I agree totally that Joaquim de Almeida was the wrong choice for Francisco d'Anconia. Even though I like him as an actor, I felt from the first announcement that he was too old for the character. I was also disappointed that we didn't get to see Dagney make her speech revealing that Hank had been protecting her when he signed the "gift certificates". Though I do understand decisions have to be made when it comes to translating a book to the screen, I would have liked to see that scene and the attack at Hank's plant. I had to drive 60 miles to see the movie and overall I did like it. Hopefully, we'll get to see deleted & extended scenes when the disc comes out.

I would have gladly traded a few minutes of Colorado scenery to see Francisco's last discussion with Reardon before Reardon "shrugs". The voice-over by Reardon dreadfully short-circuits his struggle and final decision.

I also thought the rescue scene played far more like something from a TV show [Numbers, perhaps], than CEO/business executives stepping outside their usual world to rescue Galt.

Agreed. But personally I though the casting was awful. The acting (apart from the names we recognized) was awful. What was with the sets? Compare to AS I which was excellent in all aspects. At times I felt I was watching a mash-up of "Austin Powers - Project F" and a spanish language novella - soft focus lens and all. This movie is a disservice to AS. Sorry.