April 1 Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451 (1 Viewer)

[Jeff_HR]

I watched the extras last night. I thought they were excellent.

 

[Jon Robertson]

It's an outstanding disc. The commentary doesn't just feature Julie Christie, but also editor Thom Noble, producer Lewis M. Allen and Truffaut biographer Annette Insdorf.

In addition to the extras listed above, it also has an animated stills gallery, the trailer and Julie Christie's alternate voiceover for the opening credits.

A must-buy for any fans of the film - you'll never see a finer edition

 

[Craig Beam]

And another thing: it's cheap! Ridiculously cheap! Between this and the low-priced Fox Studio Classics discs, my dvd collection and my wallet are finally at peace.

 

[Jon Robertson]

I've just noticed something - Julie Christie's character (the wife) in the film has a widescreen television! In 1966!! This must be some sort of first!

 

[Debbie E]

Ordered at Best Buy I've always loved this story. Now if Harrison Bergeron would come out on DVD...

 

[Benjamin.D]

Ordered this a couple of days ago. Thanks for the anamorphic confirmation!!!!

Ben

 

[Michael Reuben]

Julie Christie's alternate voiceover for the opening credits

As explained in the documentary, the alternate voiceover isn't by Julie Christie; it's by Gillian Lewis, who played the TV announcer.

Especially at a street price of less than $12, this is an extraordinary special edition (whether it's called that or not), with features that put many discs to shame. The fact that it has received so little attention from the online HT community is a sad comment on the state of this hobby.

M.

 

[Douglas R]

As explained in the documentary, the alternate voiceover isn't by Julie Christie; it's by Gillian Lewis, who played the TV announcer.

In the UK theatrical version (and perhaps in the rest of Europe), the opening credits voiceover has always been by Gillian Lewis. I found it disconcerting to hear a male voice on the DVD - to me THAT is the alternative voiceover!

 

[oscar_merkx]

thanks for the confirmation about the commentary track, had forgotten aout this actually, so just ordered one

 

[danak]

Jon Robertson wrote
> The commentary doesn't just feature Julie Christie, but
> also editor Thom Noble, producer Lewis M. Allen and
> Truffaut biographer Annette Insdorf

Also included: author Ray Bradbury, DVD producer Laurent Bouzereau, and Bernard Herrmann biographer Steven Smith. I think that's everyone, but I could have missed someone. It's a bit strange that the back of the disc and online vendors don't indicate that several people are part of the audio commentary, not just Christie.

It's a well-done Special Edition. I came away feeling that I understood and appreciated the film a whole lot more than if I had watched the bare-bones edition.

Dana

 

[Benjamin.D]

Why wasn't this released as a "Collecter's Edition"? Pricing? It seems like it would it qualify for the moniker.

Ben

 

[WillardK]

I just finished the supplements last night. As timeless as the film's themes are, they were made even more creepily so by Julie Christie's commentary. The fact that her observations seem almost brave in context of the current political climate says something. Nice dvd package overall.

 

[Eric Peterson]

I forgot about this release. I have the original Image version that I picked up somewhere for clearance price, but it sounds like I need to pick this one up.

By the way, whatever happened to the Mel Gibson remake of this. Fahrenheit is one of my very favorite books and I'd love to see someone else's angle on it.

 

[Mark_TS]

I also thought GIBSON was remaking, or rather doing a movie version of THE PRISONER.....what became of that?

at $9.99 locally, Ive got to pick F451 up!

 

[WillardK]

I also thought GIBSON was remaking, or rather doing a movie version of THE PRISONER

EWWWWW! Say it isn't so and you forgot to include smiley faces!

 

[Neil_Duffy]

Frank Darabont is now writing and will eventualy direct a new version of F451.

Gibson passed on that, and I wasn't sure he had involvement in new Prisoner. No idea what has happened to that at all. In fact, I think that it's unlikely any studio would want to embrace a project of that nature in these times...

 

[JoeStemme]

Francois Truffuat's chilling and chilly adaptation of Ray Bradbury's classic novel has a mixed reputation. It's certainly very stylized and 'European' in it's conception. Many found confounding, but the sterility works here. Truffuat's vision of a world without books shows how society would lose its essential humanity. It's poetry.
Oskar Werner's portrayal of Montag the 'fireman' who eventually submits to the written word is lovely, as is Julie Christie in a dual role. Bee Duffell is note perfect as the Book Woman. Her passion for free expression reaches from Bradbury's pages, to Truffuat's film -- to today.
My college professor, George Bluestone (author of the seminal book, Novels Into Film), was a visitor to Truffuat's set and wrote of his experience there watching the master at work. He related to me the story behind the story of how the absolutely devastating Book People in the Snow sequence came to be by happy accident - the snow wasn't scripted. It's a bittersweet but strangely moving coda with Bernard Herrmann's brilliant music accented it.
Fahrenheit 451 has been talked about as a big screen remake for decades (including a Mel Gibson take). A 2018 HBO version by Ramin Bahrani tried and failed to update the story with modern tech. The Truffuat, without any written titles, is sublime as it is.

 

[TJPC]

We often used to study Fahrenheit 451 in my English class. At the end of the unit I would show the movie. The first question would be "where is the robot dog?" And then they would roar with laughter at the "wall size TV". My solution to this was to warn them of these "defects" before I showed it. It usually was ok after this, although most people in my grade 11 class found it dull. (After 5749 showings (only a slight exaggeration), I began to be fond of it myself! )

 

[JoeStemme]

We often used to study Fahrenheit 451 in my English class. At the end of the unit I would show the movie. The first question would be "where is the robot dog?" And then they would roar with lafter at the "wall size TV".

I'll take those deficiencies over the high tech remake any day