Soylent Green Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Soylent Green Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 13, 2026

It may be amusing for some (jaded?) film buffs to watch the vintage promotional featurette included on this disc as a supplement, where a once mighty Metro Goldwyn Mayer (then undergoing severe cutbacks on virtually every front) attempts to convince viewers that Soylent Green is the next science fiction masterpiece to be offered by the studio that gave the world 2001: A Space Odyssey . Even this film's most diehard aficionados, and there certainly are some, would probably be hard pressed to compare either this film's technical sheen or its underlying intellectual mien to Kubrick's magnum opus and find Soylent Green superior. That said, if like 2001's "open the pod bay doors, Hal" Soylent Green was also one of relatively few films that have become almost infamous for one singular line of dialogue, in this particular case that line (which won't be repeated here) is a none too surprising (even for 1973 audiences) spoiler.

Soylent Green had a long ago 1080 release from Warner Brothers, which Ken Brown's Soylent Green Blu-ray review covers in some detail, including plot information (does anyone really need plot information at this point?), supplements and technical presentation. I'll only add in passing that this film offers some of the most unintentionally funny costume designs for the men in particular of any "futuristic" narrative, especially with regard to the perhaps guffaw inducing caps. On the plus side, this is another relatively rare chance to see the wonderful Paula Kelly (Sweet Charity among at least a few other notable films) in a featured role. There may be a certain "ick factor" for some with regard to the age difference between Heston and Taylor-Young.

Soylent Green Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Arrow sent a check disc for purposes of this 1080 review, but a full retail final set for purposes of the Soylent Green 4K Blu-ray review. I'm assuming that per Arrow's standard operating procedure, the packaging, including the insert booklet, is the same for both resolutions (despite the apparent non sequiturs of HDR, etc., in the following description). Soylent Green is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information about the presentation:

Soylent Green has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1 with mono audio. The film is presented in 4K resolution in HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K 16 bit at Warner Brothers Motion Picture Imaging. The film was restored in 4K and color graded at Silver Salt.

The original mono soundtrack was restored by Bad Princess Productions.

All materials source for this new master were made available by Warner Brothers. QC review by Pixelogic.

Ken was decently pleased if not overwhelmingly blown away by the now pretty ancient Warner Brothers 1080 release, but in both 1080 and especially 4K Arrow has again provided fans with a noticeable improvement in presentation. I've attempted to duplicate some of Ken's screenshots in this review in particular so that those interested can do side by side comparisons, but even a cursory look should prove how much better suffused this is, along with being slightly darker overall than the old 1080 release. Color timing is also better, including everything what Ken mentioned were "variable" skin tones in the old 1080 presentation, but also the kind of sickly green haze that permeates a lot of the outdoor material. While things are certainly improved even further in the 4K's HDR / Dolby Vision grades, even here in SDR and 1080 the palette is noticeably more vivid than in the older 1080 presentation, and throughout there are some really bold pops of color that resonate extremely well, kind of interestingly arguably more with regard to some primaries than the omnipresent green haze that afflicts the outdoor scenes. In both 4K and 1080 (but perhaps more visibly in 4K), there are still occasional variations in warmth and image clarity that can be spotted, along with ebbs and flows in a generally nicely tightly resolved grain field.

Soylent Green Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Soylent Green features a nice sounding LPCM Mono track that I suspect is quite similar to the DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track Ken reviewed, though I'm evidently a bit more pleased by the overall sound here than Ken was with regard to the old 1080 release from Warner Brothers. As Ken mentioned, the mono track is unavoidably less immersive than those wanting sci fi surround phantasmagoria might prefer, but fidelity is fine throughout this presentation, and Fred Myrow's pulsating score gets a good rendering. Dialogue is presented without any issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

Soylent Green Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries

Richard Fleischer and Leigh Taylor-Young




Michael Brooke and Johnny Mains

• A Look at the World of Soylent Green (HD; 10:03) is the above mentioned now perhaps more than slightly comical promotional featurette done by Metro Goldwyn Mayer.


• MGM's Tribute to Edward G. Robinson's 101st Film (HD; 4:51) mostly features Charlton Heston.


• Charlton Heston at the BFI (HD; 1:36:49) is an audio interview from 1985 that plays as a kind of alternate track to the film.


• Richard Fleischer at the BFI (HD; 1:16:25) is from 1994 and occurred after a screening of Compulsion.


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:29)


• Image Galleries

Posters & Artwork (HD)




Black & White Promo Stills (HD)




Color Promo Stills (HD)

Arrow's insert booklet has two really fun essays by Frank Collins and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. The keepcase sleeve is reversible, and packaging also features a slipcover.

Soylent Green Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A more recent reveal on Apple+'s Pluribus obviously owed a tip of the (patently ridiculous looking?) cap to Soylent Green, but let's face it, the underlying premise of this film might arguably be traced as far back to literary efforts like Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal. The film's 1973 production design looks positively quaint to today's eyes, but it has to be stated that some of the film's underlying theses are pretty prescient. Arrow's new version offers improved video in particular, and the addition of the new interviews and commentary will be appreciated by fans. With caveats noted, Recommended.