Atlas Shrugged Part 1 is a must-see flick. Since I'm a big fan of Ayn Rand's great novel Atlas Shrugged, I expected a less-than-stellar movie version of the book. After all, it's nearly impossible for such a film on such a small budget to mimic such a brilliant novel. Nonetheless, I was very pleased with the first installment of Atlas Shrugged.
With the length and scope of the story, it requires either an incredibly long movie or a division into different parts, which they decided to do here. However, I still would have preferred a bit more details and specifics which were left out of Part 1, and could have been added as the film is not very lengthy as is. It is still very well done and they spent some good money on CGI effects for the John Galt Line; the cinematography worked well for this film, within its budget. That being said, a larger budget could have enhanced the film, which is unfortunate.
Taylor Schilling is a very good actress as Dagny Taggart - she projects the high-end efficiency and passion of the character, and she is appropriately sexy as well. Taylor Schilling is amazing! She did an outstanding job. Grant Bowler as Hank Reardon was another good choice as well. Botton line: Excellent movie; highly recommended.