History YMMV / SilentRunning

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Everything from the robots to the view of Saturn and its rings. After all, the movie was directed by visual effects legend Douglas Trumbull, who had also done the effects for ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''. The Saturn effects were originally meant for ''[[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey 2001]]'' but weren't ready in time, so they were used in this movie. Amazingly, the film was made with a budget of just ''one million dollars'', though it certainly doesn't look that way.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: [[GreenAesop The natural world is valuable and important, and worth the effort to protect and preserve]]. While this message may seem a bit [[{{Anvilicious}} heavy-handed]] to modern viewers, keep in mind that it came at a time when very few people took the issue of environmental protection seriously.

* TearJerker: [[spoiler:The ending with Lowell being DrivenToSuicide]].
--->"Take good care of the forests, Dewey."
** The burial scene also qualifies. It has this effect InUniverse as well, as Lowell is so wracked with guilt over his actions that he's reduced to tears.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Everything from the robots to the view of Saturn and its rings. After all, the movie was directed by visual effects legend Douglas Trumbull, who had also done the effects for ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.
** The Saturn effects were originally meant for ''[[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey 2001]]'' but weren't ready in time, so they were used in this movie.
** In fact, the film was made with a budget of just ''one million dollars'', and it certainly doesn't look that way.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: While the film's [[GreenAesop environmental theme]] may seem a bit [[{{Anvilicious}} heavy-handed]] to modern viewers, keep in mind that it came at a time when very few people took the issue of environmental protection seriously.

* CultClassic
* FridgeHorror: It's possible that the lack of work shortages on Earth mentioned by Lowell might be down to there being ''not that many people left to employ'', meaning that the human species really is dying as a result of them having totally wiped out the natural environment.
* FridgeLogic:The movie makes it seem like what Lowell was doing was noble, but if by this point humanity could survive without Earth's environment, was killing humans to save the domes justifiable?
** If the human race was on its last legs as a result of the loss of the ecosystem (see FridgeHorror), then yes it is justified.
** The rationale presented for destroying the domes is that they present a 'hazard to navigation'. Considering where they are (Saturn) and the vastness of space -- this makes no sense of any kind. And there's the fact that the domes themselves, even if custom-built for the project, must have been very costly. They could easily have been re-purposed rather than destroyed. Oh,and nuclear detonation of the domes would actually make them MORE of a hazard, not less. Instead of one intact easy-to-spot object, now thousands of small radioactive hazards to navigation now exist.
** Each freighter was carrying six domes each. Which makes one wonder; why were the domes fitted with nuclear det-charges in the first place? The project must have been hugely expensive and represented a substantial investment of time, energy and resources. And considering they represent Earth's last intact bio-systems, why makes plans to destroy them?
** A more likely rationale for the destruction of the domes was that the company didn't want other people getting their hands on their property, with the domes themselves having become too expensive to maintain any longer. Throughout the film, you get the sense that humanity has simply given up on trying to preserve the natural environment.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Everything from the robots to the view of Saturn and its rings. After all, the movie was directed by visual effects legend Douglas Trumbull, who had also done the effects for ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.

** The burial scene also qualifies. It even has this effect InUniverse, as Lowell is so wracked with guilt over his actions that he's reduced to tears.

* {{Narm}}: For some, a few of Freeman's rants bring the ''Ren and Stimpy'' episode "Space Madness" to mind.