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Silent Running



Three years after helping to achieve some of the most amazing imagery in cinema history with 2001: A Space Odyssey, special effects maestro Douglas Trumbull made an auspicious directorial debut at age 29 with the environmentally themed science fiction classic Silent Running.

In the distant future, plant life on our planet is extinct. Remaining specimens are cultivated in vast greenhouse-like domes orbiting in space. Bruce Dern stars as Freeman Lowell, dedicated botanist aboard the “Valley Forge”, awaiting the call to refoliate Earth – despite the scorn of his crewmates. When an order comes to instead destroy the domes and return home, Lowell takes matters into his own hands, beginning a long and lonely voyage into the unknown.

With its remarkable special effects (especially the robot drones Huey, Dewey, and Louie); glorious score (including songs performed by Joan Baez); memorable sound effects (created by Joseph Byrd from the cult band The United States of America); a screenplay co-written by Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter) and Steven Bochco (Hill Street Blues), and an impassioned central performance from Dern, Silent Running remains a uniquely contemplative and haunting adventure that continues to make hippies of young children, even today. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present a new Blu-ray special edition to celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY ONLY

• Exclusively restored beautiful high-definition 1080p transfer
• Full-length commentary by director Trumbull and actor Bruce Dern
• Isolated music and effects track
• Optional English SDH subtitles on the feature
• The Making of Silent Running, a 1972 on-set documentary [50:00]
• Two video pieces with Douglas Trumbull [31:00 + 5:00]
• A Conversation with Bruce Dern, a discussion with the actor [11:00]
• Original theatrical trailer [3:00]
• A lavish 48-page full-colour booklet featuring rare photographs and artwork from Trumbull’s personal collection, and recollections of the film’s cinematographer, special designs coordinator, and composer

I've probably "almost bought" Silent Running a half dozen times. Glad I held off.

Well, I don't think anyone saw this coming

can't wait. if only there was an optional 'turn off Joan Baez' mode

• New high-definition master in its original aspect ratio

• A host of extras

• PLUS: A lavish booklet featuring rare production imagery, and more!

Hope to god this is region free.

jamie_atp wrote:can't wait. if only there was an optional 'turn off Joan Baez' mode

Haha I second that hope!

What a fantastic announcement (Baez and all!). I've been hoping this would be revisited somewhere down the line (especially given the praise Duncan Jones was dishing out for it in the wake of the Moon release), but never expected it would be MOC. I'm thrilled that it's going to get such royal treatment. \:D/

knives wrote:Hope to god this is region free.

I suspect it won't be due to the Universal license

The BFI's Privilege is region-locked at Universal's insistence, so I'd be very, very surprised if any of these titles was region-free.

We've released Universal titles before, they've always been region-coded, unfortunately.

Does this film really turn people into hippies? I'm sort of frightened to watch it now.

Oh, wow, I was just looking this up after seeing a reference in one of the Mystery Science Theater origins docs, this is awesome. Too bad it's going to be overshadowed by Touch of Evil, but I'm sure as hell going to buy both.

swo17 wrote:Does this film really turn people into hippies?

Clinically proven.
Also blubbering messes.

I wouldn't say that it's going to be overshadowed by Touch of Evil, it's had just as much or more discussion on twitter anyway. This board isn't representative of the general public.

In any case I didn't meant to disparage anything- this and Touch probably represent the best two release announcements in months, and that's before the full extras are out.

Nick, is this release as well as Touch of Evil, done deals in solo BluRay releases, or is there still a possibility of dual DVD/BluRay releases ala Ballad of Narayama? And while we're at it, are we done with the dual format releases? Either way, congrats on getting the rights to release all these!

The Ballad of Narayama is a dual format release so I don't think they're done with them.

Askew wrote:The Ballad of Narayama is a dual format release so I don't think they're done with them.

True, but I was asking because production work may have been started months ago on that...and MOC may have decided to stop that particular dual release experiment (I hope not!).

Considering the two in question are 'limited editions' from Universal that probably has more to do with it than any actual change in policy.

knives wrote:Considering the two in question are 'limited editions' from Universal that probably has more to do with it than any actual change in policy.

Any ideas on what "limited edition" means in this context? Is it a limited run?

Films like The Ballad of Narayama or Harakiri have never been released in the UK, whereas Touch of Evil and Silent Running have been out on DVD for ages. This might be one of the reasons for Blu-ray only.

Tribe wrote:

Askew wrote:The Ballad of Narayama is a dual format release so I don't think they're done with them.

True, but I was asking because production work may have been started months ago on that...and MOC may have decided to stop that particular dual release experiment (I hope not!).

I still haven't gotten a region free Blu-ray player so I've been enjoying the dual formats too.

That's a pretty good price! I'll probably wait and see what price MoC is offering directly.

It's a long story that's had many twists. I'll try and expand on it when the dust has blown over. We've got full exclusivity on these Blu-rays. To clarify, the 'limited edition' thing is our idea, not a Universal pre-requisite to make way for their edition after a year or anything like that. We wanted to keep sales moving (they typically start off strong and then really fall off the edge of a cliff, because of the small installed userbase, but things are getting better). The print run will be a healthy size, but we just don't know how popular these releases will be -- it's all a gamble, but one we really wanted to take.

The reason for the delay in announcing was to try and coordinate it all with the Amazon listings! It's sort of worked out okay. Hopefully folk can pre-order this stuff over the next 3-4 months and we can get a really good sense of the interest.

We'll be announcing some Dual Format editions of further Universal titles, plus Dual Format Fox titles, and other Dual Format editions - in fact, a whole further raft of releases will debut in our new printed MoC Catalogue, sometime in August. We've been working hard for months on all this, but there's still a long way to go...

Thanks for your support everyone! Glad you all seem to like the titles.