Yes, recall how Dr Stadtler head of the State Science Inst. says he used to think he was top of the field in physics. Then he says he cannot be now as the he has not disappeared .

Not to harp (and I know all about the loooong reading list), but reading Atlas would tie all those loose ends together nice and neat for you. It DOES makes sense, I promise. I wouldn't recommend any book more strongly than AS either.

Keep in mind the story is mildly sci-fi and the movie is staying true to the book. The generator they found doesn't exist today either. The story is going to get into another futuristic element with Project-X, and possibly an interesting way to destroy a research lab in 5 seconds without thermite. But rest assured, the sci-fi elements are only there to establish that these men are smarter than the average bear - the story isn't about the tech, per-se.

Thanks for all your help and "hints". Unfortunately my to do reading list is already very long. I just think the movie would be better as a mystery/suspense all along than a sudden switch to what appears to be sci-fi. Understand Rand wrote in the fifties but in the present day, all the smart guys in the world can't arrange that kind of technology. Maybe it would have been better to put the scene in part III. (I never like surprise out of the blue endings).'
Can't wait to see Part III. Hope she prevails.

It will most likely be explained in part III...but why wait til next Summer to find out... reading the book will answer your questions...and many many more that you probably don't even know you have. :) ("Realville"...hittin' the nail on the head there, njlarry.)

Well, I don't know if you saw part 1, but one of the things that's been going on in the background of P1 and P2 is the disappearance of certain individuals. Dagny is chasing one of these individuals that is in the act of disappearing...by following that advanced aircraft (a little too advanced by modern standards...keep that in mind too). What she goes through before she crashes and just where she is after the crash is supposed to be somewhat of a mystery to you at this point in the story. Just know that she's there because she followed someone that was in the process of disappearing.

I have not studied Rand but as everything was "realville" up to that point, I think much of the audience was thinking what's going on?

Telling you the answer would be ... SPOILERS!

However, I'll drop a hint. The men that have been disappearing are the top men in their fields - including science. Remember how the State Science Institute has no idea who could have built that generator? All the men who really know top-tier physics are gone. What you are witnessing is another creation that the rest of the world could not understand how to construct - it has been constructed by one of these men for a good reason.

No I haven't read it. I ask the question as a movie goer.

It wasn't a time warp. Did you read AS?