Pre-screening "AS III"
Hi all,
I saw the first pre-screening of AS III. The version we saw was not a final product and things may change. Everyone I talked to thought it was the best of all the AS movies, by far for most people.
No spoilers
I saw the first pre-screening of AS III. The version we saw was not a final product and things may change. Everyone I talked to thought it was the best of all the AS movies, by far for most people.
No spoilers
Also enjoyed your presentation on patent law.
And while I liked Grant Bowler as Rearden, I felt Jason Beghe's portrayal was more like a self-made industrialist.
I think my favorite scene from ASp1 was the ending, where Galt, in voiceover, is luring Wyatt to Atlantis, ending with Dagny's magnificent scream (I once had that scream as my ringtone... :D)
My second favorite, I think, was Dagny confronting the union scumbag. But I did love watching the scenes of the John Galt Line running (as I watched that beautiful CGI train flash across the landscape, I kept thinking of one of my favorite catchphrases from literature, "See what free men can do").
But, in ASp2, I had many more "favorite" scenes. Of course the D'Anconia speech, of course the Rearden trial, but also Danagger's speech, Dagny at the board meeting, Dagny quitting ("I won't be a slave... or a slavedriver"), "Oh, that's quite alright; I'm the man" scene at the wedding, Jeff Allen's part was distorted and much too brief, but his attitude in the scene was wonderful ("...what's to borrow? It's *your* truck..."), Esai Morales portrayal of the tragic D'Anconia was perfect, imo.
Beghe's portrayal in AS2 was a hollywood wonderland version of what we are conditioned to look for in an industrialist leader. Rarely is a scientist (Rearden) a magnetic personality; people with that quality take the easy way and don't study science having been conditioned on the playground by followers. Bowler was closer to the book character; less a 'man of steel', more a refined 'Rearden metal.' That said, Beghe was one of few bright spots in AS2.
Francisco's speech can be awe inspiring, as it was on the 1991 audio book, but in AS2 it was lacking. Francisco is a complex character to portray on screen because to do so would take more screen time than available, but the speech in the book contains the message of AS even more than Galt's speech, and it wasn't done well enough in AS2.
The Jeff Allen scene was the worst of the entire trilogy (hopefully) and Rand was likely turning in her grave.
I think the portrayal of Cheryl was ok in AS2. She is a 'small' character in the book, but a microcosm of what happened to most of the 'good' people in the world of AS, and therefore a great opportunity for character acting if the script allows it in AS3.
Does ASIII mention Project X, and specifically the Thompson Xylophone/Harmonizer, or not?