Silent Running, an archival 1972 on-set documentary
  • Silent Running by Douglas Trumbull and Douglas Trumbull: Then and Now, two archival interviews with the film’s director
  • A Conversation with Bruce Dern, an archival interview with the film’s lead actor
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Extensive behind-the-scenes gallery
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Arik Roper
  • FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Barry Forshaw and Peter Tonguette

 

Buy or Rent Silent Running

About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.