In a future where all flora is extinct on Earth, an astronaut (Bruce Dern) is given orders to destroy the last of Earth's plant life being kept in a greenhouse on board a spacecraft.

The biggest problem with this film is the music provided by Joan Baez. Maybe in 1972 this was cool, but today (2013) it comes off as obnoxious, and it pushes the film over the boundary from "environmentalist" to "hippie", which may be a serious turn-off for many viewers.

Beyond that, great film with Bruce Dern being his wacky self. I love his little robot pals and how he trains them to be (almost) human. The actors inside the robots deserve a lot more credit than they probably get.

This movie revolves around a space ship/station that harbors the last plants and trees from earth. Then there off course is the threat that those plants and trees are destroyed, evil colleagues etc., all very enjoyable. Just the 1 thing they should have left out is this, in an age where they can build space ship this enormous, they do not know plants and trees need sunlight? So stupid, even for that time.

I've referred to several classic science fiction films as "the thinking man's science fiction film", and while this is certainly one of those, it's also the quiet man's science fiction films. It's obvious that Bruce Dern here would not be a hero on earth, but the simple values that his character has over his love for nature is truly worth applauding him for. What's questionable is his fury over fellow astronauts who continuously defy him by driving around on little space vehicles, crushing the foliage and frightening the garden type animals who get to live among the flora and fauna, the flowers and leafy greens. It's a shocking turn of events from a seemingly peaceful man, but when he finds out that their huge space city (population four) is being sent back to a now plant free earth, he can't help but go ballistic.

While Cliff Potts and the other two men only have limited screen time, it's anti-establishment hero Dern who dominates the film with long scenes of doing nothing but talking to either himself or the teeny tiny robots who parade around the ship. They would get off the path automatically if the other men were zooming down the spaceship roads, but with Dern, they seem to individually gain personalities. The destruction of one of them truly is sad. There really is nothing as far as special effects are concerned, even though director Douglas Trumball was the special effects man on "2001". The mixture of sweetness and cynicism is an interesting combination, and the songs by Joan Baez really thought provoking.