http://www.insideredbox.com/movies/?i=4323
Good review, same material on regular and rental DVD: http://www.flix66.com/2011/12/09/movie-review-atlas-shrugged-part-one-blu-ray/
Redrant: Strongly political/ideological. You will love it or hate it depending on your leanings. I lean towards conservative
so I tended to like the story and basic plot. I haven't read the Ayn Rand books but am familiar with them and her philosophy.
The basic plot is a bit contrived. The new Reardon steel is used for "super rails". Actually, rail is a "brute force"type of thing. If there was a "super steel" it would have far more elasticity without metal fatigue. This would increase the axle weights on locomotives and rail cars not make for higher speeds of relatively light trains.
The "vultures" go really heavy on the Marxist type of dogma and language. That seems unnatural and improbable. The acting is a bit stiff and clunky at times.It isn't the acting, it is an attempt to weave the philosophical and political principles into the movie.
That said a if you have any sympathy for Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism, or if you political leaning are conservative you should enjoy the movie.
Wow! A Redbox rental that actually contains a directors commentary that I not a teaser! It also has a "making of" feature and a montage of people stating "I am John Galt!".
This is part one or three parts of the novel. John Galt isn't a main character until part three. I cheated and checked online. Basically, John Galt organizes a 'talent strike" where the best and brightest "drop out".
We do have that paradox, that I know well, were at least some of the "talent" have "chips to cash in" and get tired of the BS. Individually, it isn't noticed much. The term "genius" is way overused. Where we are likely to see it is in areas like medical care, specifically doctors if we get "Obama-care" style socialized medicine.
Starting in the 1970's there was a big push to get more women into medicine. Today, nearly two thirds of medical school students are women. Overall this is a good thing. Women make the majority of visits to doctors, either for themselves, children or as part of elder-care.
Women doctors tend to marry male doctors. When these marriages work, (and they often do) the doctor couple can build up a substantial "nest egg".
If the hassles get to be too large one or both can afford to retire. The baby-boomer doctor vanguard of this pushing age 60 or older. There are a lot of them.
If they quit they likely won't quit medicine completely but will instead go into some sort of extra cost "boutique" practice. This will hurt the poor the most. Greg
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I started "Fountainhead," completing about one-third, but couldn't finish: too tedious, convoluted. I may go back and try finishing it.
"Atlas Shrugged": got about half-way through but the continual anti-Marxist dialogue was tedious. I got the point by the 100th page. The dialogue seemed unlikely. I won't go back to finish it; too depressing. Every time Dagny came up with a solution, she was thwarted by regulations. One can only take too much; and, perhaps the point.
I am a voracious reader, so if I can't finish her best-known books, I doubt many of those who call themselves readers have actually read either of these books.
Your points about medicine have been noted by others. Most docs talk about getting out because of hassles, but they work themselves into an income level they can't leave; and their skills are not transferable. So, lots of talk about getting out, but it's the rare physician that actually leaves, except the married couples, as you suggest perhaps, but married physicians are still a very, very small subset.
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