The recent documentary “Spaceship Earth” mentions the
1972 science-fiction film “Silent Running”, directed by Douglas Trumbull.
The premise may seem preposterous. The Earth has
become the usual dystopian wasteland, and all the flora are in a space colony
(not exactly an O’Neill Cylinder). They are domes in an orbit around Saturn
(although Titan would be nearby).
Then commander Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) receives an
order to destroy the botanical colonies.
The film is short for its kind (89 min) and was
available in wide-screen formats. I vaguely
remember seeing it in a dollar house, I think, near Bailey’s Crossroads (where
I live now, ironically), during a period in my life when I worked for the Navy
and had returned to the DC area.
Picture is from the Botanical Garden near the Capitol, Washington DC, late Nov., 2018
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