Richard Fleischer - Soylent Green (1973)

Set in the near future when the world's population has reached critical mass, Soylent Green is equal part detective story and futuristic adventure. The world depicted in the film is a nightmarish possibility. Overpopulation has forced millions to live on the streets where any food is in short supply. People are forced to live amongst the rotting corpses of starvation victims as they wait for the Soylent company to distribute their weekly supply of Soylent Green, a manufactured food product developed to feed the starving masses. Charlton Heston plays Richard Thorn, a detective assigned to investigate the murder of a high-ranking Soylent Executive. His investigation leads to a shocking discovery that could devastate mankind.
What separates Soylent Green from any number of apocalyptic future fables are the simple choices made by Director Richard Fleischer. Fleischer grounds his film in detective film noir from the 1940's to tell his tale, an odd choice that serves the film well. Instead of inviting the audience to gawk at improbable futuristic concepts, he decides to tell a slow burning detective story set in a Dystopian futuristic society. This way the audience is able to empathise with Heston as he undertakes his journey of discovery. Sure, there are the occasional 1970's futuristic projections that miss the mark, such as the high societal residential concubines eloquently termed 'Furniture' that reek of the 'free love' era. Thankfully such concepts are few in nature. Instead we have a plausible examination of a possible future that is as timely today as it was in 1973.

The cast are uniformly excellent with Charlton Heston delivering another well tuned, larger than life performance that deftly combines heroism and moral outrage. Edward G Robinson, in his last film, turns in a genuinely moving performance as Heston's long-time partner and informational resource, Sol Roth. Leigh Taylor Young as Shirl, a residential concubine/'Furniture', brings a real vulnerability to the part that enriches what could have been a two dimensional character.

Director Fleischer, a veteran genre film maker (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, The Vikings, Fantastic Voyage, The New Centurions and Conan The Destroyer), focuses on character over spectacle. There are occasional shots employing the use of special effects, but they are few and far between. Effects are only utilised to establish a futuristic landscape and are mainly matte painted skylines that present an over-industrialised nightmare of never ending concrete living spaces. Fleischer also delivers several well paced action scenes that include a brutal food riot and climactic gun battle. This all leads to the film's remarkable climax. Simply put, the film's ending is the stuff of genre legend and has been parodied over the years in everything from The Simpsons to Saturday Night Live. As film endings go, it is quite brutal and disturbing, and for me elevates the film to classic status. Soylent Green is a classic Sci-fi film that should be seen by all aficionados of the genre.