Blu-ray Release: Silent Running

Blu-ray Release Date: Available now
Price: Blu-ray $37.99
Studio: Arrow/MVD

In 1968, visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull (The Andromeda Strain, Close Encounters of the Third Kind) contributed to the ground-breaking special photographic effects of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Four years later, he stamped his own indelible mark on the science fiction genre with his mesmerizing directorial debut – 1972’s Silent Running.

In the not-so-distant future, Earth is barren of all flora and fauna, with what remains of the planet’s former ecosystems preserved aboard a fleet of greenhouses orbiting in space. When the crews are ordered to destroy the remaining specimens, one botanist, Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern, Nebraska), rebels and flees towards Saturn in a desperate bid to preserve his own little piece of Earth that was, accompanied only by the ship’s three service robots.

Featuring a captivating central performance by Dern, visual effects that rival anything in 2001 and a powerful ecological message, Silent Running is a haunting and prescient sci-fi classic that resonates even more strongly today than it did at the time of its original release.

Arrow’s supplemental package for this cult favorite is wide-ranging and impressive, as usual:

• Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative, approved by director Douglas Trumbull and produced by Arrow Video exclusively for this release
• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Original lossless mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary by critics Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw
• Original audio commentary by Douglas Trumbull and actor Bruce Dern
• Isolated music and effects track
• No Turning Back, a new interview with film music historian Jeff Bond on the film’s score
• First Run, a new visual essay by writer and filmmaker Jon Spira exploring the evolution of Silent Running’s screenplay
• The Making of Silent Running, an archival 1972 on-set documentary
• Silent Running by Douglas Trumbull and Douglas Trumbull: Then and Now, two archival interviews with the film’s director
• A Conversation with Bruce Dern, an archival interview with the film’s lead actor
• Theatrical trailer
• Extensive behind-the-scenes gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Arik Roper
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Barry Forshaw and Peter Tonguette