4/18/2011

Atlas Shrugged Part 1 is Awesome

I saw Atlas Shrugged over the weekend (I actually saw it twice) and I thought that it was great. Movie review critics have been vicious, big surprise given their liberal biases, and all the more reason that I hope that people give this movie a real chance. The trailer is available here. A positive review of Atlas Shrugged 1 is available here.

But what about the movie itself? There’s no big name actors (unless you count genre actor Armin Shimerman from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Deep Space Nine”) and a very small budget. Yet a story told from the point of view that rich guys are trying to save society while an apathetic government is content to let it lapse into ruin is itself highly unusual and does make one think. This is a thought-provoking film that asks you to use your brains instead of enduring explosions, car chases, and weapons fire, meaning that, by definition, it was never intended to be a mainstream film. The director, Paul Johansson, is himself credited for playing the mysterious John Galt, not to mention that this is part one of three (as the book is reportedly 1100 pages.) For what they had to work with and what was accomplished, the film succeeds in creating heroes of the main characters, making the mystery of John Galt’s designs and motivations compelling, and most importantly, setting up the remaining two parts of the trilogy.


Labels:

1 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

I disagree completely. For the most influential book I've ever read, I was hoping for the best, but Dagny's hair was constantly in disarray, Galt's approach was often corny, and some of the finest parts of the book were left out altogether, like Francisco's "money" speech at the anniversary party. Also, the parts about Francisco and Dagny's childhood moments together--along with James and Eddie--are critical to building the characters. It watches like a made for TV movie, would probably have been better as a mini-series.

4/19/2011 11:04 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home