Soylent Green (1973):
Since this year is the year it it set in...... I thought I'd revisit it on Amazon Prime. It's a very 1970's vision of the far future (the year 2022) in a hopelessly overpopulated New York city (40 million) and pollution has caused environmental disaster. Rampant global warming, the destruction of the economy, the global ecosystem in a mess, animal and plant life wiped out, mass starvation.... Lawlessness and a sweltering heatwave.
The only food left for the starving global population is "Soylent Green" - a man-made food that is limited in supply and causes rioting whenever it is released to the public in a small amount.
It's got a very dated view of women, some nasty violence and a brilliant vision of a world on the absolute brink. The costumes are very of their time as well. The American Footy helmets the riot cops wear are boss though.
Storyline is tense and always interesting, some very clever ideas and decent performances. The twist at the end is great.... Pretty common knowledge now but if you go into the movie cold it's a great sinister moment.
I first saw it on TV as a kid in the 80's so it had a big impact on me...
The plot in a paragraph: a paranoid conspiracy thriller with Chuck Heston as a lowly grunt cop doggedly investigating a mysterious death and eventually unravelling a horrible secret.
Check it out... It's FAR OUT. Got that great sweaty mistrust of authority that loads of 70's movies have. Plus the opening montage is just a work of GENIUS... absolutely blistering use of music, still images and editing.