On the minimal chance that there are IMAO readers out there who have read the book but who haven’t heard that after 54 years they’ve finally made the movie, here’s the trailer for Atlas Shrugged:
Look for it April 15th, an opening day that I’m sure was picked completely at random.
And, as I mentioned while discussing this at my personal blog, there are 3 big differences between Obama’s high-speed rail and Dagny Taggart’s:
1) It’s privately owned
2) It’s profitable
3) It’s hauling freight, not passengers
I loved “Atlas Shrugged”,
but I wouldn’t wade through the book again without
these online Cliff Notes.
I wonder if there will be Democrats picketing
theaters when they see their
unscrupulous ways revealed, ridiculed, and rebutted.
As someone worried that a B-level TV actor is producing this film, that trailer really bucks me up. And Harvey is right, film is a different medium, so some license is both acceptable and necessary. That being said, we need to start the grass-roots publicity and awards campaign now, just to get a token nomination or two come next year. The fact that the film comes out shortly after this year’s Oscars speaks volumes about the producers’ expectations, but also we have the entire summer, fall, and winter to make the voice of the audience heard. Wow, rereading this comment before post, I hope the actual film lives up expectations!
TJ – if the movie ends up being a film version of the Cliff Notes you linked, I will be completely satisfied with the effort.
In 20 years, they will film a high-budget remake, and we’ll finally get the Peter-Jackson-LOTR treatment that we all fantasize about. Just hope I’m still alive to see it.
Oh, and I don’t know about picketing, but watching Chris Matthews’s, Ed Schultz’s, and Rachel Maddow’s heads explode over this will send me into fits of giggles that’ll last at least a week.
that an atempt to make this book into a film at all is heartening to me. i’m not a fan of all of Rand’s views of life, but she has the economic part down pretty solid. the Dem response will be to order: first ignore it, then ridicule it, then scream and shake their cages and make death threats. this last will ensure more viewers than ever.
If you want high speed rail just go back to the early 20th century. I live about 200 miles from Chicago and in the first half of the 20th century steam engines pulling passenger cars made the run in 2 1/2 hours. Today it takes 3 to 4 hours depending on traffic.
Part 1? Part 1?
I could hardly read The Hobbit, I can’t even fathom sitting through a movie based off of something Rand wrote.
Other differences (not mentioned):
4) Dagny’s line made sense commercially and politically
5) Dagny’s line did not garner any political advantage
6) Losses from shut down of John Galt line were borne by its investors
Similarities between Obama’s and Dagny’s rail lines:
1) Use of newer technology than current systems
2) Lots of money made off of the design / construction
3) Fulfills desires of special interest groups
4) An ignoble end to the enterprise
You haven’t seen The Fountainhead with Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal and Raymond Massey, Marko? Good flick. 1949. Based on Rand’s 1943 novel – and a good job of telling the story. (And I thought I was minimally cultured!)
I enjoyed the book, though some of the monologues got preachy, and Galt’s climactic monologue near the end seemed interminable to me. I suspect and hope that the movie will be able to encapsulate the essence of the message without the didactic tone in the book.
Oh, and Dagny was every bit as hot in the version I read.
OMG, PROFIT!
So does that give it an R rating, or maybe even an X?
Ah, I forgot about that one, Jimmy. In all honesty, I love Coop but even that was a bit difficult to watch.
The movie gets a PG-13 rating. It also looks like they are running a passenger train on the John Galt line, even though the book has it running only freight. There are other adjustments, and I think they have to come up with excuses (like airlines being shut down and gas being REALLY expensive) as to why trains are back in vogue in a movie that takes place in the present rather than in the 1950s. You can get updates by joining the Facebook page.
Iso – take a very close look at 1:52. There are no windows on those train’s cars. It’s hauling freight. They just streamlined the box cars to cut wind resistance so you can run freight at 200mph or whatever insane speed they’re hauling it at.
Well,
1) What are the chances that Hollywood can make the movie without including a car chase, an explosion and a gratuitous breast shot.
And, 2) Can anyone actually see Quark playing a role in a movie and not immediately say, “Hey wait, that’s Quark”?
I rented The Fountainhead last year after re-reading Atlas Shrugged and found both quite satisfactory.
Allowing for the differences of the era (perhaps the new movie will seem less stilted to us), they both illustrate the main points of capitalism vs socialism and teach a great lesson.
And both are compelling if you relax and let yourself get into the restrictions of the time.
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