Time has not been kind to Silent Running. It is so visually dated that it hurts to watch. Silent Running’s ecological message is eerily still germane today and should be heeded-our cavalier disregard for nature versus the need to protect the environment; however, it is so earnest and heavy-handed that when Joan Baez appears throughout the Silent Running’s soundtrack, it is a bit much and feels like it can veer into sketch territory. (Think Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood-MESSAGE!) The conservationist character appears unhinged early in Silent Running so when he finally goes postal, it will surprise no one. If I am flattering, it felt like a retelling of the Abel and Cain storyline from Cain’s point of view as he mourns and desperately tries to recreate a lost Eden that he never knew. Silent Running seems to be conflicted-is it a story for adults or children? Three robots-the inspiration for Wall-E?-become anthropomorphized and may be more sympathetic than their human counterparts. On an unrelated note, it is nice to know that Ron Rifkin was once a young man and not always terrifyingly and silently sinister.