ATLAS SHRUGGED- Freeper Reviews

Freepers | April 15, 2011 | RobFromGa

[RobFromGa]

Atlas Shrugged Part 1 Quick Review- 5 stars!

Very faithful to Rand's ideas. I didn't feel like they skipped any major items... the back story with Francisco was hinted at and would have been too hard to develop completely.

Casting was superb. Hank (Hooray!) and Lillian (Boo!)Rearden and Ellis Wyatt (!!!) were done perfectly as was Wesley Mouch and the other moochers and looters. Dagny was good but it took about ten minutes for me to completely buy her in the role.

Pace was perfect... it kept moving at a fast speed, and I didn't want it to end.

Cinematography very good- hard to believe only cost about $5 million! The Rearden Metal bridge was great, as was the Colorado landscape shots...

Audience Reaction: Duluth, GA 12:25pm showing was about 80% full (there was noon showing in a larger theater already going) & audience reacted with enthusiasm throughout and Applause at end.

Can't wait for Part 2! I will be going back to see Part One more than once...

Minor nitpick- shouldn't have had the date 2016 on the movie, it is timeless.

[OldNavyVet]

Who is John Galt?

[RobFromGa]

I agree they should have fleshed out the 20th Century Motor company story more, but I expect that they will do it in the second part when they have a real John Galt actor to be in the flashback. He could tell the story better than anyone, maybe at the Gulch!

[JaguarXKE]

This movie isn’t any good! I know, because Roger Ebert reviewed it for me and said it sucks. /s

[fwdude]

Not to sidetrack the discussion, but DUmmyland is posting like mad about a movie they have no interest in. Telling, much?

[stylecouncilor]

We are going tonight to see it in Spartanburg. Will report back!

[American Quilter]

The book has three parts ...

Aha! I read it so many years ago that I don't remember that. I was only 16, and it was the first serious book I'd ever read. I was captivated. I stayed up nights reading it, read it under the desk in class, read it at the dinner table (got in trouble). Despite the turgid prose, it was such a tremendous story, and developed such an intellectually fascinating philosophy, that I couldn't put it down.

[RobFromGa]

I agree they should have fleshed out the 20th Century Motor company story more, but I expect that they will do it in the second part when they have a real John Galt actor to be in the flashback. He could tell the story better than anyone, maybe at the Gulch!

[GOPJ]

I haven’t been to a movie in almost two years... it’ll be a nice change to see a movie that doesn’t insult me.

[r-q-tek86]

Well, I just got back from the movie and I have to say that I am disappointed.

The most glaring problem I saw was Taylor Schilling. She was not right for the character of Dagny. She seemed too soft. Dagny is a very strong woman who is capable of almost anything she attempts. She’s smart and confident. Taylor did not have the look in her eye to convey the intelligence and confidence. Angelina Jolie has the look needed, but her involvement would have hurt the film in other ways. Angie Harmon would have worked well without some of the Jolie baggage.

Jsu Garcia’s portrayal of Francisco was not much better. Ray Curtis or someone of a similar look would have been better. Garcia was acting the part of Francisco instead of becoming Francisco.

Grant Bowler, on the other hand, was great in the role of Hank Reardon. He looked the part and delivered a performance worthy of Hank.

We commented many times during the FReeper book clubthat the villains were more fully developed and better written than the heroes. The movie did not do the villains justice. In the book, I was struck by the sincerity of the villains’ belief in the progressive BS that they spouted. Their scheming still had a basis in their broken philosophy and they never spoke of it openly… except for Fred Kinnan, head of the Amalgamated Labor of America, and a few others. In the movie, Boyle, Taggert and Mouch are very open about their schemes and don’t do the word dances that you see I the book. Scudder and Eubank are mentioned, but never appear.

The script tried to cover too much and never delved deep enough into any one scene really set the plot into motion. Having read the book several times, I knew what was happening, but I fear that a newcomer will be lost and confused. The romance between Hank and Dagny didn’t get the chance to build as it did in the book and seemed much to casual on screen.

The lines delivered by the actors seemed natural, unlike those in the movie version of The Fountainhead from 1949. The dialogue was so un-natural in that adaptation that it made me cringe. It was literally as-written from the book instead of reworked to fit the screen. This adaptation of Atlas did a much better job.

In sumation, I would give the movie two stars out of five.

[r-q-tek86]

For the record, the movie cost $25 million per the Atlas Shrugged The Movie website

[lonevoice]

ping for the first FReeper reviews coming in.

Thanks, Rob!

[r-q-tek86]

I was going to suggest that you and Bill post a review thread, but it looks like Rob beat you to it.

[Arrowhead1952]

Whyisa, I noticed you said you had attended and posted on the TX message board.

[yellowdoghunter]

Looking forward to seeing it....

[RobFromGa]

I thought The romance between Hank and Dagny was one of the things that I think was easier to see on the screen as compared with Rand’s prose.

The acting of the Hank and Dagny roles made you really feel the attraction between the two of them.

The difference between the “love” scene with Lillian and the one with Dagny captured what Rand tried to put into words.

I also thought that the pure JOY of the scene at Wyatt’s home when the producers Hank, Dagny and Ellis celebrated after the successful run was in stark contrast to the stilted fake fun of the anniversary ball scene.

[Graneros]

I have not seen the movie ...yet. I do look forward to this movie. I may even go to the theater instead of waiting. Haven’t been in a theater in years.

I have been checking out the reviews though. Freepers won’t be surprised to find out the MSM is trashing this movie. Simple political BS as usual. I got a kick out of the fact that Rotten Tomatoes (a popular movie site)
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/atlas_shrugged_part_i/
gives it a 3%, while audiences rate it at 86%. On Yahoo audiences give it a B+ while there are no critics ratings even listed. In fact Yahoo didn’t even list the movie’s opening.

[RobFromGa]

Go see it at the theater, you’ll be with like-minded folks and the more ticket sales they get, the easier to make the second two parts, and the more the media can’t ignore it, and the more liberal heads that will explode...

[AZLiberty]

The script tried to cover too much and never delved deep enough into any one scene really set the plot into motion. Having read the book several times, I knew what was happening, but I fear that a newcomer will be lost and confused. The romance between Hank and Dagny didn’t get the chance to build as it did in the book and seemed much to casual on screen.

I saw the 11:15 am Tempe "premiere".

Not having read the book in years, I may have a different vantage point. I thought the Dagny/Hank romance developed in a very believable and logical way. It was not a Fountainhead-style love-at-first-sight-fantasy-rape-scene. Their love was an inevitable consequence of their shared values. The parts involving the Rearden Metal bracelet were delicious.

[r-q-tek86]

I thought The romance between Hank and Dagny was one of the things that I think was easier to see on the screen as compared with Rand’s prose.

I'm not sure that the movie was able to capture the build up to their romance, but I agree that the looks they gave each other in the movie said a lot of what Ayn spent a couple hundred pages telling us.

I may be a little harsh since I've picked up the book again recently. Having it so fresh in my mind makes me more critical of what they left out of the movie. I intended to just read part one to be prepared for the movie, but couldn't stop. I'm about 850 pages in now.

[r-q-tek86]

The parts involving the Rearden Metal bracelet were delicious.

Agreed. Lillian was played very well.