Based on Ayn Rand’s divisive but still widely celebrated novel, Atlas Shrugged took nearly forty years to reach the screen; going through various treatments and proposals. In 1992, investor and producer John Aglialoro bought the film rights. John Aglialoro suffered many false starts with several major studios. Fed up, and faced with the fast approaching expiration of his option on the source material, Aglialoro decided to get the film funded outside of the Hollywood system. While his independent spirit is admirable, the result—Atlas Shrugged: Part I—the first installment of a proposed trilogy, is a bland and disjointed experience.
In 2016 America, the country is in the midst of an economic and political collapse at the hands of failed collectivist policies. With fuel at nearly $40 a gallon, rail transportation has become the most economic means of travel. As a result, Transcontinental Railway has the chance to become the industry leader if some of its rundown lines can be replaced with new steel rails. Co-CEOs of Taggert, Dagny (Taylor Schilling) and James (Matthew Marsden) Taggert, have very different ideas about how to get the lines replaced. James wants to turn to the government. He already has deals in place with U.S. government-approved foundries that have been promising to supply the rails for months but have not yet delivered. Dagny seeks out Henry Rearden (Grant Bowler) who’s Rearden Steel has developed a new steel alloy that’s stronger, lighter, and more economical than traditional steel. She makes a deal to replace a three hundred-mile stretch of track with the new steel. The catch: she has to leave the company and start her own line which she christens the “John Galt Line.” Given James’ strong connections to the government, he and other industry bigwigs such as Orren Boyle (Jon Polito) and Wesley Mouch (Michael Lerner) can’t afford to see Dagny succeed, but succeed she does. However, the U.S government and steel lobbyists while recognizing that the lighter, stronger Rearden Metal has a clear advance in metallurgy, nonetheless unjustly deem it dangerous so as to preserve “equality” in the industry. Predictably, the railroad engineers union follows suit and refuses to drive on tracks made from the unproven metal matrix. The message is clear—industry good, government bad, business owners good, unions bad.
Like Rand’s writing, the film the film, written by Brian Patrick O’Toole, indulges in countless long passages about objectivism. All of these speeches are written in the kind of language that people rarely use in real life (“What’s with these stupid altruistic urges,” Dagny says. “It’s not charitable or fair.”). The embodiment of these beliefs is the mysterious John Galt—so much so we only see him in silhouette. Propped up as a paragon of business, he seems to be recruiting the best and brightest business minds to join him in a strike, to prove once and for all that society’s success is predicated on the unregulated freedom of its “productive” citizens. Whatever the case, he’s a near mythical figure; his name is on everyone’s lips. People repeatedly phrase his name in the form of a question—”Who is John Galt?”—and the statement becomes the standard sarcastic reply to any situation that has no readily discernable solution. After watching Atlas Shrugged: Part I, if you were to ask me who he is, I’d have to say, who cares?
Atlas Shrugged: Part I is a clunky and rushed film that fails to engage or entertain viewers. The filmmakers are so concerned with communicating their objectivism message that they fail to develop a solid plot or characters. While some may enjoy this film, Ayn Rand’s biggest fans may be disappointed by the overall result.
The film’s Panavision 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio is faithfully delivered in a 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. Color is suitably rich with accurate flesh tones throughout. Contrast is nicely dialed which assures excellent sharpness with good details seen in facial features and in clothes and other objects. Black levels aren’t the best and there is some crush in shadow details during darker scenes.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix does fairly good job with extending the soundstage with impressive aural design. Dialogue is easily discernible. Elia Cmiral’s score gets excellent spread through the fronts and rears continuously during the movie. Split sound effects are also usually quite well done with panning through the soundstage frequent as the trains go to and from their destinations. Occasionally, however, the pans don’t occur even with the trains moving across the screen making the use of the effects somewhat erratic. Bass is used well throughout giving the LFE channel something to do at frequent intervals.
English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available.
The following special features are included:
- Audio Commentary: Producers John Aglialoro and Harmon Kaslow, along with writer Brian Patrick O’Toole, give a rather informative account of how the film came together.
- Road to Atlas Shrugged (1080p, 5:13): Executive producer John Aglialoro gives a brief background to Ayn Rand and objectivism and discusses the process of obtaining the rights to the novel and producing the film.
- I Am John Galt (SD, 35:11): The film’s online marketer came up with the idea to have Ayn Rand fans film themselves saying “I am John Galt” and post it to the movie’s YouTube page. Edited together, the result is this half-hour montage, which, frankly, is really creepy.
- The John Galt Theme Slideshow (SD, 3:39): Stills from the film set to the film’s main theme.
