‘Atlas Shrugged’ Trailer Has a Bunch of People Yelling About the Railroad Industry (Video)

By on February 19, 2011 in News 30

Atlas ShruggedYes, Ayn Rand’s book has been turned into a movie. As Cyriaque Lamar writes on io9.com:

Whatever your feelings happen to be about Objectivism, this isn’t a particularly effective trailer. Sure, it’s jam-packed with lines that ooze significance if you’ve soldiered through the book’s 90,000 pages, but for those audience members who don’t know Ayn Rand from Emo Phillips, it’s a movie about a bunch of randoms angry about Amtrak or yammering about metallurgy or something.

What’s your verdict? Can anything be salvaged here, or will this be an objective stinker?

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  • mrtastycakes

    There was never anything to salvage.

    http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/222482/big-sister-watching-you/flashback?page=1

    (From former Soviet spy turned conservative editor, Whittaker Chambers, when the book was released. Three pages far better than any and every one of Rand’s books.)

  • mrtastycakes

    There was never anything to salvage.

    http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/222482/big-sister-watching-you/flashback?page=1

    (From former Soviet spy turned conservative editor, Whittaker Chambers, when the book was released. Three pages far better than any and every one of Rand’s books.)

  • that1guy

    Decent b-list actors, decent cinematography, based on a book by a sociopath… meh… I’ll probably see it.

  • that1guy

    Decent b-list actors, decent cinematography, based on a book by a sociopath… meh… I’ll probably see it.

  • Guest

    I thought you don’t post adverts for stuff? this is a trailer for a movie, not news.

  • Guest

    I thought you don’t post adverts for stuff? this is a trailer for a movie, not news.

    • GuessYouAreAGuest

      Only a “Guest” to this site would ask suck a dumb question…

    • Godozo

      As much impact as that book has had on American society (and world society, by extension), this has more right to be on this page than some other stuff. And that’s saying a lot.

      Ever read the book? I did, and it’s still sending tremors through me…never mind that I read at the ripe old age of 20 (it’s more aimed at teens, believe it or not) and totally disagree with the vast majority of what that old bag said.

  • GuessYouAreAGuest

    Only a “Guest” to this site would ask suck a dumb question…

  • Godozo

    As much impact as that book has had on American society (and world society, by extension), this has more right to be on this page than some other stuff. And that’s saying a lot.

    Ever read the book? I did, and it’s still sending tremors through me…never mind that I read at the ripe old age of 20 (it’s more aimed at teens, believe it or not) and totally disagree with the vast majority of what that old bag said.

  • Godozo

    Looks like whomever made the movie has been able to extract enough of the plot to make an intriguing thriller, albeit a B-Movie thriller. Not only that, but the director seems to have fleshed out the heroes enough (if you trust the trailer – although John Galt seems to have been made paper-thin by the need to keep him “mysterious”) to make us at least want to root for them.

    Whether the producer is able to make it enough of a thriller to have people want to see the other two parts (yes, there’s a trilogy planned) is another issue. I’m sure there’s enough people willing to watch all three movies based of the fact of AYN RAND, but I’m sure much of the first film’s audiences will be people waiting to see if the art’s good enough to follow through to the end. And art it will have to be to keep all but those who never grew beyond Atlas Shrugged watching.

    An interesting aside: Ayn Rand had written the screenplay for The Fountainhead movie and was able to get it film without any changes in the script. While it failed as a straight piece, it has survived as a truly funny/bad classic – a judgment which had been given to me by a couple of close friends as well as from reviews not tied to when the movie came out.

  • Godozo

    Looks like whomever made the movie has been able to extract enough of the plot to make an intriguing thriller, albeit a B-Movie thriller. Not only that, but the director seems to have fleshed out the heroes enough (if you trust the trailer – although John Galt seems to have been made paper-thin by the need to keep him “mysterious”) to make us at least want to root for them.

    Whether the producer is able to make it enough of a thriller to have people want to see the other two parts (yes, there’s a trilogy planned) is another issue. I’m sure there’s enough people willing to watch all three movies based of the fact of AYN RAND, but I’m sure much of the first film’s audiences will be people waiting to see if the art’s good enough to follow through to the end. And art it will have to be to keep all but those who never grew beyond Atlas Shrugged watching.

    An interesting aside: Ayn Rand had written the screenplay for The Fountainhead movie and was able to get it film without any changes in the script. While it failed as a straight piece, it has survived as a truly funny/bad classic – a judgment which had been given to me by a couple of close friends as well as from reviews not tied to when the movie came out.

  • 5by5

    Here’s what’s hilarious about this.

    This is a movie based on a book written by a total hero of the Wrongwing, Ayn Rand, that’s all about folks trying to build a railroad.

    Meanwhile, the Medicare fraudster, Tea Party wingnut, corporate hack, and now governor of Flahrida, Rick Scott, is busy trying to kill a highspped railroad that would have linked up the state, brought in thousands of seriously badly-needed jobs, and which had the full participation of private industry who had agreed to help fund it in a real public-private partnership that would improve the environment by reducing automobile traffic, and reduced highway conjestion.

    And he’s not the only Con who’s pulling this crap. Some moron in (I think) Ohio or one of those other Northeast states (maybe it was rail between Michigan and Wisconsin – sorry can remember off the top of my head), who anyhow has a new Teabagger governor who’s also refusing already approved federal money to build high-speed rail in his state too.

    So California is going to take the money those idiots rejected, create more jobs, and build high-speed rail from San Francisco, to Sacramento, to L.A.

    Once again, the Left Coast wins.

  • 5by5

    Here’s what’s hilarious about this.

    This is a movie based on a book written by a total hero of the Wrongwing, Ayn Rand, that’s all about folks trying to build a railroad.

    Meanwhile, the Medicare fraudster, Tea Party wingnut, corporate hack, and now governor of Flahrida, Rick Scott, is busy trying to kill a highspped railroad that would have linked up the state, brought in thousands of seriously badly-needed jobs, and which had the full participation of private industry who had agreed to help fund it in a real public-private partnership that would improve the environment by reducing automobile traffic, and reduced highway conjestion.

    And he’s not the only Con who’s pulling this crap. Some moron in (I think) Ohio or one of those other Northeast states (maybe it was rail between Michigan and Wisconsin – sorry can remember off the top of my head), who anyhow has a new Teabagger governor who’s also refusing already approved federal money to build high-speed rail in his state too.

    So California is going to take the money those idiots rejected, create more jobs, and build high-speed rail from San Francisco, to Sacramento, to L.A.

    Once again, the Left Coast wins.

    • Godozo

      The New Ohio Governor shouted so much about how rail is dead that the government preemptively took back their money they gave for high-speed rail between Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. I’ve read that he’s got his eyes on closing down the Cleveland Subway and Light Rail lines.

      The New Wisconsin Governor has gone into a slash-and-burn, not only killing off High Speed Rail (and losing a major Bombadier factory that originally came with the Milwaukee/Madison route) but has also gone into multiple wars against unions. Right now there’s a hundred thousand pro-union folks there…but it looks like they’ll get their “no bargaining allowed” rule passed (Wisconsin went REALLY Red this election).

      Michigan has yet to accept the government money…probably because they don’t really have any money. But with the radical right holding all the power (only Detroit, Flint and Saginaw are actively Democrat, and they’re actively collapsing) one only wonders if they’re going on automatic pilot (having actually supported their Amtrak lines for years).

      Iowa also hasn’t accepted their rail money yet, probably looking ahead to a Republican sodomization of the Pseudo-Democratic Party in less than two years and the issue of having partly rebuilt their rail to where it just means faster freight for a few years. Can’t blame them, to be honest.

      Which leaves Indiana, whose governor (despite efforts to try to create a self-funding transit authority in Northwest Indiana – an action which has been ACTIVELY OPPOSED by the locals who still dream of the death of the South Shore Line), has never supported Rapid Transit Rail and is feeling very vindicated at the moment.

      And Florida…he’s acting behind the curve of his fellow governors, having waited until he got into office to act.

      Which leaves Illinois, whose presently being threatened with vengeance for trying to be responsible towards their people and employees, who are building their Chicago/St. Louis line mainly because it’s fully within the state. And I fear that in two years it will be left half-finished and used as a bypass for fast-moving freight.

      Don’t ask me about the Eastern Seaboard, as I don’t know. Does appear that the Tunnel to Penn Station will happen, though not necessarily as first planned.

      And California…when you can build the line between San Francisco and San Jose (presently known as the NIMBY line) you can gloat. The Line from Nowhere to Nowhere is a start…but it won’t be nothing but a white elephant without connections to LA, and/or the bergs up north. Heck, even making the Tehachapi tunnel would be a major success.

      So I’ll wait to see if it gets built.

      (and just so you know: I hope to see it built)

    • Madmanmikey

      I think it was my state, Wisconsin. But screw the railroad – Scott Walker is on to bigger and better things, like busting unions.

      • quartz99

        There were a few states. Wisconsin also refused the money, but it wasn’t the only one. Being in California, I’ll just say “Hey thanks. I’m sure our small business will be happy to have the people who get paid with that money shopping in their stores”.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NLNM6ME2Y4ZAQLETRPARLMGL5E Modemac

    Let’s see here…after Angelina Jolie bowed out, they scraped together actors and made the movie on a much lower budget. Now the trailer is attempting to apply the “action thriller” cliches to what amounts to a lot of people standing around and talking. (Never mind the fact that if this is an accurate portrayal of the book, the technology involved is woefully outdated in this era of telecommunications…) I’d say “Atlas Shrugged Part 1″ (PART 1!!) is going to do for Objectivism what “Battlefield Earth” did for Scientology.

    ( Additional commentary: http://www.modemac.com/wiki/Objectivism )

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NLNM6ME2Y4ZAQLETRPARLMGL5E Modemac

    Let’s see here…after Angelina Jolie bowed out, they scraped together actors and made the movie on a much lower budget. Now the trailer is attempting to apply the “action thriller” cliches to what amounts to a lot of people standing around and talking. (Never mind the fact that if this is an accurate portrayal of the book, the technology involved is woefully outdated in this era of telecommunications…) I’d say “Atlas Shrugged Part 1″ (PART 1!!) is going to do for Objectivism what “Battlefield Earth” did for Scientology.

    ( Additional commentary: http://www.modemac.com/wiki/Objectivism )

  • Andrew

    John Galt is a vampire.

  • Andrew

    John Galt is a vampire.

  • Godozo

    The New Ohio Governor shouted so much about how rail is dead that the government preemptively took back their money they gave for high-speed rail between Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. I’ve read that he’s got his eyes on closing down the Cleveland Subway and Light Rail lines.

    The New Wisconsin Governor has gone into a slash-and-burn, not only killing off High Speed Rail (and losing a major Bombadier factory that originally came with the Milwaukee/Madison route) but has also gone into multiple wars against unions. Right now there’s a hundred thousand pro-union folks there…but it looks like they’ll get their “no bargaining allowed” rule passed (Wisconsin went REALLY Red this election).

    Michigan has yet to accept the government money…probably because they don’t really have any money. But with the radical right holding all the power (only Detroit, Flint and Saginaw are actively Democrat, and they’re actively collapsing) one only wonders if they’re going on automatic pilot (having actually supported their Amtrak lines for years).

    Iowa also hasn’t accepted their rail money yet, probably looking ahead to a Republican sodomization of the Pseudo-Democratic Party in less than two years and the issue of having partly rebuilt their rail to where it just means faster freight for a few years. Can’t blame them, to be honest.

    Which leaves Indiana, whose governor (despite efforts to try to create a self-funding transit authority in Northwest Indiana – an action which has been ACTIVELY OPPOSED by the locals who still dream of the death of the South Shore Line), has never supported Rapid Transit Rail and is feeling very vindicated at the moment.

    And Florida…he’s acting behind the curve of his fellow governors, having waited until he got into office to act.

    Which leaves Illinois, whose presently being threatened with vengeance for trying to be responsible towards their people and employees, who are building their Chicago/St. Louis line mainly because it’s fully within the state. And I fear that in two years it will be left half-finished and used as a bypass for fast-moving freight.

    Don’t ask me about the Eastern Seaboard, as I don’t know. Does appear that the Tunnel to Penn Station will happen, though not necessarily as first planned.

    And California…when you can build the line between San Francisco and San Jose (presently known as the NIMBY line) you can gloat. The Line from Nowhere to Nowhere is a start…but it won’t be nothing but a white elephant without connections to LA, and/or the bergs up north. Heck, even making the Tehachapi tunnel would be a major success.

    So I’ll wait to see if it gets built.

    (and just so you know: I hope to see it built)

  • Alturn

    I read Ayn Rand in my early twenties along with Forbes magazine. It’s a stage to go through and transcend on the way to discovering that being human is more than being selfish and self-centered.

  • Alturn

    I read Ayn Rand in my early twenties along with Forbes magazine. It’s a stage to go through and transcend on the way to discovering that being human is more than being selfish and self-centered.

  • Madmanmikey

    I think it was my state, Wisconsin. But screw the railroad – Scott Walker is on to bigger and better things, like busting unions.

  • Anonymous

    There were a few states. Wisconsin also refused the money, but it wasn’t the only one. Being in California, I’ll just say “Hey thanks. I’m sure our small business will be happy to have the people who get paid with that money shopping in their stores”.

  • quartz99

    Well, when I tried to read this book (know your enemy and all that), I couldn’t make it through the first chapter because it was so boring and poorly written. This coming from someone who reads the dictionary and encyclopedias for fun. Glad to see the movie is living down to the standard set by the book by also looking like something I’d be more likely to flip to on the tv when I’m having insomnia and need something to put me to sleep.

    I admit though, I want to see this movie fail, and fail spectacularly. Can you think of anything funnier than going to a Randite and saying “The market has spoken! Ayn Rand is out!”

  • Anonymous

    Well, when I tried to read this book (know your enemy and all that), I couldn’t make it through the first chapter because it was so boring and poorly written. This coming from someone who reads the dictionary and encyclopedias for fun. Glad to see the movie is living down to the standard set by the book by also looking like something I’d be more likely to flip to on the tv when I’m having insomnia and need something to put me to sleep.

    I admit though, I want to see this movie fail, and fail spectacularly. Can you think of anything funnier than going to a Randite and saying “The market has spoken! Ayn Rand is out!”

  • Threedinium

    Hollywood – polishing turds since 1920.

  • Threedinium

    Hollywood – polishing turds since 1920.