Soylent Green (1973)

It's the year 2022 and New York City is an overpopulated polluted disaster. "Real" food has become a scarcity that only the very privileged can afford and the rest of mankind must settle for Soylent products made from ocean plankton. But when a member (Joseph Cotten) of the privileged class is brutally murdered, a New York City detective (Charlton Heston) stumbles onto a horrifying secret. Based on the novel MAKE ROOM MAKE ROOM by Harry Harrison and directed by Richard Fleischer (20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA), this is one of the genuine classics of the sci-fi genre. To an extent, it's not unlike a superior episode of the TWILIGHT ZONE but its premise is so potent and prescient (it was made in 1973 and shows the possible effects of global warming) that it remains as riveting today as it did upon its original release. This was the last film of the great Edward G. Robinson (he died almost 2 weeks after filming) and in his final scene, he goes out with as great a swan song as an actor could wish for. It's a film resonating more today than it did in 1973 which accounts for its cult status. With Leigh Taylor Young, Chuck Connors, Paula Kelly, Brock Peters, White Bissell and Celia Lovsky.