B. Reason, Philosophy, History, Truth and all about what makes humanity great in a story depends on Dialogue. Part I had it, Part II didn't. Get that right and the rest is but background. Cheers! I am so happy you are giving it a shot, all the best.

Casting. Whatever possessed you?

Its about just ONE THING . . . "CASTING". If the ORIGINAL cast isn't brought back, all the rest DOESN'T matter . . . an it will FAIL. I was so ANGERED by this in the second film, I couldn't even watch it.

Great presentations of shakespeare have been presented through millenia with different castes. It isn't neccessary to have the same people, but the cast must authentically present the story. Rand could be taken to sermons, but she was at her best when her characters told their story without the need for clarification. Since the story is being told in installments, get the message down tight and the cast true to personality, and the rest will take care of itself.

D. Special Effects

I thought the special effects in Part I, particularly the portrayal of the John Galt Line and bridge, were excellent. Part II was weak. I know Clint Eastwood was portrayed piloting a high performance aircraft through ridiculous terrain in Foxfire, but anyone who has flown such craft knows that the g-forces preclude the kind of flying at the end of Part II. The destruction of the d'Anconia mines were also unconvincing.

I don't know if the problem with this series CAN be corrected. In many ways I wish, when you knew you did not have sufficient funding, you had shelved the project. When one purchases a 3-part video series one expects to be able to watch the entire 3 parts without being thrown into a time warp. When you replace a 30-year-old actress with a 50-year-old actress six inches shorter, frankly it causes laughter. When you replace an actor who looks and sounds like an Ivy League graduate with one who looks and sounds like a character from Good Fellas it is incomprehensible. You were unable to retain a single actor from the original cast? How did you think this was going to work with your audience? Add to it that the story you're trying to tell is how competence is the most important factor in the world. I'm going to re-read the book and pretend you never made these films. Part 1 was spectacular, Part 2 was frankly embarrassing. I no longer want to see Part 3. I honestly wish you'd never done this.

Bring back Taylor and get John Galt's message across concisely and effectively.

F. Lots of great input here already on the comment log - I am not a movie critic or expert but ... clearly advertising needs to improve, a great trailer with some exciting action to hook viewers, the speech can not be too long (attention spans are short these days), modern day events should refer to AR's 'predictions', good/better acting, more 'action', more 'emotional-grabbing' and better pre-release promotion. If you need funding try crowdsourcing to libertarians/objectivists/gulch members, should be better than selling bottles and bracelets, use Virtue of Selfishness explanations if needed to clarify why people love and are driven to succeed.

The number one priority should be to just get it done and accept the fact that it will not (immediately) become a widely-watched film that changes millions of minds. Only a handful of Ayn Rand followers are likely to want to see it no matter how good (or bad) it is. The first installment was better than the second but there may not be enough money to bring back the part 1 performers. So just get it done as best you can under a tight budget, release it, and get ready to re-release it when the entire world economy tanks (and it will) in just a more years.

B. John Galt's radio address

B - the message is key, and that is most represented by the speech. Ayn Rand gave it a little more than an eighth of the pages of Part 3, so I hope it gets at least that percent of the movie. Casting is a close second, because without the right Galt, people will not listen to the speech.

A. Casting (Esai Morales best Francisco D'Anconia)
F. Passion for B. (Getting message right)

B

Btw. Please stop editing the script. For reasons why read the fountInhead.

A and B. of coarse the message needs to be accurate but i fell in love with hank n dagne in part one. Samatha harris is greT but i Lreadyoved that first cast. My opinion is the only mistake was the entire new cast except beckel! Lol

Getting the message correctly is first.
Do so with more of a dramatic punch with a dynamic director.
Recast Taylor Shilling as Dagny!!

B. of course. The other stuff is just icing on the cake to me although cinematography is why I go to the movies... :o)

A & B for me. You need to keep the quality up but not lose sight of the message. Love it so far. I sent a copy to my daughter (who has had a copy of the book for years) she called me frantic that that #2 wasn't the end of the story.

B. first
Then A. and I think you should do all new casting again for part 3.

I think getting the message right is the number one priority. This said,
if you don't have all of the other ingredients- cast, director, cinematography, special effects, promotion and publicity, etc.- no one is going to see it.

I preferred the original cast from AS1, at least the main characters.
They were better!

A. Quick anecdote: three non-libertarian friends I showed both Parts I and II to thought part I was great while part II was a big disappointment largely because of casting. The cast of the first was just better in every way.

If we're going to use these films to make the point we need the actors who are ready to make an epic out of them without regard to ideology. And even if we're not going to do that, we need the actors from the first part just to make good, exciting movies!

Frankly, Rearden from Part II was played as a weirdly winey thug, not a guy contributing to society...

I think everything is there but drama. Movie goers need more drama. The airplane crash was great!

My #1 priority is "B"... getting the message of Atlas Shrugged right, as envisioned by Ayn Rand... and hope the Republicans get up enough backbone to get this usurper out of our White House, NOW!!!