Reading Atlas Shrugged for the first time in high school was an epiphany for me. It told me to be myself and not worry about what all the other kids thought was cool. Logic and rationality could solve almost every problem that comes your way. Now I can look at the work objectively and see many flaws, but the theme still resonates with me. Individual achievement is to be honored and is essential to human growth. Rand was a poor philosopher and only a slightly better novelist, but she had a real influence on me and and what I am today has been shaped by her works. Turning the book into a movie has been talked about for decades now. It would be an epic undertaking and, obviously, the Hollywood system would not get behind a film with such politically incorrect plot lines. So somehow someone got enough financing together to make a 3 part trilogy. Part one condenses a great deal into a two hour picture and introduces the major characters. The movie is simply horrible! I was embarrassed by the screenplay, the acting and even the production values. It was an, evidently, amateur project. You may recognize a couple of nameless character actors, but no one with a real career would touch this film and sitting through the horrid dialog makes me understand why. It seems someone highlighted some key lines from the book and some screen writer was tasked with linking them together. There is no flow or continuity in the dialog and subsequently no interest in it. Ayn Rand had a great deal of influence on folks in the 1950’s and her books were best sellers. This movie does her a disservice. If you can’t do it right, maybe it shouldn’t be done at all. Skip the movie. Read the book!