1966 sci-fi movie
Rating: 15/20
Plot: It's the same as the Ray Bradbury book. Why don't you read a book sometime, you cretin?
When I think of the sci-fi dystopian novel, I think of Francois Truffaut. I guess you have to say that this is ahead of its time because it reminds me of science fiction from the 1970s. There are a lot of great moments, but there are also a lot of things that date this. I probably mean that in a good way. I really love the special effect where Truffault filmed a slowly-moving firetruck with firemen hanging precariously off it and then sped it up to make it look like it was moving more quickly. This is a goofy dystopia with a lot of quirky touches--silly handshakes, weird phones, Gestapo-esque uniforms. There's a monorail shown repeatedly, and I wondered if that was real, probably because I'm not as smart as people were in the mid-60s. I liked the asinine entertainment, stilted TV programs that allow for participation and newspapers that look like comic books without any words at all. Themes are clear in this world of pill-poppers where all those with power have to do is "keep them busy and you keep them happy."
One scene featuring the death of an old lady is especially haunting. The worst scene is probably the one where the main character reads the entirety of David Copperfield, a scene probably made worse because he has to trace the words with his finger.
This movie suffers from a lack of zest, but I think that's probably part of the point. There's a lifelessness to this future. Bernard Herrmann's score helps things a bit, especially in a rousing number for the opening credits. And I want Herrmann to score all of my dreams because he's just so good at doing that.
Odd note: Alfred E. Newman's face is shown burning at one point. I wouldn't have guessed Mad Magazine was around in 1966 anyway, but it seems especially odd that the makers of this thought that the publication would survive until the year when this takes place.
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