Lyrical language, though it may make for unforgettable literature, does not necessarily make for great movies. In the Sixties Ray Bradbury was America's premier fantasist, for excellent and unarguable reasons. All of the familiar adjectives used by his reviewers - lyrical, poetic, haunting, charming and etcetera- were (and are) true. He wrote GREAT fantasies, and we all, all of us who were his fans in the Sixties, we all wanted to see movies made from the stories. We looked forward to The Illustrated Man with huge and pleasurable anticipation. I don't believe that it occurred to any of us that our own, personal visualizations were not necessarily shared by all other readers. And certainly not, it turns out, by film makers.
Almost without exception, the screen adaptations of Bradbury's stories failed, to one degree or another. The Illustrated Man is probably the worst of the lot, excepting the dismal Twilight Zone segments. The script is bad, yes, but the design is worse - an ugly and dated "Sci-Fi" Hollywood modernism- unbelievable a decade before this movie was made, and laughable in 1969. Not surprisingly the best segments are those in which Steiger and Bloom are simply allowed to act their characters. And as other reviewers have pointed out, those scenes were hardly Oscar-bait.
Even so, it's worth watching- as a failed example. Fahrenheit 451 is just as bad, and even more turgid, if possible. The TV adaptation of The Martian Chronicles is much better, a real attempt at a faithful rendering. But the absolutely best Bradbury adaptation is the Disney film of Something Wicked This Way Comes, and those who dismiss it as a "kid movie" are, I think ignorant of Bradbury's work. It's just terrific.
Almost without exception, the screen adaptations of Bradbury's stories failed, to one degree or another. The Illustrated Man is probably the worst of the lot, excepting the dismal Twilight Zone segments. The script is bad, yes, but the design is worse - an ugly and dated "Sci-Fi" Hollywood modernism- unbelievable a decade before this movie was made, and laughable in 1969. Not surprisingly the best segments are those in which Steiger and Bloom are simply allowed to act their characters. And as other reviewers have pointed out, those scenes were hardly Oscar-bait.
Even so, it's worth watching- as a failed example. Fahrenheit 451 is just as bad, and even more turgid, if possible. The TV adaptation of The Martian Chronicles is much better, a real attempt at a faithful rendering. But the absolutely best Bradbury adaptation is the Disney film of Something Wicked This Way Comes, and those who dismiss it as a "kid movie" are, I think ignorant of Bradbury's work. It's just terrific.