I'm sure that chair has appeared in many productions before Atlas Shrugged Part 2.

Disney owns "the Atlas chair" ? (Now there's a question I never expected to utter.)

Well said :) So many Americans don't realize (or care) that it is their responsibility to pay attention to what the government is up to. They think nothing the gov does really affects them. I'm afraid to think what it would take for them to wake up and take notice.

That chair is owned by Disney.

We had 16 in our theater and I don't think one of them was under 45 yo. As for the speaches I agree. But as with all things cinema you only have so much time so something must be cut. I'd have to go back and re-read the story to see how much of the meat of the messages were lost. I agree the main points were made but with todays society I wonder if the points needed the additional boost the longer speeches would have given. With our country's current situation I think it time for people to start thinking about and reading this story. And I mean read it. I got so much more out of the reading than I did from the movies. We are in a crisis that has been caused as much by the American people as the politicians we put into office. I say this because we have let those same politicians become powerful beyond what the Constitution allows, we've been too busy in our own lives and being more concerned about the little things in our lives and have left them alone to do as they wish. If we don't get a better hold on them and give them a good shake to let them know we are awake and watching them we are doomed to losing our country. This film, mpre than any other, is extremely pertinent to our situation today. I think it should be a required "go see" by civics and government teachers in the schools. Show the students what they can lose by too much government intervention. Overall I enjoyed the movie and can't wait for part 3. I wish they would sell a longer (and I don't mean 5 minutes longer) version for home viewing; a version that has the longer speaches and some of the more important messages. When this series of movies comes out in video though, I will be buying it. I think Ayn Rand was so far ahead of her time that she was grossly misunderstood and dismissed. If more people in the 50s had paid attention to her then we wouldn't be having the problems we are having now.

I also kept my ticket stub to trade for movie props! ;-)

1st. @ BigJim & SDesapio: Auction off the Adirondack chair! Based on the posts for this critique, it should finance all of AS part III! ;-)

2nd. @ LetsShrug: I saw it opening weekend on Saturday and took 6 family and friends with me in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. There were about 20 in the theatre at the 7:30 show and the ticket taker who knows me as a regular said there was a decent amount of activity for AS-II.

I was sporting my Danneskjöld Repossessions pirate shirt and educating people on the third brilliant student!

I like the quality of the production and the actors are fine.

All-in-all I agree with your critique. I’m not as picky about the actors as you are being.

All of us should keep spreading the word! Don't forget to tell your friends that part I is on Netflix streaming and then get them to go to the theatre for part II.

Although I was worried about change in characters, my husband and I were pleasantly surprised. Love them! Going to see Atlas Shrugged II for the third time tomorrow night. Trying to get the word out, but liberals just roll their eyes. Their loss!

JOHN GALT'S AIRPLANE!! I want one! (never mind that I hate flying. It's just so very cool)

Critiques of the movie:

The ONE PART of each speech that I wanted to hear and wasn't there:

Francisco: the part about if you see producers having ask permission from those who produce nothing...
Rearden: I will not apologize for my wealth, etc.
Didn't "get" Dagny throwing everything out, and she wasn't upset enough when she ran back to TT
Wedding - Cheryl needed a veil, and there was no screaming exit of the guests
Can't decide which James Taggart I like (hate) more in each movie. The one in Part 1 was a smarmy weasel. The Part 2 James was a smarmy weasel. But taller. :-)
Liked Michael Lerner better as Wesley Mouch. Although this guy looks the part.
Also liked Pt 1's Eddie better.

What I liked and what had to "massaged" for the movie:
The tunnel crash. The kid was great.
Jeff Allen - perfect setup with the truck
Also liked the fact that Dagny took the truck and had to fill it with gas. Yikes!
Liked this Dagny much, much better. More natural acting, looked more like a serious businesswoman.
A better Francisco would have been Eduardo Verastegui (sp?). Just a matter of personal taste, because Esai Morales was great.



Can't wait for Part III so that I can get the complete DVD set with deleted scenes and all. Just sayin'.

All in all,

I went to the first showing on opening day and, yes, sadly, the theater was almost empty. However, what WAS interesting was that there was a couple sitting behind me (whom I found somewhat annoying as they were whispering throughout). It turned out that they had neither read the book nor seen Part I, and, although a bit confused, really like the show. They had heard about it on Hannity the night before.

The great thing was the opportunity to discuss with them the power of reading the book and seeing Part I. We talked about the premise of both the book and the Objectivist philosophy. And I believe we have some new converts.

Now about the film, itself. On the whole it was well done. But I have a major bone to pick about certain casting.

First, in both movies, the actors who played Francisco were simply not believable either as the scion of the multi-generational aristocratic builders and owners of a multinational mining empire nor an aristocratic, Euro trash playboy. The first one looked like a drug dealer (although he did project more personality than Esai Morales). Morales simply had no charisma, which, if there is one thing that would characterize Francisco, it is a powerful charisma that makes him impossible to ignore even when behaving like a worthless playboy.

Even worse, the combination of a weak Francisco and very poor editing of the money speech totally wasted what was potentially a powerful moment in the film. It was simply not believable that anyone in the room would be affected in any way by that speech.

I also disagree with LetsShrug's assessment of the casting of Lillian Reardon. Lillian in Part I was a strong, cold, and fierce woman with an elegant mask and a definite agenda when it came to Hank.

In Part II, Lillian was a whining, bimbo whom one could not believe would EVER have attracted Hank Reardon. Since the character plays such a pivotal role in Part III, Kim Rhodes took away all of the character's power needed to play out the role and Lillian's agenda. Kim Rhodes' Lillian isn't smart enough much less vicious enough to set out to destroy anyone nor try to take alternate vengance when she is unable to destroy him.

Jason Beghe gave a very strong performance as Hank, but I missed Taylor Schilling's exterior toughness and inner passion in Dagny. Although Samantha Mathis did a credible job of Dagny, she appears too vulnerable and soft and more likely to be manipulatable and not fully capable of taking control of what happens to her.

I also have to agree with LetsShrug about the "cleaning" scene. Was that what she was doing? Was she throwing everything out? Or merely moving out temporarily. I don't know if the problem with this was in the screenplay or directorial weakness. There didn't seem to be any explanation for what she was doing, especially with the way she tossed out the chair. Now I am not a particular fan of Adirondak chairs, but if she was throwing out all the furniture, what was she going to sit on inside? If one has read the book, one understands what is going on, but that was certainly not played out on the screen, and, yet, here again, this is an important event in the story. But in the film it has lost its power.

I'm sure it appears from my criticisms that I did not like the film. In fact that is not the case. I did like it; I only wished it had lived up to what I know could have been spectacularly wonderful. All the scenes I have criticized are powerfully dramatic in the book. They were not so much so in the film. But all in all, I'd rather have a film even with justifiable criticisms than no film at all. And I look forward to see what is done with Part 3!

And, of course, it is critically important to have these films to introduce new generations to a concept usually unheard of in film - not all businessmen are corrupt and evil. And that what we have in this country is no longer the capitlism that built this great nation, but a nation of crony-capitalists, looters, and moochers who are destroying what real capitalists have built!

Also, just maybe, these films might inspire people to read not only Atlas Shrugged, but Rand's other works, including her essays and commentaries. Not only is she a powerful writer, her ideas set standards for what it means to be a human being.

Wow! You left the Great American Beer Fest? Now there's a true fan.

I was at the Great American Beer Fest in Denver last weekend. I slipped away on Friday and saw it around noon. It was awesome. I loved all the new actors. It was a little weird at first, but totally fun. The friend I went with asked, "Why did they get new actors?" I said, "Because they are capitalists, and they could afford it." He thought it was a good point. LOL Great Job on the movies! -Cheers

I went to see AS2 on a Friday night in a suburb of Chicago. There were maybe 20 people in the audience. I've been waiting for this movie for 40 years, so of course I was disappointed, mostly with the casting. Like TexasLadyJuanita, I had some very high expectations. I have been picturing an Antonio Banderas type as Francisco, a Dagny with the drama of Susan Hayward, and a John Galt with the stoicism of Gary Cooper. I wonder who Ayn Rand would have chosen for the parts.

Saw it opening Saturday at 7PM. Theater full ... in the Peoples Republic of Santa Cruz county. Maybe there's hope yet ...

I suspect she'd be Dagny for a pittance. :)

Got a hundred million or so to spend on salaries, do you?
Just joking, but finding actors you can afford, talented, available and willing could be another task for Atlas.

LOL And you would cast yourself as Dagny. :)

After I posted my comment, I scanned everything above it. I think it would be awesome to do it all again- A television mini-series the size of North and South. The message would reach so many if it were done well. BUT, you really need for me to pick your cast. I am positive I would do it better. :)

I had the same thought about the Adirondack chair. I wish part I had the part II actors. The guy playing Frisco wasn't elegant enough. Frisco would be elegant even on a slippery surface chucking clay into a fire. For those of us who read Atlas the first time 40 years ago (only novel I have read more than once) we have had characters firmly in our head for a long time. When I read it in '70 I had a young Ricardo Montalban in the movie in my head as Frisco. Probably because of The Fountainhead, Gary Cooper has always been Hank.. An older Gable is Midas. Of course I was Dagny. Interestingly Galt was always someone I had never met or seen - total imagination for me. We saw the movie on the opening day in the afternoon. Sadly there were not very many in the theater. I live in a suburb city outside Houston. I am sure most were at work. My husband and I are retired, and so was everyone else in the theater.

And when I wrote this I was a little scared I'd be the only one who noticed the chair. (I think you're the 6th so far who noticed too....at least on this page). So glad I'm not alone in my strange observances. :)

I saw that Adirondack Chair and thought the same thing. After seeing part II, I went on Netflixs and watch part ! again. I really am enjoying seeing Ayn Rand philosophy come alive. I have read almost everything she has written. Just love the movie.

Oh Holy Cats! This post made it in the "Hot in the Gulch" segment of the Atlas II Behind the Scenes Email???? Bahahahahaha! Gotta love the Gulch :)

I hope there is enough money for part 3. Part 2 was a lot of fun. I loved the plane ride.

Mooch, ...WHO is voting you down? lol

The problem with marketing the ideas of Atlas Shrugged is the same problem faced by the American political write. Liberals and Democrats have made their ideas sexy and associated with you. The only definition of "the man" kids accept is economic--companies trying to sell to them. So, when kids embrace their rebellious streak and fight for freedom, they fight the system, which they see as capitalism. (The error here is that capitalism is an economic theory, not a political system.)

Personally I think "objectivism" needs to focus on (marketing wise) how individualism and reason maximize your personal happiness, not capitalism and limited government. The latter follow from the former, and the former is more appealing on a personal level.