Movie Review – Fahrenheit 451

TL;DR – While it is wonderfully acted and beautifully filmed, unfortunately in the attempt to update the source material it loses some of the core parts of the narrative in the attempt to tell a more straightforward narrative.

Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

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Review

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is one of those titan works of literature that kind of looms over narrative and speculative fiction genre. It was both miles ahead of its time but also very much a product of its time, making it a difficult work to adapt especially as time has gone on. It is one of those books that is weird and at times off-putting but entirely compelling as it sucks you into a world without books. When I heard that they were going to do a remake of it starring Michael B. Jordan I was really excited because it held such promise and now that I have seen it well, I don’t know, but somewhere along the way, it lost something. Today we are going to look at just what that might have been and yes I am writing this from the perspective of someone who has read the source material, and if you have not you might get something completely different from the film and that is completely fine. I am not someone who believes that you have to read the book before seeing it updated, but seeing that I have it shapes the way I experienced the film.

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Exploring the Past – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

2001 A Space Odyssey. Image Credit: MGM.

2001: A Space Odyssey is a cinematic masterpiece, and when you look at lists of best Science Fiction films or indeed the best films of history it is near, or indeed at the top. However, even though I am a fan of Science Fiction and of innovative filmmaking, this is one film I had actually never gotten to see myself because it is one of those classics that just was never played on TV when I was growing up. However, this week I was given the opportunity to go see a wonderful live performance of 2001: A Space Odyssey put on by the Queensland Symphonic Orchestra, as part of World Science Week Brisbane. So after finally getting to see a masterpiece of cinema I thought it would be a good idea to look at 2001: A Space Odyssey, the film, its legacy, and how well it holds up today.

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