Featured Audience Ratings

• Carlos M

  
  Transposed to the screen by Truffaut and with an evoking score by Bernard Herrmann, Ray Bradbury's terrifying vision of a future is a brilliant allegory that remains intelligent and pertinent even today - when books may not be destroyed but are scorned by the people themselves.

• Jim H

  
  What has always impressed me about Bradbury's classic is his commitment to post-Enlightenment ideals. This film and Bradbury's novel obviously condemn book-burning. And the film lingers on the burning pages with an almost-overwrought, almost-melodramatic pathos. But it… More
  What has always impressed me about Bradbury's classic is his commitment to post-Enlightenment ideals. This film and Bradbury's novel obviously condemn book-burning. And the film lingers on the burning pages with an almost-overwrought, almost-melodramatic pathos. But it also shows <i>Mein Kampf</i> about to be torched. What Bradbury says is that in accordance with post-Enlightenment philosophy, when people are allowed free access to ideas, invariably the good ideas rise to the top and the bad ones fall. It is only after we trust in the goodness of human perception that we can see the burning of Hilter's work as tragic as the burning of Twain. What I've written so far is only about the source material because that's the only part of this film I liked. We never get to see Montag's journey; he goes from book-burner to reader in the matter of a quick night and a quicker conversation. I normally don't care about set design, but this is a shallow, half-hearted attempt at creating a <i>Stepford Wives</i> future, and we needed a greater commitment to this idea if Truffaut wanted to feature the design so prominently. Finally, I was remarkable unimpressed by Oskar Werner. His command of English was a stark contrast to all the characters around him, and he remained stolid, emotionless, and ineffective throughout most of the film's action. Overall, read the book; don't see the film.

• AJ V

  
  This may seem a strange film if you haven't read the book, but if you have you know it's awesome. I really liked the movie.

• Daniel H

  
  A classic sci-fi film in the social-commentary vein of Soylent Green. Unlike the latter, though, Fahrenheit 451 as a film ages very badly. The world seems thin, as if it were only fleshed out enough to support the weight of its single message and metaphor... and whatever meat is put… More
  A classic sci-fi film in the social-commentary vein of Soylent Green. Unlike the latter, though, Fahrenheit 451 as a film ages very badly. The world seems thin, as if it were only fleshed out enough to support the weight of its single message and metaphor... and whatever meat is put on its skeletal plot, seems to clumsy and dull to fit with a message that begs for darkly polished satire. Regardless, the film contains some of the more iconic scenes of 1960's socially-minded sci-fi, and influential (if shallow and occasionally unfounded) messages, and is worth watching at least for this alone. Sadly, it is unmistakable as a poor adaptation whose high-points are not a result of good film-making or engaging acting, but instead it's excellent source material.

• Cindy I

  
  Lots of people seem to like this, and while I like the concept of it, I find it pretty dull.

• Pierluigi P

  
  Truffaut attemps to make a Hitchcock film. the results are good without being among his average films. Julie Christie is beautiful (as always) and gives a surprisingly good double role. Oskar Werner does a fine job as the self absorbed fireman. overall an interesting dystopian… More
  Truffaut attemps to make a Hitchcock film. the results are good without being among his average films. Julie Christie is beautiful (as always) and gives a surprisingly good double role. Oskar Werner does a fine job as the self absorbed fireman. overall an interesting dystopian fantasy.

• Chris W

  
  Enjoyable and underrated adaption of Bradbury's classic dystopian novel.

• Mister C

  
  A stunning realistic view of a society gone completely mad from French director Francois Truffaut-whom by the way produced his first ever English language film and gives us a world goes astray in chilling Technicolor. Based on the novel by Ray Bradbury and starring Oskar Werner and… More
  A stunning realistic view of a society gone completely mad from French director Francois Truffaut-whom by the way produced his first ever English language film and gives us a world goes astray in chilling Technicolor. Based on the novel by Ray Bradbury and starring Oskar Werner and Julie Christie.

• Ken S

  
  Great 60's Sci-Fi

• Matthew Y

  
  Removing the robot dog, some of the darker elements and completely Hollywoodizing the ending, they really bastardized Ray Bradbury's famed novel yet managed to keep faithful to the core essence and meaning of the book. Along with The Giver, 1984 and Brave New World it is one of… More
  Removing the robot dog, some of the darker elements and completely Hollywoodizing the ending, they really bastardized Ray Bradbury's famed novel yet managed to keep faithful to the core essence and meaning of the book. Along with The Giver, 1984 and Brave New World it is one of the best dystopian concepts involving a future society centralized around the neutering of human emotions. None of these books have managed to be adapted into a great cinematic film, which is ironic because they have such great thematic potential, so Fahrenheit 451 stands as a mini Sci-Fi classic mostly for lack of better options.

• hawk l

  
  Provocative, wonderfully portentous, all of the images take on chilling deadness. Fascinating dual role played by Julie Christie. Truffaut's confident first stride into English filmmaking.

• MJS M

  
  An adaptation of the famous Ray Bradbury novel directed by the great French New Wave director François Truffaut. This was Truffaut?s only English language film, which shows because he didn?t seem to have much control over vocal performances. The film seems to take place in the UK,… More
  An adaptation of the famous Ray Bradbury novel directed by the great French New Wave director François Truffaut. This was Truffaut?s only English language film, which shows because he didn?t seem to have much control over vocal performances. The film seems to take place in the UK, but the star has a thick German accent for some unexplained reason. I was also really annoyed with Julie Christie?s character. That character was so stupid and annoying I couldn?t take it, to Christie?s credit that character is sort of supposed to be a dingbat, but it was still a pain to watch. Truffaut is a creative guy and he does a fairly good job creating a future dystopia on a budget, but some of the effects are laughably dated. Bradbury?s story remains fascinating and there were quite a few good scenes, but for the most part I don?t think this was a great adaptation.

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