Review: Fahrenheit 451

I want to burn.

In the future, books are illegal and burned on sight. Firefighters no longer put out fires, they find books to burn. Guy Montag (Michael B. Jordan) was content with being a firefighter and looking up to his superior, Captain Beatty. (Michael Shannon) But then he starts remembering things, and an encounter with Clarisse (Sofia Boutella) changes everything he knows.

I never read the book this is based on. I understand there were some big changes, like the technology in the future. For someone that didn't have that preset expectation, I thought it looked really cool and made sense. If they've taken over the internet and wanted to maintain control over everyone 24/7, why wouldn't the buildings look like they do here? 

The Michaels have had a great year. This is the second of two strong performances Michael Shannon gave on TV this year, though I think he was better in the brilliant mini series Waco. Michael B. Jordan, of course brought us one of the best Marvel villains we've ever seen in Killmonger gets to show us his softer side. I thought he was wonderful. Guy seems cocky to us at first but Jordan plays him with a beautiful vulnerability. There's a scene in the film where the camera just lingers on his face that I think is outstanding. 

It did feel like it dragged a bit for me, but I also didn't start watching this until around 10:00pm at night. I could've just been tired, but overall I thought it was a good TV movie. I haven't read other reviews, but I've heard book fans are mad. If you read the book, let me know why.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B-

Memorable Quote "Did Benjamin Franklin really start the first fire department?" - Guy Montag (Michael B. Jordan)

Comments

  1. I caught about 10 minutes of this accidentally whilst flicking through the TV channels and thought it looked decent so I'm glad to hear it is! Hopefully it'll be on again soon and I'll watch it properly!

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  2. this is one of my favorite books of all time, definitely want to see this

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  3. I do plan on seeing this though I've heard reviews have been mixed and lukewarm. I just hope it's better than the 1966 version by Francois Truffaut which I didn't really like as I'm a big fan of Truffaut.

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    1. I never saw that one so I can't compare to that either.

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  4. Huh the plot sounds like Equilibrium and I'm only now realizing how much Equilibrium ripped off that book :)

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    1. I haven't seen Equilibrium in ages. I need to watch that again.

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  5. Hmm, burning all the books.. now that seems like a horror movie to me. But I will definitely give it a go, I really like both actors.

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  6. I loved the Michaels as they both gave strong performances, and I liked that the filmmakers incorporated modern technologies although I'm not sure how much sense it makes in the story. However, I wasn't crazy about the movie. I engaged me at first but then it bored me. Also, some things from the book were left out such as Montag's wife and they needed to be in the film.

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    1. I knew a lot of book fans took issue with it. I didn't realize Montag's wife played a role. I thought the modern tech made sense.

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