doc911 Posted July 11, 2015 Posted July 11, 2015 I want to read Atlas Shrugged and watch the three movies. I'm thinking that it might be helpful to get to know the characters etc. by watching the three movies before I read the book. Or would that ruin the book experience?
Koroviev Posted July 11, 2015 Posted July 11, 2015 Read book first for sure. The movies are ok but they may turn you off to the book. Especially if you're watching them without someone who's read the book. 1
WasatchMan Posted July 11, 2015 Posted July 11, 2015 Definitely book. The main ideas of Atlas Shrugged are only hinted at in the movies.
AynRand Posted July 11, 2015 Posted July 11, 2015 The book is amazing, and the movies are alright. Definitely read the book first.
SamuelS Posted July 11, 2015 Posted July 11, 2015 Having not read the book, there were plenty of places in the movies where I had a sense that it'd be a lot clearer what's going on if I had read the book beforehand. That said, I found the movies to be quite powerful and I enjoyed having to "read between the lines" so to speak. 1
luxfelix Posted July 12, 2015 Posted July 12, 2015 The book is amazing, and the movies are alright. Definitely read the book first. Of course Ayn Rand would recommend the book.
shirgall Posted July 12, 2015 Posted July 12, 2015 Just to be an edge case, I enjoyed the audiobook version a lot, and if you are *that* kind of learner, you might consider it. There are three classical modes of learning: visual, audible, and tactile. They correspond to movies, audiobooks, and physical books... 1
doc911 Posted July 12, 2015 Author Posted July 12, 2015 Thank you guys for all your replies! I guess I'll start with the book then!
Eternal Growth Posted July 13, 2015 Posted July 13, 2015 I'll be the first in the thread to say it: The movies are absolutely awful. I say "the movies", but I haven't even made it past two thirds of the second one because they misrepresented, poorly represented and underrepresented the books to such an extent (people I know who have watched the third have not made it sound like it was any kind of improvement, indeed the reduced budget and box office figures as well as further actor changes corroborate this). The production quality begins bad in the first movie and only gets worse in the second; entire, essential sections of the novel are absent from the movies; the movies fail to portray the underlying philosophy at all except in unintegrated catch phrases; most of the characters are bleak shades of what they are in the book, and it made no sense whatsoever to set the movies in the near future to when they were produced, for among other reasons that are essential to the story the fact that railroads (and other components of early industrialisation e.g. steel production) aren't as important to the American economy today as they were when Atlas the book is set (approximately early 20th century). What they did to my favourite character (Cherryl Brooks) in the second movie is particularly unforgivable, portraying her with none of the innocence, wonder, virtue and femininity - if also naïveté - that shines out of her in the book (being one of the characters that Rand used to portray her own values and ideal of womanhood, next to Dagny). My heartfelt recommendation (and, honestly, I think Rand herself would agree with me - she stated herself that "she would never sell any of her novels to a film company that did not allow her the right to pick the director and screenwriter as well as edit the film"[1]) would be to only read the book. Or to read the book first and then form an opinion of your own about the movies. Not to be overly negative, but seeing something you love (Atlas Shrugged the book) be trashed in the way that they movies do invokes strong emotions. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead_(film)#cite_note-13 1
Teiid Posted July 24, 2015 Posted July 24, 2015 If you watch the movie first you'll miss out on a maybe 80% of the experience of reading the book and will be confused. If you read the book first and then watch the movie, you'll be angry at the movie. Read the book. 1
AncapFTW Posted July 25, 2015 Posted July 25, 2015 I've never read the book, but I bought the movies at Walmart this week.
K.o.t.H. Posted July 25, 2015 Posted July 25, 2015 Another vote for reading the book first. I had the same reaction to the movie that others here have described, very disappointed.
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