CineBad!!!

This is the future as it is meant to be: monorails, sliding doors, guys in flying jet suits… The only thing wrong is that you’re not allowed to possess books. People sit glued to wall-sized tv screens which double as a ‘family.’ You read the book. You remember all of this. The book is much more subtle than the film, which takes quite a few liberties with the plot. Luckily for us, the film is about 100x cheesier! So sit back and watch gratuitous scenes of books burning.

Normally, I’d be in favor of any movie that lingered on shots of Moby Dick going up in flames, but I had to stop and ponder “…they must have burned thousands of books just to make this film!” It’s almost obscene- it really makes you think, too. I remember one cold day this winter when I had run out of kindling for my wood stove. I pondered using an acid-eaten paperback copy of the novelization of Airport 77 that I had gotten for free at the end of the day at some fundraising book sale. I couldn’t bring myself to do it! No, even to keep myself warm I couldn’t burn even a crumbling book with little literary value.

So back to Fahrenheit 451- it hit home. The late 1960s vision of the future is quite amusing as well- get a look at the fire trucks, which look kind of like bright orange parade floats! The secret handshake/salutes are great too. It’s also worth seeing just to view the cute little portable hibachis they use to burn the books a few at a time. Definitely a movie not to be missed!