The Illustrated Man (1969)

Powerful

Load of rubbish!!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

I totally agree with Mr.Rod Serling, who had said "this is one of the worst movies ever made." Oh, not only is it bad, it bored me to death.I had no idea what was going on; from a lake to some futuristic house with a Star-Trek holodeck which makes a jungle and lions appear. Should not there be a safety level so that humans aren't eaten?! Then to some alien planet where the men try to get back to Earth; back to a tent where the parents kill their kids because all the men agreed to do so. Huh? Why does Carl allow the woman to tattoo him at all? And why specifically him? Why the need for the young hobo man at all? At the end the chase is on...

Perhaps I was just expecting too much a different movie. I simply expected a good old fashioned, straight-forward, science-fiction thriller and not a 'talking', art-house like movie with deeper meanings and metaphors to it all.What I simply did not liked about the movie was the fact that it explains far too little. It would had been nice if the focused more on the audience as well that didn't read the book by Ray Bradbury, which this movie got based on. Guess that everything in this movie makes sense to those that have read the entire novel but those who only have seen the movie are being left mostly in the dark. It's a very confusing movie, not just because of its strange and unique concept but also due to its very disjointed story-telling. Basically you have one main plot-line and then also some small stories in them as well, that get told in flashbacks. It just doesn't really make the movie feel as one whole and makes the whole narrative confusing to follow. Add to that the fact that this movie explains very little about what's going on and you have one confusing movie.But I just couldn't hate this movie either. I'll admit that I didn't liked the movie much at first but in its last few minutes some of the puzzle pieces fell to its place and I could appreciate the entire movie better for its style and approach.Yes, it's an unique movie for sure, that obviously isn't just for everybody. I was quite surprised that this was an American production, since normally these type of quirky and original movies come from Britain, around that time.It has a good visual approach to it all, which makes this movie somewhat of a science-fiction period piece, that at times is being set far in the future. It's visual style and atmosphere seem appropriate for the movie and the story that it tried to tell. Yes, you can definitely describe its visual style and approach as art-house like. But it's still really foremost its story and the way that it gets told which makes this movie definitely not an accessible one to just everyone. It's definitely a movie you have to read into deeper and think about, long after a scene has ended. There are numerous moments that you just have no idea what is going but do make some more sense a couple of minutes later, as the story progresses more.It doesn't make this movie a much pleasant or great one to watch, at least not for me. I didn't hate this movie and I don't mind these type of movies either but the entire way this movie got handled and told didn't wanted me to watch it again, anytime soon.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Science-fiction films in the 1950s and 1960s more often than not were clichés of one another. Any one of us who watched "Creature Feature" on Saturday nights in the Washington, D.C. area back in 1970's and 1980's ought to know. Some of you out there may have picked up a similar program that featured horror and science-fiction movies. "The Illustrated Man" broke away from that overly trite mainstream of science-fiction movies that Gene Roddenberry shoved down the throats of many sci-fi buffs in the 1960's and 1970's. You were always being taken off guard by the next scene. You were not tortured with any egg-headed aliens or men with leprechaun ears or ray guns like on "Star Trek". Not that "Star Trek" was a bad show. It's just been over-plagiarized by movie producers of other science-fiction yarns. Rod Steiger gave this film his all, because although he was obnoxious as the illustrated man himself, he was like this either very charming, very intelligent, very family-oriented, or very caring individual in the stories that came alive whenever the young man drifter observed his body illustrations. Seeing so many different personalities played by one actor shows real talent in my opinion. I first saw "The Illustrated Man" on some local channel on a small black and white TV set my sister gave me for Christmas when I was living out in Los Angeles back in the 1990's. I saw it once again on a big-screen color TV set on the Sci-Fi Channel after I moved back to Northern Virginia and liked it both times I saw it. Nowadays and even in recent years past the sci-fi movie and television entertainment scene has either become inundated with virtual reality in the form of "Spiderman" or "Lost" or systematically sterile scripts in the form of "The X-files" or "Millenium". "The Illustrated Man" had unique qualities that set it apart from all the others. That to me is true science-fiction. Not imitating what the next movie director is doing.

It's interesting seeing the other comments on this movie; this is probably one of those films that polarizes people (Uh, I don't mean it makes them magnetic or anything, just people either really like it or really don't...) (cough) Anyway, as I was saying, the people who seem to like nice, tidy, non obscure, little 'Star Wars' like films, will not like this one much. And, quite fairly, it is honestly a matter of taste (bad : ) Just Kidding. No, this film is very dark, and heavy; and as one other reviewer quite accurately states, Rod Steiger's character is not very pleasant at all. But, that does fit the theme and mood of the movie. Remember, this is one of Ray Bradbury's darker, serious, less pretty books. Hey, the dude can be one of the most beautiful, allegorical, poetic writers on the planet; and he can write things that literally make your heart yearn for wind swept Autumn days with boys chasing each other through piles of golden leaves. Wow, that wasn't too bad : ) Anyway, you get the picture; this is NOT one of those.The little stories within the main story are chilling, serious, and have heavy elements of bad futures and horror. So, if you like your Science Fiction light, forget this. If you like it where it leaves you kind of like Harlan Ellison's stories do, then you'll love it.It just depends on how much of a wussy you are : ) No, just kidding;I like the sweet, fun stuff too.