20 Famous Movie Tattoos (And What They Actually Mean)
16. The Illustrated Man (1969)
Role: Rod Steiger as Carl
"They're not tattoos, they're skin illustrations! Don't you ever call them tattoos!"
Based on the short story collection by Ray Bradbury, the protaganist Carl is doomed to wander the backroads of America telling the stories of the future which his tattoos portend to... sorry, not tattoos - illustrations.
Frank is extremely bitter that a gypsy woman from the future has seared these stories into his flesh and caused him to be a social pariah. Indeed, the only companion willing to share the road with him is a dog. The Illustrated Man is not a good film.
The screenplay is poor, the acting forgettable and the direction sloppy. However, Carl shouldn't be so moody he may not want the illustrations hes been forced to carry on his skin but at least they look pretty incredible.
Tattoos in films normally utilise a very restrictive colour palette but Carls tattoos are vibrant, well-saturated and, most of all, memorable.