I've read TONS of fanfic that's better than Rand...
Rand learned to write, such as she did, writing Hollywood screenplays in an era where the best films being made were really mediocre by modern standards. Combine that with being from Russia, where the novel writing tradition is to write these kind of over the top political things that are really just better written versions of the kind of political novels she wrote...
Seriously, when did Atlas Shrugged turn into a GREAT novel? I read it 30 years ago when I had no taste and still knew it was bad. IMPORTANT, but BAD. (I read The Fountainhead as well, and I still really don't see why they decided that was a good name for the adopted homeworld of the Nietzschians. It also isn't really any better. And you actually need the omnipotent narrator to explain that no, Howard Roark is not a monster. Seriously, who would write a hero who acts in such a way that only avoids being monstrous because of entirely incidental facts?)
(Unfortunately, the only way to come to appreciate great films is to watch great films, and the only way to learn how to make great films is to make great films, so the early decades of any movie industry are going to be nothing but junk. Seeing some great films from outside will help a bit, but not a whole lot.)