Your rating on Atlas Shrugged (Part 1), the movie

[tnvoter]

was curious what the ol' RP forums thought as a whole. I liked it, and I havent' read the book. It was better than what I thought it'd be, and I found it interested and the packed audience at the theater applauded. I look forward to the next films, though this is nothing like "film of the year" to me imo.

[doodle]

I don't see the "couldn't care less" option.

LINK (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?287995-Man-funding-movie-quot-Atllas-Shrugged-quot-also-funded-Funding-The-Movement-To-Save-The-War)

[tnvoter]

I don't see the "couldn't care less" option.


because if one "couldn't care less", they probably wouldn't care enough to see the film; then inherently wouldn't care to click on a thread to rate the film.

[doodle]

Good point.

But when I saw "Your rating" question, I thought I was supposed to rate it :)

[low preference guy]

Good point.

But when I saw "Your rating" question, I thought I was supposed to rate it :)

Only an idiot could believe that you are supposed to rate a film you didn't watch.

[heavenlyboy34]

terribad? lolz :)

[tnvoter]

Good point.

But when I saw "Your rating" question, I thought I was supposed to rate it :)

well-played, but negative! :P

[sevin]

I thought it was great! My only complaint is that the story and characters are probably difficult to understand if you haven't read the book, but I don't think there's any way around that. However, a friend of mine who's never read the book saw it, and he really liked it.

The movie is set 5 years from now when the economy has gotten worse and worse, inflation is extreme and there are shortages of essential commodities like oil because of all the government interference. The first third of the book is about Dagny's (the main character) attempt to build a railroad that will connect the country to Ellis Wyatt's oil refineries so that is the main focus of this movie (since this movie is part 1 of 3). Meanwhile, the government is nationalizing businesses and passing laws like the Equalization of Opportunity bill (no one can own more than one business). Also, various government-funded groups and lobbyists are all trying to stop her from using Rearden Metal (lighter yet stronger than steel) for the line because they think it's dangerous. In one great scene, Rearden corners one of these guys who admits that even if Rearden Metal is good, it has to be stopped. These bloodsuckers are basically against any kind of real progress. Despite all this resistance, Dagny and Rearden manage to get the line built.

Throughout it, some of the giants of industry begin disappearing after speaking to a shadowy figure. We meet a man named Francisco who is obviously in love with Dagny but can't say so. He is wasting all of his money and won't say why. Meanwhile, Dagny and Rearden discover an abandoned motor that runs on atmospheric energy and try to find its creator. The ending is very dramatic. In fact, I'd say the ending is the most interesting scene in the movie and it's kinda frustrating when it ends. I'm ready for part 2!

Most of the actors are just decent. None of them are bad, but most of them aren't outstanding. The guy playing Rearden is okay. The two actors I actually like are the ones who play Francisco and Dagny. Jsu Garscia owns that role of Francisco and I look forward to seeing more of him in the sequels. My favorite actor is the one they got for Dagny Taggart, Taylor Schilling. She is almost exactly as I imagined her when I read the book. She comes across as a cold businesswomen, but you can see her humanity beneath the surface. I'd say she nailed it.

So anyway, great movie. Apparently whether the sequels are made depends on how well the first movie does so I think it's worth supporting.

[Lothario]

Having read both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged recently, I quite enjoyed the film and was emotionally moved on several occasions - perhaps because I knew the contents of the hundreds of pages behind the short-lived theatrical moment, or perhaps just because the film did a good job. I got the feeling a number of times that without having read the book, I would be completely lost, or worse, completely unaware that I was even lost. As is inherently the case when trying to collapse 300-400 pages of book into a 90 page script - you lose the rich back story of Dagny, Francisco, and James as children growing up, as well as the gradual build up of each new political decree, etc. So as for me, I enjoyed the film and will certainly watch it again, but I can't say the same for a person who hasn't read the book.

On a side note, Jsu Garcia (Francisco D'Anconia) was hanging around outside the theater before and after the film, taking pictures and telling people he was in the movie. Kind of a turn off, in that his actions completely contradicted his character and essentially the entire philosophy of Ayn Rand. He looked sloppy, with a decent sized belly, and was telling people he was there to promote himself, and to make sure we knew how hard he worked on it so that Andy Garcia and Antonio Banderas don't try to take his role in the next films. Whatever.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpJ8F1q-pvw

[low preference guy]

On a side note, Jsu Garcia (Francisco D'Anconia) was hanging around outside the theater before and after the film, taking pictures and telling people he was in the movie. Kind of a turn off, in that his actions completely contradicted his character and essentially the entire philosophy of Ayn Rand. He looked sloppy, with a decent sized belly, and was telling people he was there to promote himself, and to make sure we knew how hard he worked on it so that Andy Garcia and Antonio Banderas don't try to take his role in the next films. Whatever.


I guess teaching people to not be super lame is kind of difficult.

[Agorism]

We need a sounds bad, I'm not watching in option.

[BamaAla]

Meh.

[TheNcredibleEgg]

Interesting quotes about the hit-or-miss locales:


According to Kaslow, the film over-performed in some markets – including Atlanta, New York, Nashville, and Portland – generating as much as $12,000 to $25,000 per theater. The film did not do as well in some locales, such as Pensacola, Fla., and Mobile, Ala.

In an email, Rocky Mountain Pictures’ Randy Slaughter said, “In my 40 plus years in the business I haven’t seen anything like the diversity of what cities and theatres did well”—he cited locations from Phoenix to Washington DC to San Jose—”and others that I was disappointed in.”



Does that mean Ron Paul has less followers in Pensacola and Mobile?

[doodle]

Interesting quotes about the hit-or-miss locales:



Does that mean Ron Paul has less followers in Pensacola and Mobile?

People are just turning very anti war and foreign interventions having seen the results of recent adventures.

The word is getting out but has not fully leaked yet across the heartland about its executive producer, it should even out in all markets soon, worry not.

[BamaAla]

Interesting quotes about the hit-or-miss locales:



Does that mean Ron Paul has less followers in Pensacola and Mobile?

I saw it Saturday night in Hoover, Alabama; other than the two people I went with, there was only 6 others in the theater. Our Friend Shana went Friday night and reported a very thin crowd then as well.

More to your point, though, there isn't a big Ron Paul following around here.

[Slutter McGee]

This movie, for 10 million dollars is brilliant. It is a DVD goldmine.

Sincerely,

Slutter McGee

[2young2vote]

So we won't likely be seeing a Part 2 due to the low performance in theaters? Maybe it will do well on DVD.

[Trigonx]

So we won't likely be seeing a Part 2 due to the low performance in theaters? Maybe it will do well on DVD.

It is doing very well for only 300 screens. They are in third place for $ per screen.

http://boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/

~~

I enjoyed the movie, I bought the book on kindle last night since i've never read it before.

[Fredom101]

It was a 2nd rate film with 2nd rate actors.
And, they really screwed some things up, such as making like newspapers were relevant in 2016! They aren't even relevant now. "Epic Fail".

[Lucille]

On a side note, Jsu Garcia (Francisco D'Anconia) was hanging around outside the theater before and after the film, taking pictures and telling people he was in the movie. Kind of a turn off, in that his actions completely contradicted his character and essentially the entire philosophy of Ayn Rand. He looked sloppy, with a decent sized belly, and was telling people he was there to promote himself, and to make sure we knew how hard he worked on it so that Andy Garcia and Antonio Banderas don't try to take his role in the next films. Whatever.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpJ8F1q-pvw

That was great. He's hot, belly and all.

What about Rand's philosophy decried promotion of an idea and/or product, and self-promotion again? And are you really criticizing him for not being in character?

Anyways, we saw it the first time at rave motion pictures (a most excellent theater) in Vegas on Mon. at 2:00. About 30 people were there. Not bad for a Monday afternoon! We loved it. Top notch indie film, if you ask me. We saw it the second time on Tues. at noon. About 20 that time. Caught more the second time around.

I'll see it again if it comes Flagstaff. I'll definitely buy the DVD, and can't wait for parts 2 and 3.

[Lucille]

423 theaters and counting. (http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/theaters)

It went from two theaters to seven in AZ. Still not in Flagstaff! I'll see it again in Prescott.

A good review in the LV Review-Journal from last week (which is where we saw it):

Sidestepping studios to bring 'Atlas Shrugged' to the big screen (http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/sidestepping-studios-to-bring-atlas-shrugged-to-the-big-screen-119984744.html)


The challenge of filming "Atlas Shrugged" is to take an audience who expects the "greedy fat cats" to be the villains -- and those cutting them down to size to be Erin Brockovich, Woodward-and-Bernstein-style heroes -- and get them to accept the role reversal and ask, "My God, what would happen if these long-abused producers simply went on strike and refused to be harnessed beasts of burden for the Great Collective?"
[...]
Instead, we get to see the war of the snarling anti-capitalist crowd, attempting to bring down the very builders of the prosperity they envy and covet, as they pass law after law requiring the rich to divest "all but one" of their companies, requiring every successful steel firm to share its profits with its less successful competitors. (General Motors bailout, anyone?)
[...]
Yet the resulting "Atlas Shrugged" is, in the end, a pretty good movie -- a far more rewarding experience than 98 percent of the stuff out there..."

[Lucille]

Ludwig von Mises letter (http://www.isil.org/ayn-rand/von-mises-letter.html) to Ayn Rand on Atlas Shrugged:


But Atlas Shrugged is not merely a novel. It is also (or may I say: first of all) a cogent analysis of the evils that plague our society, a substantiated rejection of the ideology of our self-styled "intellectuals" and a pitiless unmasking of the insincerity of the policies adopted by governments and political parties. It is a devastating exposure of the "moral cannibals," the "gigolos of science" and of the "academic prattle" of the makers of the "anti-industrial revolution."

More at the link.

[jazzloversinc]

I really enjoyed the movie. I rarely go to movies but I thought it was real good. We need to be positive about it because the left critics are trying to kill it. I live near Pensacola and they didn't advertise or anything...that might be why. I called my talk radio this morning and told everyone it was playing here...nobody knew. I have been following the website...but at the matinee this afternoon, the kid at the window, who was a libertarian, said there was a good showing for a matinee. I hope it was better this evening.

[RileyE104]

Saw the movie today.

It was AWESOME! The only sad thing was seeing that more people attended the movie Rio, which I also saw earlier.

I mean, there were probably only 15 people total in the theater when we saw Atlas. :(

[Lothario]

That was great. He's hot, belly and all.

What about Rand's philosophy decried promotion of an idea and/or product, and self-promotion again? And are you really criticizing him for not being in character?

Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing. A) bragging is completely absent from Rand's philosophy, as she was completely uninterested in the opinions of others, B) he was blatantly craving attention which was a turn off to many in attendance, C) he was appealing to loyalty and guilt as the reason he should be in the sequels, instead of the objective value as all Rand's heroes appealed to.

Rearden to Larkin
"I don't like assurances. I don't want any pretense about how safe I am. I'm not. We have made an agreement which I can't enforce. I want you to know that I understand my position fully. If you intend to keep your word, don't talk about it, just do it."

Yes, in acting, knowing the man behind the character is the enemy, especially when the nature of the man contradicts the nature of the character, and more so when it's a story and a philosophy as important as Atlas Shrugged. I had never heard of Jsu Garcia before, but the first impression was completely devoid of respect. Let your work speak for itself.

[tnvoter]

to all the folks bashing the actor who played francisco... I can see where you're coming from, but also to be honest it looks like he's earnestly just trying to promote the film by also promoting the book. This is NATURAL in the industry. Whether it's for his personal ego or not, it's common for films that are not red carpet glammour "entertainment tonight" affairs when film actors greet an audience and give a brief word to an audience.

imo

his job isn't try to be ayn rand, it's to promote the movie.

[Lothario]

to all the folks bashing the actor who played francisco... I can see where you're coming from, but also to be honest it looks like he's earnestly just trying to promote the film by also promoting the book. This is NATURAL in the industry. Whether it's for his personal ego or not, it's common for films that are not red carpet glammour "entertainment tonight" affairs when film actors greet an audience and give a brief word to an audience.

imo

his job isn't try to be ayn rand, it's to promote the movie.

Well, I've been to many red carpet events, and I was there in attendance when 'Francisco' "crashed" it. He said verbatim, "I'm here to promote myself."

It might not come off on the video posted, but I was there when he was bumbling around outside telling people he was in the movie with his untucked mechanics shirt on and his stomach hanging over his waist.

His job is not to be Ayn Rand, his job is not to promote the movie, his job is to be Francisco D'Anconia and act. That's it.

I'm sure Ayn Rand was rolling in her grave for the whole time he was talking. If you've read Ayn Rand, you'd understand completely.

[low preference guy]

If you've read Ayn Rand, you'd understand completely.

Lothario, you have some great posts. I also like Ayn Rand's work, but there was one thing of Atlas Shrugged that I disliked.

At some moment in the novel, John Galt was captured and Dagny and others were going to rescue him. Dagny had to pass through some guard. She told him to get out of the way or she would kill him. Since he didn't get out of the way, Dagny pointed a gun to his heart and started counting from 20 to 0. Twenty, nineteen, eighteen..., etc, and when she got to zero she killed him.

I thought that scene was kind of creepy because it portrayed excessive pleasure at the thought of blowing up this guy's heart. It's like killing this guy was something enjoyable in itself. I think focusing on evil so much when it's unnecessary is a sign of moral weakness, because it doesn't let you focus on the things that are good and beautiful. Our minds only have limited capacity to focus, so when you're focusing unnecessarily on evil, you don't have mental resources to focus on the things that are important, and it's a good habit to not ever do it. Moreover, putting this in a novel is actually worse than doing it in real life, because as Ayn Rand herself stated, you discriminate what you put in a novel with the objective of portraying your ideal vision of the world.

Counting up to 20 is bad in more respects than just the depraved enjoyment of killing this guard. A lot can happen in 20 seconds, somebody might come and kill you, so Dagny should have killed him quickly and moved forward. She was actually putting his life in danger and wasting precious time just so that she'll get a cheap thrill. I think what he did was immoral and it shows that although Ayn Rand was awesome, she also had some obvious moral flaws.

[Icymudpuppy]

Counting up to 20 is bad in more respects than just the depraved enjoyment of killing this guard. A lot can happen in 20 seconds, somebody might come and kill you, so Dagny should have killed him quickly and moved forward. She was actually putting his life in danger and wasting precious time just so that she'll get a cheap thrill. I think what he did was immoral and it shows that although Ayn Rand was awesome, she also had some obvious moral flaws.

I see it differently. Dagny values life, and doesn't want to kill anyone. The counting was her own reluctance to kill and giving the man a chance to reconsider. She wanted him to see that holding a man against his will for a victimless infraction violates the principle of liberty. He was an automaton of the state and not able to make that logical conclusion, thus he died when his time for consideration ran out.

[Lucille]

::sigh::


Last weekend’s major newsmaker (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/2011/04/24/weekend_box_office_rio_defeats_madea_before_the_su mmer_onslaught_begins/) “Atlas Shrugged Part One,” meanwhile, boosted its theater count to 465, but lost close to half its audience, scoring only $879k. Part Two remains a possibility, but don’t hold your breath. Support your local arthouse, boys and girls.


Someone with John Aglialoro's ear better tell him why the "A" in "P&A" is necessary when you're adding screens (http://www.facebook.com/jneilschulman/posts/206729019350325). His best form of advertising is sending a video crew to record enthusiastic audience reactions after seeing the film -- and playing these ads on Fox News cable/satellite outlets and on talk radio -- targeting local stations where he's opening screens.

It's playing in Flagstaff for one night only, a private event. We're going.

[jazzloversinc]

I saw it again Saturday night the theatre was not full...no ADVERTISING..that hurts.

[Vessol]

Still haven't seen it. No location that is within 2 hour driving distance.. :(

[Elwar]

Went to see it last week and loved it. Sure it wasn't everything it could have been and I could see people who haven't seen the book not knowing what was going on (my wife got frustrated with the "Who's John Galt" question and finally just asked me...ok, who is it?). She enjoyed it though.

My main critique was that it seemed like there were uncomfortable pauses at the end of a few scenes. Where the dialogue has ended and they wait to transition until after someone has fully walked out of the room, like in a play.

Other than that I just wanted it to go on and on. I felt the disappointment in knowing that the movie was soon going to end and I would no longer get to enjoy the story. I would have been just fine with a 24 hour detailed playing of the movie. But maybe that's just me.

[low preference guy]

Other than that I just wanted it to go on and on. I felt the disappointment in knowing that the movie was soon going to end and I would no longer get to enjoy the story. I would have been just fine with a 24 hour detailed playing of the movie. But maybe that's just me.

I'm actually planning to wait until part 3 comes out so I can watch 'em all in a short period of time.

[BenIsForRon]

My impression from the trailer was that it looked like a bad TV movie, and a lot of the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes seem to confirm that.

[low preference guy]

My impression from the trailer was that it looked like a bad TV movie, and a lot of the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes seem to confirm that.

lol!

[Dorfsmith]

423 theaters and counting. (http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/theaters)

It went from two theaters to seven in AZ. Still not in Flagstaff! I'll see it again in Prescott.

A good review in the LV Review-Journal from last week (which is where we saw it):

Sidestepping studios to bring 'Atlas Shrugged' to the big screen (http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/sidestepping-studios-to-bring-atlas-shrugged-to-the-big-screen-119984744.html)

Are you in Flagstaff Lucille? Joy Stavely and Roger Boone were able to set up a private screening at Harkins. Here's the details and the RSVP if you or anyone you know is interested:

http://www.facebook.com/dorfsmith#!/event.php?eid=204795416218704

[Lucille]

Are you in Flagstaff Lucille? Joy Stavely and Roger Boone were able to set up a private screening at Harkins. Here's the details and the RSVP if you or anyone you know is interested:

http://www.facebook.com/dorfsmith#!/event.php?eid=204795416218704

I am, homeboy! (I'm MacGhillielaidir on facebook and MacGhil on twitter.) See you guys there! It will my third time!