This review does contain spoilers.
First I want to thank the makers of this third and final installment of Atlas Shrugged for the many hours of entertainment it has provided my friends and I. We have added it to the pantheon of other movies-so-bad-that-they-are-good. One can only surmise that the ghost of Edward D. Wood Jr was channeled for this laugh fest. Look, I admit that I am a progressive, but I am a progressive who has taken the time to read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, listened to her interviews and read her Objectivist newsletter. I have a good understanding of her point of view and take it as seriously as many of her adherents. However as far as film making is concerned I can only conclude that Ayn Rand is spinning in her grave like a turkey in a rotisserie, to coin a Randian style metaphor. This film and Atlas Shrugged parts 1 and 2 are a truly awful presentation of her views.
Can we be honest here, the only people who would be happy with this would be her hard core followers. If the intent is to convert people to her world view then this wont even come close. It provides the Cliff's Notes version of a Cliff's Notes version of her book. Yes, I agree that trying to condense a 60 page speech by John Gault in small typeface is daunting in itself . But to reduce it to a 600 word speech while taking almost all the key elements of her argument absent is a disservice to Ms. Rand and I don't even agree with her! There is not a word about her views about atheism in this speech. In addition, I can't believe anyone would be inspired to do anything after listening to this anemic and pathetic distillation of her speech. Plus, what's with the Christ-like crucification scene where he is is tortured by OMG, Project F. Project F was apparently inspired by Ed Wood"s Bride of the Gorilla where Bela Lugosi tortured a man on a table with a colander attached to electrical leads. So needless to say, I was disappointed when Project F after much discussion by its inventor" I never intended for it to be used this way" turns out to be a box with four knobs and flashing lights with two leads attached to his neck by a cheap dog collar. It was in fact only about one step up from Ed Wood's device.
Throughout this series the happy denizens of Gault's Gulch live in a bucolic valley where apparently little elves and faeries perform the daily drudge work of growing vegetables for Gault and his fellow geniuses meager farmers market in addition to cutting lawns, cleaning toilets and and all the little things that are necessary for the brilliant geniuses who live in this Randian paradise.From the looks of things they must pay union scale or are you suggesting that John Gault cleans his own toilets or smelts his own steel?
To my Randian friends I suggest you watch John Ford's liberal union manifesto The Grapes of Wrath or Rob Reiner's The American President to see how to deliver a message, even if it 's message is is only for the converted. Both movies have a first rate cast, high production values, excellent writing and pacing and wonderful photography. While conservatives will hate the message, but they may be intellectually honest enough to admit it is good storytelling. But they had more money you say, yes they did, so watch John Sayles Matewan which had a largely unknown cast but was compelling and powerful story telling done on a shoestring budget.
My brother-in-law and I watched this movie in Ventura, CA on its opening night.The audience had 25 people, including us. Nobody was under 50. You guys need to tell your message more competently to attract the younger folks to you cause. The total sales for all three movies so far is about 5.5 to 6 million. The free market has spoken and said this movie and Atlas Shrugged Parts 1 and 2 stink.
First I want to thank the makers of this third and final installment of Atlas Shrugged for the many hours of entertainment it has provided my friends and I. We have added it to the pantheon of other movies-so-bad-that-they-are-good. One can only surmise that the ghost of Edward D. Wood Jr was channeled for this laugh fest. Look, I admit that I am a progressive, but I am a progressive who has taken the time to read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, listened to her interviews and read her Objectivist newsletter. I have a good understanding of her point of view and take it as seriously as many of her adherents. However as far as film making is concerned I can only conclude that Ayn Rand is spinning in her grave like a turkey in a rotisserie, to coin a Randian style metaphor. This film and Atlas Shrugged parts 1 and 2 are a truly awful presentation of her views.
Can we be honest here, the only people who would be happy with this would be her hard core followers. If the intent is to convert people to her world view then this wont even come close. It provides the Cliff's Notes version of a Cliff's Notes version of her book. Yes, I agree that trying to condense a 60 page speech by John Gault in small typeface is daunting in itself . But to reduce it to a 600 word speech while taking almost all the key elements of her argument absent is a disservice to Ms. Rand and I don't even agree with her! There is not a word about her views about atheism in this speech. In addition, I can't believe anyone would be inspired to do anything after listening to this anemic and pathetic distillation of her speech. Plus, what's with the Christ-like crucification scene where he is is tortured by OMG, Project F. Project F was apparently inspired by Ed Wood"s Bride of the Gorilla where Bela Lugosi tortured a man on a table with a colander attached to electrical leads. So needless to say, I was disappointed when Project F after much discussion by its inventor" I never intended for it to be used this way" turns out to be a box with four knobs and flashing lights with two leads attached to his neck by a cheap dog collar. It was in fact only about one step up from Ed Wood's device.
Throughout this series the happy denizens of Gault's Gulch live in a bucolic valley where apparently little elves and faeries perform the daily drudge work of growing vegetables for Gault and his fellow geniuses meager farmers market in addition to cutting lawns, cleaning toilets and and all the little things that are necessary for the brilliant geniuses who live in this Randian paradise.From the looks of things they must pay union scale or are you suggesting that John Gault cleans his own toilets or smelts his own steel?
To my Randian friends I suggest you watch John Ford's liberal union manifesto The Grapes of Wrath or Rob Reiner's The American President to see how to deliver a message, even if it 's message is is only for the converted. Both movies have a first rate cast, high production values, excellent writing and pacing and wonderful photography. While conservatives will hate the message, but they may be intellectually honest enough to admit it is good storytelling. But they had more money you say, yes they did, so watch John Sayles Matewan which had a largely unknown cast but was compelling and powerful story telling done on a shoestring budget.
My brother-in-law and I watched this movie in Ventura, CA on its opening night.The audience had 25 people, including us. Nobody was under 50. You guys need to tell your message more competently to attract the younger folks to you cause. The total sales for all three movies so far is about 5.5 to 6 million. The free market has spoken and said this movie and Atlas Shrugged Parts 1 and 2 stink.