The question isn't whois going to let me;

it's who is going to stop me." - Ayn Rand

That quote probably embodies the spirit behind the new Atlas Shrugged movie better than anything from the book actually.

The director and producers didn't have a studio, didn't have actors, didn't have a distribution network, didn't have any of the normal resources required to make and distribute a movie.

They did it anyway. And it's good.

Other than Armin Shimerman I didn't recognize a single actor in the movie. And it didn't matter, because they were good. Taylor Schilling does a great job as Dagny; Graham Beckel (he's had bit parts in Castle and Battlestar Galactica) is outstanding as Ellis Wyatt.

The pacing is a touch slow, but it's meant to be an epic, so that expected. The score is outstanding. Frankly Elia Cmiral deserves an Oscar for the score. He won't get it, but he deserves it.

The biggest problem with the movie - it's "Part 1" of 3. Much like The Fellowship of the Ring, it feels unfinished. And of course it's a rather depressing film because it is only the first 3rd of the book. The movie ends on the iconic scene of Wyatt Oil's burning fields.

I left it as I found it
Take Over
It's Yours

I've always loved that scene...

At $10 million to make the film, and earnings of $2.5 mil in the first week (with only 299 screens) I predict that this movie will be a modest success under the traditional criteria; i.e. it will make it's nut.

On the other hand, we are talking about a book that 50 years after it was published is number 1, 2, and 3 on Amazon.com's political literature best seller's list. (1 and 2 have different introductions, 3 is the audiobook). Thus I predict over 1-million sales of the DVD when it comes out.

I also predict that this is the movie that, like Silence of the Lambs did for Jodi Foster, will make Taylor Schilling a star.