Soylent Green, a Scary Film About 2022 Made 50 Years Ago: Are We There Yet?
1973 trailer predicted: New York City in the Year 2022 — Nothing runs anymore, nothing works, but the people are the same
Soylent Green, a sci-fi film about 2022 made a half-century ago, predicted runaway inflation, mass shortages, climate disasters, and a powerful elite walling themselves off from an angry divided, desperate people.
The original trailer begins: “New York City in the Year 2022 — Nothing runs anymore, nothing works, but the people are the same. People will do anything to get what they need. What they need most is Soylent Green.”
Do we like conspiracy theories and crime stories about big businesses, government, and other establishment figures manipulating the people? And being exposed?
Greenhouse gases where “everything is burning up” make summer last all year long, creating massive supply shortages. What’s the answer?
Soylent Green predicted a future where we’ve gotten so nasty that we’re eating our own (without knowing or thinking about what we’re doing to each other).
“Do you know how many books were published in this country once upon a time?” the legendary Edward G. Robinson, then age 79, asks in his final role.
He’s become the last librarian, the researcher who helps the brave detective unravel the mystery by helping find the facts and the truth. “I was a teacher once, a full professor, a respected man.”
The strange but true story of Edward G. Robinson’s final scene
Dick Van Patten (later the star of Eight is Enough) recalls being “star struck” to meet Edward G. Robinson (who worked as an actor from 1913–73).
In their scene, Van Patten came to take Robinson’s character “to his death.”
The very next day, the cast learned that Robinson died that night, soon after shooting that final scene about being taken to his death. Heston delivered the eulogy at his funeral.
The opening credits show the rapid growth of the 20th century culminating with young people wearing surgical masks. The most memorable line? When Heston, playing Detective Thorn, reveals, “Soylent Green is people.”
How close did the authors come with their story? How much did they get right and wrong?
Thorn encounters a priest in one scene, who tells him, “Forgive me. It’s destroying me.” Thorn asks, “What is?”
The priest ultimately explains, “The truth… All truth.”
