Atlas Shrugged Movie

[JohnRego]

Another thing is Failure is just as important to invention as anything else. Failure eliminates possibilities so that the next person doesn't go down the wrong path. Inventors who succeed owe a massive amount of gratitude to those before them who failed and pointed them away from dead ends. Those failures point to a correct path, and that path is FAR more important than any individual.

 

[Kludge]

I watched the movie tonight. I thought it was an alright film, but more importantly, focused on one particular point in Rand's novel I loved and never found enough of for satisfaction.

The difference between Rand and the majority of political talk is that everyone's always talking about money. How can we best facilitate people making money? The movie implies it, but what they pretty explicitly talk about is why successful people get pissed off at government. It isn't about earning less money in a bureaucratic corporatist nightmare of a society -- it's about doing what you want. The characters in the book who leave with Galt are willing to abandon what they've built, which they realize keeps the assholes of society afloat.

I never really recognized it except in Rand's "We The Living." Through their actions, those who leave US society are effectively stating they'd rather lose practically everything they have in a society they hate than continue working around assholes and their government. It's a very powerful action, and the movie made their message very clear. It's not about the characters' money as much as it's about their dignity. The last scene with the burning oil fields is fantastic.

 

[kylejack]

The book was great and the movie was terrible. All the acting was horribly wooden.

 

[helmuth_hubener]

I was not a big fan of the movie. I thought it was watered down. For example, when Wyatt is yelling at her, Dagny tries to interrupt him and excuse herself. The real Dagny would never do that. That was the whole point of the original scene, if anyone recalls the book. She sits there and takes it and tells him he's absolutely right. The point was she'll prove herself to him by her actions, not her excuses like all the weaselly characters around her.

Anyway, I fell asleep about 2/3rds of the way through, so I'll have to watch it again. Maybe I'll like it more the second time.

I watched The Fountainhead the other day and WOW! There is a movie that's not watered down. It's amazing how much of the hard-hitting philosophical points of the book are jammed in there, yet it's not a long philosophical lecture; the plot moves along nicely. This movie is wonderful.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

I'm sad to hear "Atlas" was so watered down. I guess I'll wait till it's on DVD or teh webbernet to see it.

 

[Xenophage]

He said " They see politics as being removed from ethics," My point was he was incorrect in that. Sorry, I should have been clearer. I just woke up, and am still somewhat foggy.

Oh, right, I agree.

I never minded any kind of libertarian, personally!

 

[Xenophage]

OK, first of all, Ayn Rand is not a libertarian and vehemently despised libertarianism (for good reason). Second, Atlas Shrugged was written in the romanticist literary style, so the characters reciting long philosophical speeches is to be expected. The film, though I'm sure it is awful, probably was faithful to the novel in that regard.

In any event, it should be made known that Objectivism and libertarianism are not compatible. Objectivism is a wholly integrated philosophical system which libertarianism contradicts in many meaningful ways.

Objectivism and libertarianism are completely compatible. I consider myself both....

They agree politically. Libertarianism doesn't care how you came to it. How are they incompatible?

 

[Xenophage]

I'm sad to hear "Atlas" was so watered down. I guess I'll wait till it's on DVD or teh webbernet to see it.

It sucks dude. It was lame.

 

[cindy25]

I'm sad to hear "Atlas" was so watered down. I guess I'll wait till it's on DVD or teh webbernet to see it.

its been on torrent for about a month

movie is ok but could have been a lot better; should have been a TV miniseries, on the level of Shogun or Taipan.

 

[Keith and stuff]

The Fountainhead is black and white, so no one cares about it It doesn't matter if it isn't watered down, it is black and white so it doesn't matter.

 

[helmuth_hubener]

The Fountainhead is black and white, so no one cares about it It doesn't matter if it isn't watered down, it is black and white so it doesn't matter.

Where's Ted Turner? Plus, if he had the technology way back in the 80s or whatever, surely it's available for just anyone by now, as a free download on download.com or something, right? Someone colorize it! This movie deserves to be seen!

 

[Xenophage]

Where's Ted Turner? Plus, if he had the technology way back in the 80s or whatever, surely it's available for just anyone by now, as a free download on download.com or something, right? Someone colorize it! This movie deserves to be seen!

I thought it was a great movie. Rand wasn't totally happy with it, and Gary Cooper later lamented that he wasn't sure how to play the main character until years later, but frankly I thought it was great. The most pro-individual movie ever made, in fact.

 

[Kludge]

I was not a big fan of the movie. I thought it was watered down. For example, when Wyatt is yelling at her, Dagny tries to interrupt him and excuse herself. The real Dagny would never do that. That was the whole point of the original scene, if anyone recalls the book. She sits there and takes it and tells him he's absolutely right. The point was she'll prove herself to him by her actions, not her excuses like all the weaselly characters around her.

Anyway, I fell asleep about 2/3rds of the way through, so I'll have to watch it again. Maybe I'll like it more the second time.

I watched The Fountainhead the other day and WOW! There is a movie that's not watered down. It's amazing how much of the hard-hitting philosophical points of the book are jammed in there, yet it's not a long philosophical lecture; the plot moves along nicely. This movie is wonderful.

It's funny. I was glad to have a distraction when I was watching Atlas Shrugged (the movie being the distraction), but I ended up doing something else halfway through Fountainhead. Atlas Shrugged definitely wasn't a great movie (between the obnoxiously blatant Dell logo placement and the strange editing when someone went missing, it was hard to immerse into), but it did make me feel a little more sympathetic toward Rand. Could just be changes I've had since reading her books. Fwiw, I quit reading Atlas Shrugged around halfway through and read the entirety of Fountainhead.

 

[Wesker1982]

I quit reading Atlas Shrugged around halfway through and read the entirety of Fountainhead.

The movie encouraged me to start reading it. I am on chapter 7 right now. It is ok but it seems kind of slow. Does it pick up at all in the next couple hundred pages?

To anyone else who has read it, is there anything to gain from it if you are already a hardcore libertarian? Just wondering because I have a long reading list of things I actually want to study (economics).

 

[ClayTrainor]

Stefans review of the movie.

 

[Jtorsella]

The movie encouraged me to start reading it. I am on chapter 7 right now. It is ok but it seems kind of slow. Does it pick up at all in the next couple hundred pages?

To anyone else who has read it, is there anything to gain from it if you are already a hardcore libertarian? Just wondering because I have a long reading list of things I actually want to study (economics).

Absolutely. I read it as a minarchist and came out of it having an ENTIRELY different view on life.
Have you gotten to the money speech yet? It gets great after that.

 

[helmuth_hubener]

To anyone else who has read it, is there anything to gain from it if you are already a hardcore libertarian? Just wondering because I have a long reading list of things I actually want to study (economics).

I first read it in 10th grade, and I felt the same way, I remember. "Isn't anyone ever going to *do* anything?" But that's called "breathtaking in its suspense", at least on the advertising on the cover. And the second time I read it, it did feel more like suspense than lack of action.

The points that Rand makes in the book, that she uses the suspense to hold your attention for, are not mainly political points. They are philosophical points, about her view of right living. Thats what this book is all about. I personally think it is worthwhile. It definitely will not teach you anything new about political philosophy if you are already a libertarian. But it has many interesting ideas about life in general, about topics outside the realm of politics.

I hope that helps!

 

[TroySmith]

The movie encouraged me to start reading it. I am on chapter 7 right now. It is ok but it seems kind of slow. Does it pick up at all in the next couple hundred pages?

To anyone else who has read it, is there anything to gain from it if you are already a hardcore libertarian? Just wondering because I have a long reading list of things I actually want to study (economics).

Yes. As much as I love Rothbard, Hayek, and reading history....there is Ayn Rand and there is everyone else. Atlas Shrugged just absolutely destroys collectivism at its very core. A lot of people who criticize rand are people who really haven't read her work and have just seen the youtube clip where she is negative towards Iran (or Iraq). Of course, even here they distort her message. She was arguing that since we were the ones who built there oil industry for them, they had no right to nationalize it. She equated it with theft. She really was pretty much a non-interventionist, but believed we had the right to protect what she believed was our property. But, I digress. The holidays are a great time to start reading the book!

 

[Xenophage]

Yes. As much as I love Rothbard, Hayek, and reading history....there is Ayn Rand and there is everyone else. Atlas Shrugged just absolutely destroys collectivism at its very core. A lot of people who criticize rand are people who really haven't read her work and have just seen the youtube clip where she is negative towards Iran (or Iraq). Of course, even here they distort her message. She was arguing that since we were the ones who built there oil industry for them, they had no right to nationalize it. She equated it with theft. She really was pretty much a non-interventionist, but believed we had the right to protect what she believed was our property. But, I digress. The holidays are a great time to start reading the book!

It was theft. The complete failure of the American government at the time to protect American property from foreign aggression was shameful.

Contrast that to our current military adventurism that serves no purpose whatsoever!

When we had a moral reason to attack Iraq, we didn't. When we lacked a moral reason, we went in with guns blazing. Hooray, America.

Rand never advocated military aggression. She did, however, advocate a strong defense, and a non-compromising attitude towards the infringement of the rights of Americans.

 

[Xenophage]

The movie encouraged me to start reading it. I am on chapter 7 right now. It is ok but it seems kind of slow. Does it pick up at all in the next couple hundred pages?

To anyone else who has read it, is there anything to gain from it if you are already a hardcore libertarian? Just wondering because I have a long reading list of things I actually want to study (economics).

There isn't anything more worth reading, and to answer your question: yes, it starts slow, but by part 2 of the novel, you're hooked.