Soylent Green (4K UltraHD Review)

Charlton Heston achieved stardom for his roles in cinema classics, The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), Secret of the Incas (1954), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Planet of the Apes (1968), Julius Caesar (1970) and The Omega Man (1971).

Now I enjoy watching Heston in anything he does, but for me, he excels in the sci-fi realm. Well, in 1973, he starred in a dystopian thriller entitled Soylent Green. This film is an iconic film and at long last, after many years of hoping, Soylent Green makes its UltraHD debut thanks to the good folks at Arrow Video.

Synopsis: When a member of the Soylent Corporation's board is murdered, Detective Robert Thorn (Charlton Heston, Ben Hur) is called in to investigate. His search for answers will lead to a shocking discovery. The final entry in a trilogy of dystopian sci-fi classics starring Charlton Heston - following Planet of the Apes and The Omega Man - Soylent Green is a devastating vision of humanity on the brink, once seen, never forgotten.

Even though Soylent Green is 53 years old this film feels eerily up-to-date. Shortages of jobs, housing, food and water. Overpopulation, people sleeping on the streets. Sadly, this sounds too much like 2026. Soylent Green's reveal in 1973 was so shocking, and it still has an impact even all these years later. But pretty much the whole world knows the reveal by now.

Charlton Heston leads an amazing cast, including the great Edward G. Robinson in whatwas his 101st film and final film as well. His preformance is simply amazing when you think he was basically deaf at the time. There is a caring relationship between these two friends in this film. It really enhances the drama when things so south. There are also great performances by Chuck Conners and Joseph Cotten. Soylent Green is an unforgettable film experience!

Arrow Video has transferred Soylent Green to UltraHD in 2160p and is presented in widescreen format. The audio track is the original English lossless mono audio. There is also the option for English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Arrow Video has performed a brand new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera. What results is crisp and clean pictures with crystal clear audio. It is simply amazing how good this film looks in 4K! But a 4k restoration isn't all this film has going for it. Arrow Video added some really nice bonus features to this release as well.

Bonus Materials:
* Archive audio commentary with director Richard Fleischer and star Leigh Taylor-Young
* Brand new audio commentary with film historian Michael Brooke and author Johnny Mains
* Charlton Heston at the BFI, an archive on-stage interview with the star of Soylent Green
* Richard Fleisher at the BFl, an archive onstage interview with the director of Soylent Green
* A Look at the World of Soylent Green, a vintage featurette
* MGM's Tribute to Edward G. Robinson's 101st Film, a vintage featurette
* Theatrical trailer
* Image galleries
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh
* Collectors' booklet featuring new writing by Frank Collins and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

Arrow Video here brings a lot of archived material to this 4K release. I am glad to see Arrow Video has brought all these over to this release. But there is only one new feature: the audio commentary by Michael Brooke and Johnny Mains, for such an important film in cinema history. I wished there had been more new bonus features. A retrospective and interviews would have been nice.

If you enjoy dystopian future sci-fi films, Soylent Green needs to be in your home video library. And there is no better way to have it than in 4k. If you would like to order your copy of Soylent Green in UltraHD, head over to MVDShop or Amazon today.