Fahrenheit 451 – HBO – 1 hour and 40 minutes

Master Trooper Guy Montag is a star fireman for District 9.  With the guidance of his Captain Beatty, he makes a public spectacle of eels and erases them for their crimes.  The crime of reading or having books, listening to or playing music, or looking at art.  In District 9, the only allowable material is the Bible, Moby Dick, and the ministries (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).  All other books, music, or art will be burned at 451 degrees Fahrenheit.  The leaders believe that books are graffiti that will pollute the mind causing the person to become insane.  While Beatty strongly enforces this practice, he still keeps a paper and pencil hidden at home.  He writes his thoughts and burns them.  Montag is starting to have flashes of his childhood but when Clarisse (a convicted eel) tells him that past firemen put out fires, he doesn’t believe her.  During a bust with Clarisse information, Montag and Beatty find an old woman with hundreds of books.  Beatty tells Montag to read one.  Meanwhile, he tells Montag a 2nd civil war almost started because of too much information and not enough attention to detail.  Books were the enemy.  Montag quietly hides a book called Notes from Underground and arrest the old woman (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).  Later she refuses to move and sets herself on fire with her last word being OMNIS.  Montag is compelled to find out the truth about OMNIS and why a woman would kill herself over books.

Based on the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, this movie serves as a warning to the future (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).  With days of fake posting, headline-only reading, miscommunication, and book banning, it’s easy to see how this world is possible.  And once the books were gone, history could be re-written to hide the truth. This is the type of movie that makes you want to read the book to learn what details were removed or changed.  With strong visuals and a dynamic cast, this is a great starting point for this production company.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars

You too pretty anyway – Captain Beatty

You dream about hiding from me, you better wake up and apologize – Montag

How come he always makes you wait outside like a little dog – Clarisse

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