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Atlas Shrugged: Part II

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Atlas Shrugged: Part II
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Putch
Screenplay byDuke Sandefur
Brian Patrick O'Toole
Duncan Scott
Produced byHarmon Kaslow
John Aglialoro
Jeff Freilich
StarringSamantha Mathis
Jason Beghe
Esai Morales
Patrick Fabian
Kim Rhodes
CinematographyRoss Berryman
Edited byJohn Gilbert
Music byChris P. Bacon
Production
company
Either Or Productions
Distributed byAtlas Distribution Company
Release date
  • October 12, 2012 (2012-10-12)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million[citation needed]
Box office$3,286,255

Atlas Shrugged: Part II (or Atlas Shrugged: Part II: The Strike [1]) is a film based on the novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It is a sequel to the 2011 film Atlas Shrugged: Part I, continuing the story where its predecessor left off.[2]

It was announced on the film's Facebook page on July 4, 2012 and the film was released on October 12, 2012.

Plot

The film begins with a flashforward in which Dagny Taggart pilots an airplane in pursuit of another plane. Dagny asks herself, "Who is John Galt?" before crashing into a mountainside.

Eight months earlier, Dagny is trying to understand the abandoned prototype of an advanced motor she and Hank Rearden found. Quentin Daniels, the only capable scientist who has not yet joined a mysterious wave of disappearances (covered in the first movie), agrees to help her from an abandoned laboratory in Utah.

Dagny's brother James Taggart, president of the family railroad, meets store clerk Cherryl Brooks and brings her to see a pianist, who disappears during his performance, leaving a note asking, "Who is John Galt?" Later, during the wedding of James and Cherryl, Dagny's friend Francisco d'Anconia argues with other guests about whether money is evil, and secretly informs Rearden about a devastating explosion at his copper mine—the next day. Rearden spends that night with his paramour Dagny. Later, he is confronted about the affair by his wife Lillian, who refuses to grant him a divorce in order to maintain her position in society.

Rearden sells his advanced Rearden Metal to Ken Danagger's coal mining company, and refuses to sell it to the government, in defiance of the newly enacted "Fair Share" law that forces businesses to sell to all buyers. The two are charged under the law. Dagny barges into Danagger's office, realizes that he too is about to disappear, and understands that she is close to understanding the force behind the disappearances. At trial, Rearden defends the pursuit of profit and is given only a token penalty by the court when it sees that the crowd supports him. However, the government announces "Directive 10-289", which freezes employment and production, and which requires all patent rights to be gifted to the government. Bureaucrat Wesley Mouch blackmails Rearden into giving up his Rearden Metal patents, using photos of Rearden and Dagny that would damage Dagny's reputation.

Dagny leaves her post at the railroad when her prized John Galt line is disassembled due to lack of business. During her absence, a Taggart Transcontinental train collides with a military train in a tunnel, due largely to political pressure by a passenger and to human error by Dagny's poorly-trained replacement. This impels Dagny back to her job. D'Anconia tries to dissuade her from returning, as he had earlier tried to talk Rearden into leaving his business, but she returns anyway.

Dagny takes a train to Colorado to show her faith in the railway, but its engine fails. The repair technician used to work for 20th Century Motor, which produced the motor Dagny found. He tells Dagny how the need-based reward system in his company failed, and his coworker John Galt left the company to "stop the motor of the world." Dagny calls Daniels, who tells her that he is quitting. Dagny buys a small airplane and flies to Utah to try to dissuade him, but as she is landing, she sees him get into a plane on the airstrip.

After a pursuit in the air—the opening scene of the film—Dagny's plane crashes in a valley hidden by stealth technology. Dagny crawls to the edge of her crashed plane, where she is greeted by John Galt.

As the screen fades, a quote from the Atlas Shrugged novel is displayed.

Cast

See also: List of Atlas Shrugged characters

Production

Despite the box office failure of Atlas Shrugged: Part I, a private debt sale in early 2012 raised $16 million of the $25 million the producers sought,[4] enabling a budget larger than that of the first film. The production company announced that Part 2 would be released to coincide with the U.S. general election season in fall 2012.[2]

Duncan Scott, who in 1986 was responsible for creating a new, re-edited version of the 1942 Italian film adaptation of Ayn Rand's novel We the Living with English subtitles, joined the production team.[5]

The production company for the second film, Either Or Productions, LLC, is taken from the name, Either-Or, that Rand gave to the middle ten chapters of her novel. An April press release stated the name of the film as Atlas Shrugged, Part 2: Either Or.[6]

Principal photography began on April 2, 2012 with an all-new cast, including Samantha Mathis as the heroine Dagny Taggart, Jason Beghe as the industrialist Henry Rearden, and Esai Morales as the playboy Francisco d'Anconia.[6] Producer John Aglialoro has implied that hiring the cast of Part I for the sequel exceeded the movie's budget, saying "it’s hard to lock people down", and also noting that Taylor Schilling, the actress who played Dagny in Part I, is "a bona fide movie star now".[7] According to a report before the film was released, the film was to be on a 31-day shooting schedule, four days more than that of the first movie, and to undergo two months of post-production.[8]

Reception

Pre-release

Prior to its release at the box office, Atlas Shrugged: Part II was not screened for critics, with producer John Aglialoro questioning "the integrity of the critics".[9] The film was, however, screened for The Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute.[10] Despite not being screened to critics in advance, the film was noted for positive audience interest.[9]

Box office

Atlas Shrugged: Part II earned $692,000 on its premier[11] and $1.7 million its opening weekend, debuting at #11. Despite opening on more than three times the screens of Part I, it did not significantly improve on Part I's opening weekend.[12][13][14]

According to Box Office Mojo, box office take totaled $3,286,255 through 11/4/12, showing in 70 theaters nationwide.[15]

Reception

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 5% of 20 professional critics gave Atlas Shrugged: Part II a positive score, with an average rating of 2.9/10. The site's consensus is that the film is: "Poorly written, clumsily filmed and edited, and hampered by amateurish acting, Atlas Shrugged: Part II does no favors to the ideology it so fervently champions".[16] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 26 based on 11 reviews, which is interpreted as "Generally unfavorable" by Metacritic.[17] Film critics were not impressed with the film based on several reviews: one reviewer gave the film a "D" rating;[18] while the New York Post's Kyle Smith gave the film a "1" rating (of 4), saying "...even if you overlooked the production values from a 1986 porno and special effects like something your nephew cooked up on his Mac, the movie’s “Yay, money!” zingers are just a big bag of sad."[19] The Onion AV club gave the film a grade of "F", citing lack of story progression and poor character designs.[20]

John Tammy of Forbes.com has a review titled "Why Atlas Shrugged, Part II Is a Must See Film".[21]

References

  1. ^ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-atlas-shrugged-20121015,0,3134211.story
  2. ^ a b "'Atlas Shrugged Part 2' to start production in April". latimes.com. 2012-02-02.
  3. ^ a b c d "Hannity to debut in 'Atlas Shrugged: Part II". Politico.Com. August 31, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  4. ^ Peter Key (2012-02-06). "Atlast Shrugged: Part 2 Movie Funded". Philadelphia Business Journal.
  5. ^ Paul Bond (2012-02-02). "'Atlas Shrugged Part 2' Timed to Hit Screens Just Before Presidential Election (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
  6. ^ a b The Official Atlas Shrugged Movie Blog: Atlas Shrugged Part 2 Begins Principal Photography
  7. ^ Weigel, David (Sept. 20, 2012). "The 53 Percent Shrugged". {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Brian Doherty (2012-04-20). "On the Set of Atlas Shrugged Part II". reason.com. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
  9. ^ a b McKay, Hollie (October 12, 2012). "'Atlas Shrugged: Part II' kept from mainstream movie critics, but public interest remains high". FoxNews.com. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  10. ^ Steinberg, Don (October 5, 2012). "'Atlas Shrugged' Film Banks on Election Fever". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  11. ^ http://www.inquisitr.com/363039/atlas-shrugged-part-2-falters-at-the-north-american-box-office/
  12. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2012&wknd=40
  13. ^ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82399.html?hp=r7
  14. ^ http://www.altfg.com/blog/movie/atlas-shrugged-part-2-box-office-samantha-mathis/
  15. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=atlasshruggedpart2.htm
  16. ^ Rotten Tomatoes
  17. ^ "Atlas Shrugged Part 2". Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  18. ^ Baldwin, Danny (October 12, 2102). "Review: "Atlas Shrugged: Part II – The Strike"". CriticSpeak. Retrieved October 13, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ Smith, Kyle (October 12, 2012). "Saw the film & shrugged". NYPost. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  20. ^ Tobias, Scott (October 12, 2012). "Atlas Shrugged: Part II—The Strike". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  21. ^ http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntamny/2012/10/07/movie-review-why-atlas-shrugged-part-ii-is-a-must-see-film/
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