Soylent Green

[watervole]

Some people who write blurbs for films should be shot. I was looking forward to watching Soylent Green. All I knew was that it was an old SF movie with Charlton Heston.

Unfortunately, the one paragraph blurb on TIVO gave away the entire plot. Or rather it gave such a blatent clue that one's first guess couldn't help being right.

What should have been a carefully built up layered plot where a murder gives clues to other things going on and even an oceanagraphic survey plays its part as part of the puzzle, simply becomes a fairly rapid confirmation of that initial guess.

Bastards.

Comments

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Sadly, the one thing I know about it is the famous "Soylent Green is people!" line, which gets bandied about so often, so I suspect I'd be in for even more of a disappointment.

[sugoll.livejournal.com]

I'm amazed.

I've never seen it, but I know the ending. It's kind of like the Stepford Wives; SG has entered SF culture as a short-hand for a particular twist-in-the-tale. I recall reading a Judge Dredd story back when I read 2000AD as a kid that, in retrospect, is somewhat SG-inspired.

So, [sympathy] - but I'm amazed that you still had this unspoiled for you.

[arborophile.livejournal.com]

I can remember first time I saw it, back in the days when we thought Charlton Heston was a hero, before realised he was an NRA nutcase![it was a long time ago!]

[kerravonsen]

Bastards.
Agreed. Soylent Green is one of those films, where, like "Witness For the Prosecution", anyone who discloses the ending should be tied up, gagged with a dirty sock, and stuck head-first into the laundry basket of a pro football team. In summer.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

My goodness, you have an evil imagination!

[kerravonsen]

I thought long and hard about it.

[(Anonymous)]

The novel SG was based on (Harry Harrison's Make Room! Make Room!) has some pretty major differences from the movie. In the novel, SG is just processed algae and doesn't play an important part in the story. I found it to be one of the most depressing novels I've ever read, and wouldn't recommend it even to die-hard Harry Harrison fans like myself.

-- Alex Holden.