Soylent Green (DVD, 2003)

Set in a polluted, congested New York City in 2022, this sci-fi
thriller stars Charlton Heston as Robert Thorn, a police detective
looking into the murder of a corporate executive (Joseph Cotton)
whose company makes a nutrious synthetic food called Soylent Green.
But in the process of tracking down the killer of the executive,
Thorn unearths shocking information about the product's ingredients.
The cast also includes Edward G. Robinson (in his last film role)
as a researcher that works with Thorn - who remembers the good days
of earth and New York City-when food was real, and people were not
crammed into spaces. Leigh-Taylor Young (Secret Admirer, Jagged Edge,
Dallas Season 11, etc) co-stars as the girlfriend of the murdered
executive. The director here is Richard Fleicher, (Tora, Tora, Tora,
Conan the Destroyer, Red Soyna, Mr. Majestyk, etc) who has shown his
durability by the many genres of movies he has worked on-and the fact
that an notable percentage of them have been box-office hits. This is
a great classic sci-fi thriller movie that most people will enjoy and
it will give a good evenings entertainment to those that like the sci
fi class of flixs. Definitely recommended if you like this type of movie.

The 2006 movie "Children of Men" seems to be a take off on Soylent Green. A 1970s thriller with Charleton Heston, where the world is devoid of freedoms, food, nature, and all that is good. I saw it 30 years ago, and just now bought the DVD. Still the best! A must see! A kind of cross between Planet of the Apes and The Time Machine, with humans, in the year 2025.

Personally, I do not like Charlton Heston, but he gives a good performance in this somewhat clumsily made movie from the seventies. He is well supported by Edward G. Robinson, and Chuck Conners acts to the best of his abilty, if you know what I mean! Often the screenplay dwells for 30 seconds on a plot development that today would be established in 5 seconds, resulting in a rather shallow story line. What's there is good, there is just not enough of it, ending rather abruptly, with several unresolved issues. Of course, that may have been the intention - hinting that the ordinary man has no real influence on the briefly glimpsed plutocracy.

Interesting story about life in the future which shows severe over population, discontent, food shortages, unemployment, global warming, an Earth which is slowly dying due to Humans and a huge gap between rich & poor. Not bad for a movie made in 1973. Another triumph for Charlton Heston and a good farewell for Edward G Robinson

Great movie for its time. However, with the rising prices in food, soylent green may be the next great commodity of the future. So is fact stranger than fiction? We will just have to wait and see. I'll have a glass of drug free osmosis processed water with my soylent green please.