Fahrenheit 451
starring: Oskar Werner, Julie Christie, Lewis M. Allen, Ray Bradbury, Annette Insdorf
directed by: François Truffaut, Laurent Bouzereau
directed by: François Truffaut, Laurent Bouzereau
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Product Description:
A fireman of the future burns books until he meets a book lover and becomes an outlaw.Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca)Release Date: 01/27/2009Starring: Cyril Cusack Ann BellRun time: 113 minutesRating: NrDirector: Francois Truffaut
Amazon.com essential video:
The classic science fiction novel by Ray Bradbury was a curious choice for one of the leading directors of the French New Wave, François Truffaut. But from the opening credits onward (spoken, not written on screen), Truffaut takes Bradbury's fascinating premise and makes it his own. The futuristic society depicted in Fahrenheit 451 is a culture without books. Firemen still race around in red trucks and wear helmets, but their job is to start fires: they ferret out forbidden stashes of books, douse them with gasoline, and make public bonfires. Oskar Werner, the star of Truffaut's Jules and Jim, plays a fireman named Montag, whose exposure to David Copperfield wakens an instinct toward reading and individual thought. (That's why books are banned--they give people too many ideas.) In an intriguing casting flourish, Julie Christie plays two roles: Montag's bored, drugged-up wife and the woman who helps kindle the spark of rebellion. The great Bernard Herrmann wrote the hard-driving music; Nicolas Roeg provided the cinematography. Fahrenheit 451 received a cool critical reception and has never quite been accepted by Truffaut fans or sci-fi buffs. Its deliberately listless manner has always been a problem, although that is part of its point; the lack of reading has made people dry and empty. If the movie is a bit stiff (Truffaut did not speak English well and never tried another project in English), it nevertheless is full of intriguing touches, and the ending is lyrical and haunting. --Robert Horton
A fireman of the future burns books until he meets a book lover and becomes an outlaw.Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca)Release Date: 01/27/2009Starring: Cyril Cusack Ann BellRun time: 113 minutesRating: NrDirector: Francois Truffaut
Amazon.com essential video:
The classic science fiction novel by Ray Bradbury was a curious choice for one of the leading directors of the French New Wave, François Truffaut. But from the opening credits onward (spoken, not written on screen), Truffaut takes Bradbury's fascinating premise and makes it his own. The futuristic society depicted in Fahrenheit 451 is a culture without books. Firemen still race around in red trucks and wear helmets, but their job is to start fires: they ferret out forbidden stashes of books, douse them with gasoline, and make public bonfires. Oskar Werner, the star of Truffaut's Jules and Jim, plays a fireman named Montag, whose exposure to David Copperfield wakens an instinct toward reading and individual thought. (That's why books are banned--they give people too many ideas.) In an intriguing casting flourish, Julie Christie plays two roles: Montag's bored, drugged-up wife and the woman who helps kindle the spark of rebellion. The great Bernard Herrmann wrote the hard-driving music; Nicolas Roeg provided the cinematography. Fahrenheit 451 received a cool critical reception and has never quite been accepted by Truffaut fans or sci-fi buffs. Its deliberately listless manner has always been a problem, although that is part of its point; the lack of reading has made people dry and empty. If the movie is a bit stiff (Truffaut did not speak English well and never tried another project in English), it nevertheless is full of intriguing touches, and the ending is lyrical and haunting. --Robert Horton
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- 2.5 stars out of 4
The Bottom Line:
Hurt by a glum-looking Oskar Werner (he apparently was feuding with Truffaut during filming) as Montag and the bizarre stunt casting of Julie Christie in both lead female roles, this movie adaptation of Bradbury's novel fails to deliver in any meaningful way.
Rating: 
- Very nicely done!
The initial DVD was received damaged and was not usable.Upon filling out the return form, we received a brand new copy. It was shipped promptly -- without any questions.We returned the damaged one.Transaction complete!Very professionally handled.Thanks!
Rating: - A classic anti-utopia
Ray Bradbury was never a hard science sci fi writer as his Martian books were off in science when they were written, but in terms of literary acceptance he has led the pack.
Here a world where the printed word is being destroyed,
we see what can only be the fall of a civilization as motor manual's
are necessary to keeping cars going.
I've always wished that we would put the important elements to
something like stone that can't be bashed by vandals invading.
Memorization ... Read More
Rating: - Brilliant!
The pairing of a Ray Bradbury story and direction of Francois Truffaut makes me as a Ray Bradbury fan wish that this pairing could have happened for more of his stories. The special features are well worth the DVD alone, and the film is of course absolutely amazing.
Rating: - classic thinker's Sci Fi
This is one of the classic science fiction movies that encourages thought in the viewer. Anyone interested in societal problems would be interested in this movie
- 2.5 stars out of 4The Bottom Line:
Hurt by a glum-looking Oskar Werner (he apparently was feuding with Truffaut during filming) as Montag and the bizarre stunt casting of Julie Christie in both lead female roles, this movie adaptation of Bradbury's novel fails to deliver in any meaningful way.
- Very nicely done!The initial DVD was received damaged and was not usable.Upon filling out the return form, we received a brand new copy. It was shipped promptly -- without any questions.We returned the damaged one.Transaction complete!Very professionally handled.Thanks!
- A classic anti-utopiaRay Bradbury was never a hard science sci fi writer as his Martian books were off in science when they were written, but in terms of literary acceptance he has led the pack.
Here a world where the printed word is being destroyed,
we see what can only be the fall of a civilization as motor manual's
are necessary to keeping cars going.
I've always wished that we would put the important elements to
something like stone that can't be bashed by vandals invading.
Memorization ... Read More
- Brilliant!The pairing of a Ray Bradbury story and direction of Francois Truffaut makes me as a Ray Bradbury fan wish that this pairing could have happened for more of his stories. The special features are well worth the DVD alone, and the film is of course absolutely amazing.
- classic thinker's Sci FiThis is one of the classic science fiction movies that encourages thought in the viewer. Anyone interested in societal problems would be interested in this movie
