Plantiana
Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.
Aubrey Hackett
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
Kirandeep Yoder
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
merklekranz
It's easy to imagine Mike Judge's hilarious film "Idiocracy" as a dumbed down version of Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron". "Harrison Bergeron" is both darkly humorous, and at the same time frightening. This is intelligent science fiction, that extols the belief that mediocrity for everyone should be the goal of society. The government implements control over citizen's brains with electronic headbands. This diabolical system is overseen by Christopher Plummer, one of a few privileged citizens, not controlled by a headband. Sean Astin is Harrison Bergeron, a rebellious intellectual who tries to overthrow the system. The film has dark comedy, an excellent and appropriate soundtrack, and top notch acting. Recommended sci-fi viewing. - MERK
oncealwys
This is one of my favorite movies because it makes you think of the "what if" to the nth degree. It ranks up there in my mind with Matrix in terms of challenging your imagination to think outside the world as we know it. It is too bad it was only a made-for-TV movie because I think it would have done as well at the box office as many movies that are much less interesting have. The movie puts us in the future, where the not-so-intelligent have risen up against the intelligent and forced the government to create a mechanism (a head band) for ensuring that all citizens stay at the same level of intelligence - average. Our main character, Harrison, is, much to his family's dismay, above average and, despite the band, cannot contain his intellectual gifts.
itamarscomix
Bruce Pittman's intelligent and modest TV adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's short story is a wonderful and much under-appreciated piece of high sci-fi. Films of this kind are rarely made, simply because there's not much potential audience for low-budget science fiction - most people are in sci-fi mainly for special effects and impressive battles. Harrison Bergeron, though, is one of those few adaptations made of real philosophical sci-fi, the kind that creates an image of the future as a reflection of our own reality. And it succeeds quite well in delivering its message, and for what it is it could be enjoyed by almost everyone - though I doubt it could have done well in the theaters.The film revolves around two wonderful lead actors - one is Sean Astin, who recently gained success and fame as Sam Gamgee in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. The other is the wonderful British actor Christopher Plummer, remembered by sci-fi buffs as the Klingon General Chang from Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country. Brilliant comedian Eugene Levy gives an eerily funny performance as the President. The story is of a future America in which equality is achieved by discouraging exceptional talent or intelligence and creating forced mediocrity. Harrison (Sean Astin) is one of the exceptional few whose intelligence surfaces despite the government's best efforts and is therefore given the chance to work for the government. There he discovers the timeless Orwellian truth of Fascist regimes - all are equal, but some are more equal than others. Astin's interplay with Clummer (the classic 'Big Brother') is wonderful, and the ending is beautiful. The script does an excellent job of expanding Vonnegut's very short story into a 100 minute film.Harrison Bergeron is well worth watching - if you can get your hands on it. As far as I know there isn't a DVD available, but the VHS can be ordered on Amazon and the movie plays occasionally on television. If you're interested in science fiction literature of authors like Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, or Isaac Asimov, this wonderful little think-piece is a good purchase.
patricw
I just saw this last night on the local late night movie. I'm not much of a Sean Astin fan, but in this film, he fits. The basic plot (spoilers ahead) - it's the not too distant future. The United States has had a second revolutionary war due to a major recession and huge unemployment (starting to sound familiar?!). The powers-that-be determine that everyone will be happier if they are all of the same intelligence, own the same things, live the same lives, etc. So, they develop a kind of headset that monitors and controls everyones' brain waves - keeping everyone kind of dumb and happy, although they don't really know why. Astin plays the title character, who turns out to be smarter than everyone else, and no amount of tinkering with his headset will tamp down his intelligence. Through various plot developments, he hooks up with a kind of shadow government, composed of other smart people that determine what the people see, who governs them, etc. At first, Astin seems to enjoy being a part of this group. He develops a relationship with a woman, works in the television programming department, and begins to fit in. Soon, though, he understands the consequences of allowing the so-called "smart people" to govern the "average" (think political correctness, fascism, and other "isms" of today!). A couple of plot twists at the end that give you something to think about; and suddenly what seems like it might be a boring made-for-cable movie turns into a relevant film for the political events of today's America. After seeing this movie, you might actually believe Eugene Levy could play George Bush in a biography! 7.5 out of 10 stars.
