Nel 2022 la terra è al collasso climatico ed economico, sovrappopolata e caotica. New York, la capitale unica del pianeta, ospita 40 milioni di individui costretti a sottostare alle rigide regole delle caste subendo alcuni emarginazione, altri un regime di pseudo schiavitù sociale. L'industria alimentare rivela una pericolosa falla e un detective (Charlton Heston) vuole andare a fondo della faccenda dopo l'omicidio di un dirigente aziendale. Il pessimismo sconfortante sprigionato dalle parole lapidarie di Harry Harrison nel romanzo "Make room, make room" ha offerto su un piatto d'argento gli spunti narrativi per la messa in scena del distopico adattamento "2022: i sopravvissuti", pellicola che si prefigge il compito di "aprire gli occhi" su una futura realtà da medioevo di ritorno, condizionato dalle scelte dei potenti e pronto a condannare i deboli a un'esistenza di afflizione e prostrazione. Drammone fatalistico a declinazione psicosociale dominato dalla presenza scenica di Charlton Heston, affiancato da Edward G. Robinson (come fu ne "I Dieci Comandamenti") alla sua ultima performance attoriale prima della scomparsa. L'opera di Richard Fleischer si aggiudicò un Saturn Award nel 1975 come miglior film di fantascienza. (fonte: retro del dvd)

Although some elements now look a touch dated "Soylent Green" still remain a thoughtful, intelligent and prescient piece of science fiction cinema. The plot, from Harry Harrison's novel, is relatively simple: cynical detective Thorn (Charlton Heston) is send to investigate the murder of a rich oligarch. It looks like an open-and-shut case of a robbery gone wrong, but Thorn concludes that its an assassination. Warned off by his boss and getting increasingly paranoid, Thorn sticks with his investigation, even as it leads him to the powerful multi-national Soylent Corporation and some form of conspiracy around soylent green, their hugely popular food product. Richard Fleischer's film has an iconic, chilling climax, but it is the details that make the film memorable: the over-population, the environmental degradation, the cloying pollution, the impacts of global warming and the brutal economic inequity with the masses living in grinding poverty, while the super-rich elite live in luxury apartments that come with their own "furniture" - a euphemism for a live-in prostitute. It is a future that looks terrifying bleak and a future that is looking increasingly like the present. "Soylent Green" is an intelligent, engaging sci-fi detective story with strong direction, a decent central performance from Charlton Heston, all overlaid with a grim dystopian view of the future. ( )

A murder investigation leads to uncovering a conspiracy.

Serviceable entertainment. It never bothers to do anything beyond what it needs to to work. I suppose the plot might have been more interesting if you somehow didn't know the ending, but of course everyone knows it.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 2.1/4 ( )

This was Edward G. Robinson's last film. ( )

One of the "must sees" in the history of science fiction films. The science behind the rational of the plot's big secret is flawed - the source of Soylent Green would not be energy efficient, except perhaps as a supplement - but hopefully Harry Harrison dealt with this topic more thoroughly in his novel. I know, I know, this was supposed to be a film about human nature and a distopic future. I will give the film kudos for its early mention of the Greenhouse Effect. In my memory of pop culture of the 70's, the media gave press to an impending new ice age, not global warming. ( )