Atlas Shugged Movie

[Missourian]

Anyone seen it yet?

We're going on Tuesday.

Here's a list of theaters it's playing in.

Atlas Shrugged Movie - Theaters & Tickets

 

[Ragnar]

As one who has read the book a few times over many years I'd give the movie a generous "B" that with a little more time and money could have been an "A-".

If you have not read the book I don't see how one could possibly fill in the gaps or keep up with the pace, especially once the run of the John Galt line is done. Can't really put myself in place of someone who has not read the book but have a hard time seeing how it could rate higher than a "D".

Good points:

- Soundtrack

- Acting (mostly)

- Holding to the books theme

- Does not look like it was made for under $10M

- At times, very funny

- No adaptations for "modern day" were terribly egregious

Bad points:

- Does look like it was shot in just over 3 weeks

- Pace is jumpy (often too fast)

- Dialogue is sometimes stilted and unclean (some weak scenes)

- Though understandable, a few great characters got steamrolled into tiny bits


All in all I'm glad it was made, and as an indie film it's better than most. Parts two and three, if they happen, are set up nicely.

 

[ogibillm]

9% on the tomatometer.

as a comparison "Gigli" received as 7% and "Yogi Bear" a 13%

 

[editec]

I doubt you could really do the book justice in any film less than about 10 hours.

Just the political diatribes in that book would add hours and hours to the movies dialogue.

While AS does have an interesting plot, so much about character development is found in those long wordy political screeds AR put into it, and since they really are the heart and soul of that tome, leaving them outm or highly redacting them, must leave the viewers who aren't intimately familiar with the book perplexed as to character motive.

 

[rightwinger]

Better hurry if you want to see it

Wont be in the theaters for long

 

[B. Kidd]

Better hurry if you want to see it

Wont be in the theaters for long

Hey Ignatz, that's what DVD's are for........

 

[Liberty]

its not a movie for dumb people (liberals), thats for sure. It was ok.

 

[boedicca]

Better hurry if you want to see it

Wont be in the theaters for long

You're wrong on that one.

The box office is blowing out expectations.


The power of Ayn Rand devotees has impressed some Hollywood distribution executives, who took note of the hefty $5,640 per-theater average scored by “Atlas Shrugged: Part 1” during its opening weekend.

“Shocking,” one executive said about the healthy business the low-budget film has been doing, considering its “awful” marketing plan.

Awful or not, business has been brisk enough for producers Harmon Kaslow and John Aglialoro to expand from 299 theaters to 425 this weekend and to 1,000 by the end of the month. They don’t have enough film prints to fill all the orders....

http://www.suntimes.com/4935704-417...?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4db462a82d3f0dea,0

 

[AllieBaba]

I thought I just read that it was bombing....

 

[Trajan]

I saw it last Saturday, I was surprised by the loud applause at the end, not because it wasn't good but because I am in the belly of the beast. The theatre was also half full btw.

I thought, considering the the budget and story which is huge they encompassed a lot without having mucked it up, in an hour and 40. Dagny was very good, she captured my memory of dagny in the book.The message was loud and clear.

The folks in front of me were laughing and made a comment on the Boeing bruhaha and I told them I was thinking exactly the same thing, life imitates art......

 

[boedicca]

I thought I just read that it was bombing....

You're correct. I haven't been following the news on it for the past few days.

Here's a more recent article:

Twelve days after opening "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1," the producer of the Ayn Rand adaptation said Tuesday that he is reconsidering his plans to make Parts 2 and 3 because of scathing reviews and flagging box office returns for the film.

"Critics, you won," said John Aglialoro, the businessman who spent 18 years and more than $20 million of his own money to make, distribute and market "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1," which covers the first third of Rand's dystopian novel. "I’m having deep second thoughts on why I should do Part 2."

"Atlas Shrugged" was the top-grossing limited release in its opening weekend, generating $1.7 million on 299 screens and earning a respectable $5,640 per screen. But the the box office dropped off 47% in the film's second week in release even as "Atlas Shrugged" expanded to 425 screens, and the movie seemed to hold little appeal for audiences beyond the core group of Rand fans to whom it was marketed.

Aglialoro attributed the box office drop-off to "Atlas Shrugged's" poor reviews. Only one major critic -- Kyle Smith of the New York Post -- gave "Atlas" a mixed-to-positive review, calling the film "more compelling than the average mass-produced studio item." The movie has a dismal 7% fresh rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes thanks to critics like the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips, who said "Atlas" is "crushingly ordinary in every way." Roger Ebert called the film "the most anticlimactic non-event since Geraldo Rivera broke into Al Capone’s vault," while Rolling Stone's Peter Travers said the movie "sits there flapping on screen like a bludgeoned seal."

"The New York Times gave us the most hateful review of all," said Aglialoro, who also has a writing credit on the movie. "They didn’t cover it."...

'Atlas Shrugged' producer: 'Critics, you won.' He's going 'on strike.' | 24 Frames | Los Angeles Times

 

[Trajan]

I thought I just read that it was bombing....

You're correct. I haven't been following the news on it for the past few days.

Here's a more recent article:

Twelve days after opening "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1," the producer of the Ayn Rand adaptation said Tuesday that he is reconsidering his plans to make Parts 2 and 3 because of scathing reviews and flagging box office returns for the film.

"Critics, you won," said John Aglialoro, the businessman who spent 18 years and more than $20 million of his own money to make, distribute and market "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1," which covers the first third of Rand's dystopian novel. "I’m having deep second thoughts on why I should do Part 2."

"Atlas Shrugged" was the top-grossing limited release in its opening weekend, generating $1.7 million on 299 screens and earning a respectable $5,640 per screen. But the the box office dropped off 47% in the film's second week in release even as "Atlas Shrugged" expanded to 425 screens, and the movie seemed to hold little appeal for audiences beyond the core group of Rand fans to whom it was marketed.

Aglialoro attributed the box office drop-off to "Atlas Shrugged's" poor reviews. Only one major critic -- Kyle Smith of the New York Post -- gave "Atlas" a mixed-to-positive review, calling the film "more compelling than the average mass-produced studio item." The movie has a dismal 7% fresh rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes thanks to critics like the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips, who said "Atlas" is "crushingly ordinary in every way." Roger Ebert called the film "the most anticlimactic non-event since Geraldo Rivera broke into Al Capone’s vault," while Rolling Stone's Peter Travers said the movie "sits there flapping on screen like a bludgeoned seal."

"The New York Times gave us the most hateful review of all," said Aglialoro, who also has a writing credit on the movie. "They didn’t cover it."...

'Atlas Shrugged' producer: 'Critics, you won.' He's going 'on strike.' | 24 Frames | Los Angeles Times

I think you got to the nub right here;

"Atlas Shrugged" was the top-grossing limited release in its opening weekend, generating $1.7 million on 299 screens and earning a respectable $5,640 per screen. But the the box office dropped off 47% in the film's second week in release even as "Atlas Shrugged" expanded to 425 screens, and the movie seemed to hold little appeal for audiences beyond the core group of Rand fans to whom it was marketed.

show of hands , how many people here are over 40 and have read it? how many under 40 and have read it? and of those who agree with Ayn?

This being a political place I expect a much higher ratio than the public, big time.....thats the point.

 

[Immanuel]

I'm still reading the book.

But, a funny thing happened today. I have been thinking about who I would have cast as some of the characters in the movie. I have heard that Matt Damon plays James Taggart. That just doesn't fit for me. Damon just is not the sleazy piece of crap that Taggart is. I had thought that Alec Baldwin would make a perfect James Taggart. I was watching a movie called "The Departed" today on DvD. Both Baldwin and Damon are in the movie. I still think Baldwin would make the perfect James Taggart! Who the hell did the casting for Atlas Shrugged?

Oh, and I would have cast Sandra Bullock as Dagny Taggart. Matt Damon would have made a good Hank Reardon.

Edit: Just went and checked the credits. It is not Damon that plays Taggart. My mistake.

Immie

 

[Cal]

I'm still reading the book.

But, a funny thing happened today. I have been thinking about who I would have cast as some of the characters in the movie. I have heard that Matt Damon plays James Taggart. That just doesn't fit for me. Damon just is not the sleazy piece of crap that Taggart is. I had thought that Alec Baldwin would make a perfect James Taggart. I was watching a movie called "The Departed" today on DvD. Both Baldwin and Damon are in the movie. I still think Baldwin would make the perfect James Taggart! Who the hell did the casting for Atlas Shrugged?

Oh, and I would have cast Sandra Bullock as Dagny Taggart. Matt Damon would have made a good Hank Reardon.

Edit: Just went and checked the credits. It is not Damon that plays Taggart. My mistake.Immie

I was gonna say.. Damon's a Lefty. I don't see him being in such a film.

 

[Immanuel]

I'm still reading the book.

But, a funny thing happened today. I have been thinking about who I would have cast as some of the characters in the movie. I have heard that Matt Damon plays James Taggart. That just doesn't fit for me. Damon just is not the sleazy piece of crap that Taggart is. I had thought that Alec Baldwin would make a perfect James Taggart. I was watching a movie called "The Departed" today on DvD. Both Baldwin and Damon are in the movie. I still think Baldwin would make the perfect James Taggart! Who the hell did the casting for Atlas Shrugged?

Oh, and I would have cast Sandra Bullock as Dagny Taggart. Matt Damon would have made a good Hank Reardon.

Edit: Just went and checked the credits. It is not Damon that plays Taggart. My mistake.Immie

I was gonna say.. Damon's a Lefty. I don't see him being in such a film.

So's Baldwin which is why he would make an excellent James Taggart. That and the fact that Baldwin is sleaze with a capital "S".

Immie