# Am I Gonna Be Able To Sit Through "Atlas Shrugged", The Film? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2011, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562 "2011-02-25T08:02:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/61 "2011-02-28T15:01:56Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Ok, now it sounds just awful. Especially with multiple ‘parts’. I recall that _Battlefield: Earth_ was originally going to be “multiple parts”. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/62 "2011-02-28T15:05:53Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > > [@xtisme](#): > > > > As for Mr. Hubble’s Scientology > > Hubbard. Not the astronomer. Now I have a mental image of the Hubbard Space telescope discovering Xenu and spacegoing DC-3s and whatnot… ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/63 "2011-02-28T15:33:47Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > No, you’re not the only one. I also prefer The Fountainhead . . . the book, NOT the movie. > > And to those of you who consider Rand’s work to be repetitious _ad nauseum_: Are you aware that she was born on Groundhog Day? I quite enjoy _The Fountainhead_ movie. It’s an Art Deco masterpiece of camp. With beautiful young Patricia Neal, who was having an affair with beautiful older Gary Cooper at the time. He refused to leave his wife & she had a nervous breakdown. I love vintage celebrity gossip! Endless stints in rehab lack style… I read the book &\* Atlas Shrugged\* because some high school friends loved them; they were the AV crowd, wielding their slide rules even outside the math & science classrooms. Had no trouble getting through Rand’s dense prose, even though I didn’t enjoy it much. That same year I read T H White’s _The Once & Future King_ & Lewis’s _Space Trilogy_. Plus the Ballantine LOTR–gaudy covers & all. Guess which books have remained part of my life! (Set in an interesting alternate world & edited down to one film, _Atlas_ might be worth seeing. That apparently isn’t the case with this film.) ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/64 "2011-02-28T16:52:38Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Now I have a mental image of the Hubbard Space telescope discovering Xenu and spacegoing DC-3s and whatnot… [post=13512683]Link[/post]. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/65 "2011-03-02T05:39:37Z")
I assume other people watched the trailer - did you folks find the delivery of dialogue in it to be weird too? Maybe it’s true to the book, but it has the same off feel a lot of commercials for prescription drugs have. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/66 "2011-03-02T14:25:34Z")
Legal blog [Above the Law](http://abovethelaw.com/2011/03/a-movie-recommendation-from-chief-judge-kozinski/#more-60615) reports that Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge of the 9th Circuit, saw an advance screening of Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 and gave it a perfect 10 out of 10. The blog includes a link to his imdb review. Based on his other reviews there, though, I don’t think he has very good taste in films. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/67 "2011-03-02T18:11:04Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I see it will be a multi-part film. I suppose the end of part I through part III will be taken up by that lovely speech that drives the nail through your eye over the point of the narrative until you’re lobotomized? I skipped it. Just read it for the first time last autumn. I liked it well enough, but I don’t drink her brand of Kool-Aid™. Looking forward to the film. I find the timing to be ironic as all hell. The anti-union sentiments sweeping a country that is collapsing as the rich get richer. Either the film will be a watershed moment and everyone will relate to it, or it’ll bomb. I predict the former. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/68 "2011-03-03T03:42:03Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I assume other people watched the trailer - did you folks find the delivery of dialogue in it to be weird too? Maybe it’s true to the book, but it has the same off feel a lot of commercials for prescription drugs have. Jeez, have you seen _The Fountainhead_? Rand had final approval of all the dialogue, so everyone spoke like she did, but without the Russian accent. The only believable actor was Patricia Neal. (Of course, part of her radiance was a result of getting shtupped by Gary Cooper.) ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/69 "2011-03-03T04:32:07Z")
I read the book a few years ago and didn’t get much out if it. My memory of it was some lady tying to build railroad tracks but her brother (dad?) who was really the owner of the company, didn’t want to use the supplies she had procured. He wanted to use older, cheaper steel and supplies. She wanted the newer, high tech stuff. Then there was a bunch of wheeling and dealing to get the train track built. The story to me was dull and the characters were wealthy industrialists that I couln’t relate to. Having not enjoyed the book, I am highly unlikely to sit through a two part film about it unless there are reports of top-notch acting, interesting sets, or some other redeeming feature. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/70 "2011-04-15T15:31:26Z")
Roger Ebert gave it 1 star. Yes I know, he’s a liberal. He makes no bones about it. But he brings up some good points. > [@](#): > > So OK. Let’s say you know the novel, you agree with Ayn Rand, you’re an objectivist or a libertarian, and you’ve been waiting eagerly for this movie. Man, are you going to get a letdown. It’s not enough that a movie agree with you, in however an incoherent and murky fashion. It would help if it were like, you know, entertaining? > > The movie is constructed of a few kinds of scenes: (1) People sipping their drinks in clubby surroundings and exchanging dialogue that sounds like corporate lingo; (2) railroads, and lots of ’em; (3) limousines driving through cities in ruin and arriving at ornate buildings; (4) city skylines; (5) the beauties of Colorado. There is also a love scene, which is shown not merely from the waist up but from the ears up. The man keeps his shirt on. This may be disappointing for libertarians, who I believe enjoy rumpy-pumpy as much as anyone. Also, I like this Twitter post from him: > [@](#): > > As I write, “Atlas Shrugged” has a ★★★★ rating from my readers. The film has not yet been seen publicly ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/71 "2011-04-15T16:13:21Z")
They should have just made a Bioshock film ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/72 "2011-04-15T16:15:38Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I think it’s not a difficult read if you read it during that very brief window of your youth when you’re like, “Oh maaaaaaaan this makes SO MUCH SENSE! This is sheer genius!” (\*) > > If you get to it after that window has (blessedly) closed, you’re like “What the fuck? People have actually made it to the end of this thing? I am going to use it as a doorstop.” > (\*) I realize this isn’t a universal thing, but I’ve heard enough other people say they had a brief, silly Ayn Rand phase in their youth that I think it’s not just me. Pretty sure anyway. Ha, ha, it’s not just me, right guys? I was assigned to read parts of Ayn Rand in college, much like many other people here. In honor of the movie’s release I thought back to those heady days and wrote the following blog post: [ulr=“[http://theblogthatwasthursday.wordpress.com/](http://theblogthatwasthursday.wordpress.com/)”]How Ayn Rand Changed My Life. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/73 "2011-04-15T16:17:07Z")
It has received a glorious [6% at Rotten Tomatoes](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/atlas_shrugged_part_i/). ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/74 "2011-04-15T16:24:45Z")
I’ve been reading the reviews, and sadly although I’ve been looking forward to this movie for a long time (I’m an unapologetic \*Atlas Shrugged \*fan–read it for the first time at age 13), I’m very much afraid I’m going to be disappointed. I’m planning to go see it tomorrow–wouldn’t miss it, no matter how bad it ends up being–but I really do wish they’d have been able to get some bigger guns and a bigger budget to do it right. I was so hoping they’d do it in a timeless, dieselpunk, art-deco aesthetic rather than trying to set it in the near future. I don’t have high expectations. I cheerfully admit to loving some pretty bad movies (the Z-list horror flick “The Manitou” is one of my favorite films) so hey, I could be surprised. I mean, at least the book made it to the screen in my lifetime. That’s something. And maybe since it’s so low-budget, they’ll make enough money that they’ll be able to make the other two parts. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/75 "2011-04-15T16:43:12Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I’ve been reading the reviews, and sadly although I’ve been looking forward to this movie for a long time (I’m an unapologetic \*Atlas Shrugged \*fan–read it for the first time at age 13), I’m very much afraid I’m going to be disappointed. I’m planning to go see it tomorrow–wouldn’t miss it, no matter how bad it ends up being–but I really do wish they’d have been able to get some bigger guns and a bigger budget to do it right. I was so hoping they’d do it in a timeless, dieselpunk, art-deco aesthetic rather than trying to set it in the near future. > > I don’t have high expectations. I cheerfully admit to loving some pretty bad movies (the Z-list horror flick “The Manitou” is one of my favorite films) so hey, I could be surprised. I mean, at least the book made it to the screen in my lifetime. That’s something. And maybe since it’s so low-budget, they’ll make enough money that they’ll be able to make the other two parts. Well, report back after you see it, and let us know what you thought. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/76 "2011-04-15T17:36:09Z")
> [@Docta\_G](#): > > A college professor actually had you read that piece of crap? Good grief. It’s only the second most influential book after the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/77 "2011-04-15T18:18:40Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > I read the book a few years ago and didn’t get much out if it. > > My memory of it was some lady tying to build railroad tracks but her brother (dad?) who was really the owner of the company, didn’t want to use the supplies she had procured. He wanted to use older, cheaper steel and supplies. She wanted the newer, high tech stuff. > > Then there was a bunch of wheeling and dealing to get the train track built. > > The story to me was dull and the characters were wealthy industrialists that I couln’t relate to. Just sayin’…if you thought \*Atlas Shrugged \*was about railroad tycoons and industrialists, you kind of missed the point. 🙂 No problem with anybody disliking the book. I know a lot of folks do. But saying \*AS \*is about trains is kind of like saying _Moby-Dick_ was about a whale. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/78 "2011-04-15T18:26:38Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Roger Ebert gave it 1 star. Yes I know, he’s a liberal. He makes no bones about it. But he brings up some good points. > > Also, I like this Twitter post from him: > > As I write, “Atlas Shrugged” has a ★★★★ rating from my readers. The film has not yet been seen publicly Well, there are already twelve user reviews at IMDb, so \*somebody \*has seen it other than Roger. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/79 "2011-04-15T18:40:55Z")
The film has a 6% rating at [Rotten Tomatoes](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/atlas_shrugged_part_i/)! (Kyle Smith of _The New York Post_ liked it!) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562/80 "2011-04-15T18:52:07Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > It’s only the second most influential book after the Bible. I believe the readers of the Koran might disagree. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-gonna-be-able-to-sit-through-atlas-shrugged-the-film/572562.md?page=5)