Atlas Shrugged: Part III: Who Is John Galt? (2014)

This is the third and (thank God) final installment in the "Atlas Shrugged" series. The book was notorious for being overly preachy, but from what I've heard, this movie is even worse than the book! It apparently doesn't even have that much to do with it. The most notable part of the book is that there's a 70 page sequence where John Galt talks. This movie trimmed it down to just five minutes. It picks up right where the first one left off, with Dagny being saved by John Galt. The film uses an all new cast from the first two movies, but seeing as how the first two were so boring, I didn't even notice. I think even the Wikipedia summary on this film is tired of it. It only has two paragraphs of real plot summary. Dagny falls in love with John for no reason at all. This is seriously one of the most pathetic romances I've ever seen in my entire life. There's a stupid sex scene which is probably downplayed so much only to give it a PG-13 rating.Most of this film is just characters talking about their political and economic views. As with the other movies, it's hard to hate "that" much because it does create a really relaxing experience. Mike Nelson thought "The Phantom Menace" was the worst movie ever because it was boring? He has not seen any of these movies. This would make perfect material for Rifftrax. Probably the only reason it isn't reviewed more is because it's too dull to even get much material out of it. *

I am a big fan of the book, and I liked the first movie. That said, this was awful.The story is rushed, character development is thin to none, and some of the best scenes from the book are missing. Whether or not you agree with Ayn Rand, she understood the beast (in her opinion) very well, and represented the conflict through engaging dialogue in fiction. There is none of that here. Instead, there is a string of passionate speeches given by the central star but he comes across somewhere between a crazy man on the New York subway, and a poorly edited Anonymous speaker on YouTube. He does not come across as a veritable world leader. There are cameos from various B-list news figureheads, making this appear more a reunion of The Celebrity Apprentice than beautiful fictional story with a timely message.Like others, I saw it to complete the trilogy, and out of respect for an integrity-based way of doing business that is legitimately threatened today. This movie does not help the cause.

Ayn Rand famously wrote her book "Atlas Shrugged" in the 1950s, it is a cautionary tale. What would become of the world if politicians and governments continued to interfere more and more with technology and commerce? What would happen if innovative people had to contribute more and more to the "have-nots" without have a say in the matter? At the end of part II, two years ago, we see Dagny Taggart's plane enter some sort of phantom zone and crash. But she survives and sees John Galt. This third installment is set in the present time, we see them drinking wine from the 2012 vintage.This third installment takes up there, after a very brief review of what led up to it. John Galt carries Dagny to safety and explains that he and the other innovators who "went on strike" have settled in that mountainous valley. Their location is secret and, while it is never explained, we see in the sky that they have invented some sort of cloaking technology so that they can see planes passing overhead, some searching for them, but the hunters can't see them.Dagny is asked to stay with them for 30 days to see if she wants to pledge to their cause and stay with them. But at the end she decides to return to take care of some railroad issues. Leading politicians want to control the rails and the particular issue is whether they will allow trains to go to Minnesota to transport fresh crops to the East Coast. The politicians are willing to sacrifice a few thousand people for what they think is the greater good.OK, this isn't a great series of films but all of them, including this last installment, are interesting. Each of the three movies has the same primary characters, but each movie has a different set of actors. The actors chosen here work out just fine and the actress playing Dagny looks enough like the others who played Dagny that it isn't an issue. We finally meet John Galt face-to-face, played by tall (6-3) actor Kristoffer Polaha. Pretty blond Laura Regan is Dagny Taggart. We don't meet a President but we meet Peter Mackenzie as "Head of State" Thompson. And old reliable Greg Germann, who I enjoyed many years ago in "Ally McBeal", is the hapless James Taggart. I am glad I took the time to watch it, for the interest in how the famous Ayn Rand portrayed the possible dysfunctional future.

The Free Market has Spoken. All Three Atlas Shrugged Films Failed and Failed Miserably. This One Failed Miserably the Most. The Comic Book Characters and Sophomoric Philosophies are on display here and the Question becomes Not...Who is John Galt?…but...Who cares any more about Ayn Rand or Her highly Misinterpretive Jesus Christ Saviour Analogy? Ayn Rand is an Anachronistic Curiosity at best. The only Reason Folks Seek out Her ridiculously Mislabeled "Collectivism" is for some Group Think to reinforce the Idea that it is OK to be Selfish and Lessen the Guilt.But Enough about the Dated Didactics of Ayn Rand and on with the Show. At least Liberals know how to make Movies. If this is an Example of Conservative Creativity, Hollywood is Safe from a takeover by Right Wingers, because, once again, The Free Market has Spoken.The Third installment in the triptych is God-Awful Film-Making with Atrocious Acting, and Cringe-Inducing Everything else. From the Writing to the Sets to the Montage, From beginning to end...This Thing is Bad, Bad, Bad.Ron Paul shows up (he has a Son named Rand, get it), because He is a bonafide Libertarian, but inserting Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck is a Reveal that says It all. Talk about Preaching to the Choir.