the world of the 1973 sci fi drama soylent green be what we could be see if we aren not careful . it be a world in which new york city population have top the 40 million mark in the year 2022. overpopulation and air pollution and year long heat wave and and food shortage be the rule . the only hope come from a food product call soylent green . but what be this particular food stuff really make of . that question be at the heart of this admittedly somewhat dated but still intriguing film and base on harry harrison 1966 novel make room . make room . charlton heston star a thorne and an nypd detective who come across the murder of a top corporate executive ( joseph cotten ) . a it turn out and cotten be on the board of director of the soylent corporation and the people responsible for all those food stuff that the people have to consume in lieu of the real thing . heston believe that this wasn not just a garden variety murder and that cotten be bump off for a reason . he get a lot of help from his slightly cantankerous but very astute book ( edward g. robinson and in his 101st and final cinematic appearance ) and and a few timely reminder of what the world use to be like . what robinson find out about soylent green shock him beyond all imagination while but before he can tell heston all of what he know and he have himself euthanized . and when heston do indeed find out the secret of soylent green . well and that part have become immortalize into cinematic history . under the very professional guiding hand of director richard fleischer ( the boston strangler while fantastic voyage ) and soylent green be a fairly grim but think provoke look at a dystopian future that humanity might be live if we do not curb our tendency to strip our planet of it natural resource . indeed and this be a project that heston himself have have in mind for film a far back a 1968 and after he have strike gold in the sci fi genre with planet of the ape a fact that probably get lose whenever his ultra conservative political philosophy come up in conversation ( after all and soylent green be hardly a tract for unrestrained capitalism ) . robinson and a always and be the consummate professional in his last role while the sequence where he be euthanized ( a he look at video of the world from a good era and set to the music of tchaikovsky and beethoven and and grieg ) be quite simply heartbreaking . the film also benefit from solid support help from chuck connors ( a a very convincing heavy ) and brock peter ( a heston superior ) and and leigh taylor young a the woman who try to help heston in his inquiry . it must seem easy these day to dismiss soylent green for be date . but those who do it ought to think twice while for this film world may end up become ours in actuality if we do not watch what we do with what we have today .