Reviews: DVD

Soylent Green (1973)

Directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson

This "vision of the future" features stark apartment blocks filled with the kind of furniture that university students find at op-shops. To match this dated decor, everyone dresses like they are in a Bee Gees cover band and the central character is played by an actor more renowned for swords and sandals epics. Still, we're a while off 2022 when the movie is set so I may eat my words if jumpsuits and gaudy lounge suites become the new black.

The focus here is on New York City, where the population has swelled to 44 million amid depleting resources, pollution and poverty. The murder of a corporate big wheel sees Detective Robert Thorn (Charlton Heston) assigned to the case and once he starts to probe further he discovers a rather unsavory fact about the artificial foods eaten by hoards of the city's poor.

You may already be familiar with the twist in this hokum sci-fi shocker and that knowledge may be enough to spoil the experience. As the heavy-handed hero, Heston is unintentionally amusing, however, Edward G. Robinson's turn as Thorn's aging sidekick brings this kitsch dystopian tale some underserved dignity.

Ben Davey

(China Daily 04/04/2007 page20)