Standing alone, this film might have been alright; then comes the "but."
But . . . it certainly does not do justice to the story, and it is a mere technicality that the film makers/ writers tweaked the plot to make it an anti-pollution diatribe instead of a bacterial warfare experiment that got away from the Communist Chinese, which is MUCH more believable. The story was also about the failure of government and the transmutation of personality under crisis that would have added time and complexity to this simplistic film -- but would have been worth it. Especially annoying is the addition of the young pugnacious fellow traveller who is a completely different character in the novel, and much more interesting. However, he was deemed inappropriate for a youth-oriented film in 1970.
One commentator has called for a re-make and I agree. NO BLADE OF GRASS was a slap-dash hybrid of an action-adventure with environmentalist overtones, but does justice to neither. This could have been an epic "quest" story as a new social order arises, plus a commentary on fooling with Mother Nature at the risk of civilisation's collapse.
But . . . it certainly does not do justice to the story, and it is a mere technicality that the film makers/ writers tweaked the plot to make it an anti-pollution diatribe instead of a bacterial warfare experiment that got away from the Communist Chinese, which is MUCH more believable. The story was also about the failure of government and the transmutation of personality under crisis that would have added time and complexity to this simplistic film -- but would have been worth it. Especially annoying is the addition of the young pugnacious fellow traveller who is a completely different character in the novel, and much more interesting. However, he was deemed inappropriate for a youth-oriented film in 1970.
One commentator has called for a re-make and I agree. NO BLADE OF GRASS was a slap-dash hybrid of an action-adventure with environmentalist overtones, but does justice to neither. This could have been an epic "quest" story as a new social order arises, plus a commentary on fooling with Mother Nature at the risk of civilisation's collapse.