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Summary: Fahrenheit 451 the movie
Review: Fahrenheit 451 the movie was horrible. You really cant understand the characters especially Guy Montag because of their unintellegable accents. You are imature if you watch this movie and understand Guy Montag. Read the book. It is a lot better than the movie. Make sure that when you read the book pull your pants down and open your eyes. Enjoy!
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Summary: An English Teacher puts his "two cents" in...
Review: I teach 10th grade English on Long Island, New York and have been teaching Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" for the past 15 years. As someone who knows the book intimately, I have to say that Francois Truffaut's version of the movie just barely captures Bradbury's intent in writing the novel. The movie itself is a masterpiece of Truffaut's style of filmmaking. Bernard Herrmann's score is one of his best. But, the film lacks the drive of the book. Oskar Werner's German accent and stiff acting detracts from the movie. Quite often my students would ask me, "what did he say"?One of the most glaring omissions from the book is the absence of the Mechanical Hound. The Mechanical Hound had a significant role in the book and I believe was left out because of the special effects requirements that were probably cost prohibitive back in 1966. Another omission is the leaving out of the character Professor Faber.
Other things... no "green bullet" in the ears, no boulevard of high speed drivers and Montag running across ten lanes of the boulevard while "teenagers" try to run him down, why change Montag's wife's name from Mildred (in the novel) to Linda (in the movie)?, and finally, why have Clarise reappear at the end of the movie when in the novel she "disappears"? All these questions and omissions change the story. While the skeleton of the novel is there, purists will want to wait for the supposed on again, off again, remake that Mel Gibson was supposedly going to make. To watch this movie is an experience in Truffaut's filmmaking and you won't be disappointed. For fans of the novel, however, this movie will let you down. Watch those wires holding up the flying police!!! Or were they supposed to be antenna's??? And what's with the other fireman, FabIAN and his looks to the camera all the time?? Finally, pay CLOSE attention in the school scene at the "headmaster" who peeks out the sliding window.... Fabian in a wig??????
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Summary: Very Strange Movie.....
Review: This was a very strange movie. The English is badly dubbed and the screenplay was too quickly written. It just goes to show that not every book should be turned into a movie.
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Summary: blahh science fiction - but good drama and social comment
Review: First of all - I did not read the book. - So I cant make that comparison. But I have seen the movie a number of times.
If you are interested in drama and symbolism - this film is replete - but if your interest is science fiction - you will be sorely disappointed. This is a very good film - very subtle - considering its content. Give it some patience and time - there is much more depth then its initial viewing might suggest. I was initially disappointed - for the acting by the main character seems bland, the sets seem trite and there is lack of grandeur and dynamic range for a science fiction film - but the film really shines in its understated drama and symbolism especially when dealing with choice, freedom, relationships, censorship and the forbidden fruit of knowledge. The music by Bernard Hermann is excellent - For the price and with a number of very good extras -the DVD is a steal. I personally I don't particularly like Truffaut,s work for its lack of in your face emotional drama- but I appreciate him more from seeing this film numerous times. The DVD is from a very good print. -The DVD is in mono but sounds good - no hiss.
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Summary: "Behind each book is a man"
Review: This truly unusual and period movie (the 60's) was a subject of comment by the original author of the popular book, Ray Bradbury. He claimed that the movie improved on his original book ending. The direction here has probably one of the greatest improv's of film. In the beginning there are no words used to introduce the movie. Rather we are shown a sequence of Television antenna-laced rooftops and the "titles" are spoken. This continues as our hero picks up a "newspaper", but upon close inspection we see that it is only picture sequences. The best aspect of this work is the score. Bernard Hermann is responsible for what can only be described as "atmospheric" music and it is a standout. Oscar Werner, in all fairness, was crucified by critics for his performance and the way he played the central character, in retrospect, this was unfair and I sometimes believe that critics make comments without reading anything about the material. Werner obviously read the book!Remember that "firemen" in this future society are not "intellectuals" and what we see is how he eventually wakes up and discovers the value of knowledge. Werner plays this perfectly, and he eventually values knowledge more than his life, after the shock of witnessing a suicide by an old woman who refuses to leave her books as they are burned. In reality the director wanted to show how a man transforms from his discovery of the word and the re-discovery of the "I". (ala' Ayn Rand) In the end, he flees the controlled, drug infested and false reporting society of the city to live with a group in the outskirts of civilization intent on preserving the great books of culture during the dark age of this dismal future. It is thought provoking and worth a view. Just remember that it is a "period" movie and suffers from a lot of 60's pop art and clothing.
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Summary: A missed parody of mediocrity and censorship
Review: The seminal book-burning science-fiction story, with Truffault at the helm. I'll have to say that I didn't care much for this one, even though I didn't read the book. Excluding the book-burning, the plot is rather pedestrian : and it is unfortunately obvious that Truffault, a lover of books himself, was not afraid to be pretentious. His elegy of books is extreme, and one wonders, with one of the antagonists, whether philosophy books are not just "everyone saying they're right and everyone else is wrong". Fahrenheit 451 quickly switches from being a parody of mediocrity to a parody of elitism. The end scenes, with a group of people who commit a book to memory and bind their identity to that of the text, only confirm the pretentiousness of the discourse given to us. There are some good parts here and there (such as the beautiful images of fire and pages withering and blackening, and the public television show offering members of "The Family" a chance to be an actor - the whole thing is, of course, staged). The DVD also has one of the most inane commentary tracks I have ever heard. That's only the nail in the coffin.
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Summary: Fans of the book will be disappointed
Review: If rated as just a movie, 3 ½ stars are in order. The movie lacks any suspense, and there are no surprises. The romance storyline lacks any depth, most of the characters don't really develop, and it's just lacking overall. But when compared to the book, and as a cinematic interpretation, this movie is bad. It lacks any of the philosophic musings of Ray Bradbury. There is no old professor type helping Montag, the great captain of the firemen is poorly done. The last scene we are confronted by proto hippies that have memorized books and taken on the books persona, instead of older gentleman disenfranchised by government control. If you like the book, you probably won't like this movie, and I'd encourage you to not watch it, but if you have seen the movie and like it, I recommend spending your money to buy the book instead.
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Summary: 451 Degree DVD
Review: An adaptation of Ray Bradbury's sci-fi novel, "Fahrenheit 451"..a story of Guy Montag who is a fireman...that STARTS FIRES to burn the books that are in the world. Some of the scenes look VERY FUTURISTIC...like the monorail scenes. However, the "flying firemen" scene was kinda poor...you could see the wires a mile away. Montag later joins an underground movement who are preserving the books---IN THEIR MINDS. There's a cute moment where one of the people claims that he has memorized "The Martian Chronicles" by Bradbury. Very well done movie.
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Summary: Film is great, but DVD could have been better
Review: I suppose we should be grateful for any bonus material, and for the fact that this fine, underseen film has even been given a DVD release. While the film looks and sounds great, the bonus material has some problems, I think. The different supplements tend to repeat each other, for one, down to copying the film's famous credit sequence. I wish the Bernard Herrman segment had focused a little more on the music in the film, instead of his personal problems. Audio commentary is one of the best things DVD technology offers - too bad it wasn't used to better advantage in this case. For one thing, it isn't just Julie Christie on the track - a film editor, a professor/Truffaut critic, Bradbury for a bit, even a DVD producer show up! Each time a new person starts talking, they are re-introduced, which gets rather annoying. It becomes a hodgepodge, with comments ranging all over the map, often ignoring what's on the screen (even, at one point near the end, a remark about a scene at the beginning). Overall, though, it's a worthy package. I wish the music soundtrack were available.
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Summary: Bonus material makes this DVD well worth having
Review: A quick note to let fans of this underrated film know that the DVD edition contains an illuminating making-of (almost an hour-long with comments and anecdotes from producer Lewis M. Allen, editor Thom Noble, author Ray Bradbury and Truffaut specialist Annette Insdorf -- you even get glimpses of Francois Truffaut at work), a terrific interview with Ray Bradbury, another with Bernard Herrmann's biographer regarding the haunting soundtrack, a wonderful poster & stills gallery, an unusual trailer, an alternate opening credit sequence (a woman's voice is heard instead of Alex Scott's voice) and, creme de la creme, an audio commentary by Julie Christie. Hours and hours of fun & discovery which makes this DVD a great addition to your library.
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