Posted on 04/16/2011 10:47:22 PM PDT by presidio9
After more than 50 years, Ayn Rand’s seminal novel and ode to free market capitalism “Atlas Shrugged” is finally hitting the big screen this weekend, in the first of a planned trilogy of movies. Independently produced and distributed by entrepreneur John Aglialoro, chairman of UM Holdings Inc, the film “Atlas Shrugged, Part 1″ was budgeted under $10 million and includes a cast of little-known actors (newcomer Taylor Schilling stars as the powerful female industrialist Dagny Taggart).
At one time, Algialoro, who optioned the book’s rights 18 years ago, had struck up a partnership with Lionsgate Films to make a version of the movie, possibly as a TV miniseries for the new EPIX cable outfit. But when the project dragged on without getting the green light, Algialoro turned to entertainment attorney and executive producer Harmon Kaslow to get the film made quickly before the rights to the book reverted back to the Ayn Rand estate. Shot in just 26 days and completed several months later, the entire film’s creation, from green light to this week’s release, took about a year, according to Kaslow.
Reaching out to conservative organizations such as the Cato Institute,
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While advance interest in the film may be high among the film’s conservative base, reviews have been terrible. For example,
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(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
The local angle was Flyers owner Ed Snider being the producer.
“The people who have seen this movie liked it on the whole and this has held for the whole weekend. 10% fresh by the LSM critics and 85% fresh by viewing public.”
I love the book despite its limitations and plan to see the movie, but realistically, the first round of viewers were “true believers” who have been chafing for months to see this. Unless they plan to see it weekend after weekend, the quality of audience reviews and the size of audiences seems likely to decline rather than pick up steam. In the broader public not “ideologically” disposed to see the film, I think the opinions of reviewers will matter (unfortunately). There’s bazillions of movies, going to movies is increasingly expensive, so people inevitably will rely on “experts” to help determine which ones are worth rolling the dice on.
It would be great if this were a blockbuster, but OBJECTIVELY, I don’t see that happening.
Have you seen it yet?
Actually, Johnny depp was pretty darn handsome as a non.made up weirdo character. Was Angelina Jolie in the film too?lol. I daresay a lot of ladies weren’t watching tourist for Angelina...
Atheists are so funny about G-d. Most of them say they don’t believe in a Creator because there is bad in the universe. So they would only believe, I guess, if G-d was as deep as Santa Claus and made everything perfect all the time. Their word view is so babyish.
Nice take, ct libertarian:
The Hollywood commies HATE her for HUAC and to this day will ensure that anything having anything remotely to do with her is torpedoed.
Add to this, the producers of the film were soon going to lose their option rights if they did not move quickly and put out SOMETHING.
So they said,
Big money hollywood refuses to back us
We are at the deadline to get this made
We have $10M to do it with
We can’t afford Jolie or Pitt even if we wanted them
Hollywood will torpedo any attempt we make to make this film “in the system”
This movie HAS to be made NOW to fight what Obama and his Marxists are pulling off
Putting it in this context, what these guys pulled of was freakin’ heroic.
I will be going back today and bringing my son and any of his friends he wants to bring.
Ultimately, this film is a Hail Mary pass to
Get the message out
Prove that it can be done against overwhelming Marxists odds
To land big investors for Part 2 & 3
In these contexts Atlas Shrugged Part 1 absolutely nailed it.
I will be seeing it as many times as I can to ensure its success.
“Wasn’t “The King’s Speech” in only a few theaters to begin with?”
*****
Not sure. Sometimes that’s done for Academy Award purposes. Early limited release for timing to qualify for Oscar nominations and large release later.
For Atlas Shrugged, definitely not the case. More of universal loathing by left-wing Hollywood.
What’s funny is that if Atlas Shrugged does become a hit, Hollywood will use the movie’s existence as an example of how they are unbiased.
Not yet.
On my way to see it right now.
Sympathetic article from the WSJ.
The movie was terrific. The sets were sumptuous. The acting was very good. The plot moved very quickly and has depth. The message was iconoclastic and decidedly anti-liberal. That is the only reason the political class critics panned it. Go see it. A financial success will be a kick in the ass for the Commies.
I guess I just can’t post what popped into my mind...
Please explain.
Excellent analysis...
Dagny’s reaction to Wyatt’s Torch was brilliant!
[I wrote these comments BEFORE I read the posts on this thread]
Mrs. Taxman and I just returned FRom a special First Coast TEA Party Member matinee screening of “Atlas Shrugged;” it was, in a word, OUTSTANDING! It is true to the book, and captures the essence of Ayn Rand’s message.
I’m no movie expert nor am I a film critic, but IMHO, the movie flowed well – not too fast, not too slow; the cimematography was excellent, and the computer generated scenes were very well done. For a “small budget” film, the producers and directors acquitted themselves very well. The actors and actresses were a most excellent fit for their parts, both in appearance and mannerisms, and were true (IMHO) to the book’s character development.
Obviously, some minor scenes were left on the cutting room floor. That the producers were able to cut 300 pages down to 1 hour and 45 minutes without losing the book’s story line is testament to their ability and thoughtfulness.
I urge you, in the strongest of terms, GO SEE THE MOVIE!
AND, take one or two Friends! If enough Real Americans (that would be US!) attend Part 1, Part II will be produced.
All Americans really need to understand what the looters and moochers have done/are doing to us. “Atlas Shrugged” is a most excellent vehicle for getting that message into the “Popular Culture.”
I’d like some feedback FRom you after you see the movie. Particularly, I’d like to know what those of you who have not read the book think about it.
Mrs. Taxman and I do not ordinarily attend movies — we do not appreciate the cultural corruption Hollywood has engendered, and for that reason, refuse to purchase tickets to movies produced by people who seem intent on tearing America apart.
“Atlas Shrugged” is the first movie we have gone to in roughly 15 years. Since the folks behind it are not contributing to the corruption of our culture, and since the movie has an uplifting message, we heartily recommend you take some FRiends and go see it. More than once, it the mood strikes you. We’ll go again.
That said, the movie will only make sense to people who have read the book. The script tries too hard to track all of the various story arcs from the book, and does not succeed. The dialogue is straight from the book, and should have been updated/revised.
This movie would have benefited greatly if they would have distilled the key story line down into a single movie. Tell the basic story in 2 hours and be done with it. They're trying to build suspense, but it is too obvious what's happening. In the final scene, the message was diluted 90% by the focus on Dagny rather than Wyatt's message. There is very little evidence of the pressures that built up on Wyatt.
This movie should have been written and produced to carry the basic message to a much wider audience than those of us who have read the book and are already devout believers. This movie is "preaching to the choir" rather than trying to convert the fallen.
Saw it this afternoon and for a Sunday afternoon there seemed to be a decent sized crowd.
As someone who read the book, and all of Rand’s other books, I thought it was ok. It’s hard to make it just on part 1 and in only an hour and a half or so, there really isn’t time to do the setup and background that’s in the book.
That said, I thought Dagny was too young. Maybe it was just my impression from reading the book, but I couldn’t get over that she looked so young(just out of college). I that having her and James be that young looking was a bit of a mistake. Apparently the actress is in her mid 20s and in the book Dagny was in her mid 30s. I’d have gone for a more age appropriate actor. Aside from that which was an constant bother, I thought she did a good job.
Francisco also seemed way too young. Like he was in high school.
It picked up towards the end once the story started moving with the 20th century motor co and the John Galt Line.
I was upset that they left out Francisco’s money speech at the party. That’s a pretty big part of the book and they could have fit a few minutes worth in. They went a little bit light on the philosophy part of it.
But all in all, as a fan of the book and her work, it was nice to be able to see it on the big screen. I know just about everyone who has read it has had their own cast in mind, their own actors, their own vision of what it would look like, so it was going ot be very difficult to please everyone. An 1168 pg book is hard to film, and to just have the first part in 90 minutes or so is even harder.
But I did enjoy it and I thought it got the basic message across.
Hope we get to see parts 2 and 3 as things should be even better then.
Overall, a solid B. 3 stars out of 5.
update: The guy who played Francisco is 47! He didn’t look a day over 25. They still should have included his “What is the root of money? “ speech.
Another highlight was seeing the guy who played Bill’s friend Don on “Big Love” show up out of nowhere for a brief scene. He’s one of those “hey, it’s that guy” actors.
For all the critics, even in The Fountainhead when Rand herself was intimately involved in the script and the shooting, many complained. So for what was basically an amateur production with no real stars or even a top notch director/behind the camera talent, it was pretty good.
It had a strong per screen average so hopefully it ends up doing well.
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