I Am Legend (Discussion)

Venom

Cant agree with this movie being " an awful film" considering the crap that has come out this year but it is a bit of a letdown all right. The first half is great but midways though it takes a major nose dive and turns into a very bland flick.

I heard the ending of the movie was changed due to the usual test movie retards but does anyone know what the original ending was ment to be?

Kess73

Venom wrote: »

Cant agree with this movie being " an awful film" considering the crap that has come out this year but it is a bit of a letdown all right. The half is great but midways though it takes a major nose dive and turns into a very bland flick.

I heard the ending of the movie was changed due to the usual test movie retards but does anyone know what the original ending was ment to be?

The original film ending was very close to the ending in the book, instead we got the super lame ending that is now in the film.

The fact that there is talk of a sequel is what really bugs me.

Venom

Kess73 wrote: »

The original film ending was very close to the ending in the book, instead we got the super lame ending that is now in the film.

The fact that there is talk of a sequel is what really bugs me.

How did the book end?

Nothingcompares

I liked it. It was entertaining. I liked the story.

It did get a bit slow just after half way in and then strangely got rushed in the last 20 mins. What can you expect from a guy that directs Britney spears videos? I didn't "Get" that the monsters/dark seekers/vampires were aiming to retrieve the female on his table. i think that's a bit speculative on your behalf but I can definitely see it as a good enough reason for any other why they're obsessed with smith.

Chardee MacDennis

Nothingcompares wrote: »

I didn't "Get" that the monsters/dark seekers/vampires were aiming to retrieve the female on his table. i think that's a bit speculative on your behalf but I can definitely see it as a good enough reason for any other why they're obsessed with smith.

well the AM sets a trap for smiths character (which apparently has been confirmed by the director) and seems terribly pi$$ed when Smith captures the girl, continually chases him and seems to make the others wait till he gets him first in both the Car and lab scene. maybe i just read into it a bit much but it seems to tie into how they would have acted in the book from what i've read.

Nothingcompares

My interpretation was that Yes, Neville underestimated their cognitive abilities. I agree, they did set a trap for him so they could kill him. I just presumed they were still pursuing him because they wanted to kill him, we weren't given any indication that the monsters were aware Smith was experimenting on them with cures etc. Perhaps there was a scene or two left on the cutting room floor or in the directors'' mind's eye that would confirm your interpretation. I haven't read the book but from what I've read about the book and the screenplay used in this film there really isn't much other than superfical plot in common. His paranoia and other mental problems too were in the book also.

Chardee MacDennis

Venom wrote: »

Cant agree with this movie being " an awful film" considering the crap that has come out this year but it is a bit of a letdown all right. The first half is great but midways though it takes a major nose dive and turns into a very bland flick.

I heard the ending of the movie was changed due to the usual test movie retards but does anyone know what the original ending was ment to be?

the original ending is the one the scene from the trailor where he is surrounded by the vamps, he gives up fighting and they tear him apart.

i dunno if there is much else different though...

Kur4mA

Having never read the book, I thought it was really good and liked the ending even if it was a bit cliche. The ONLY thing I didn't like about this movie was the CGI on the Dark Seekers.

WTF? How they thought they looked even remotely decent is beyond me. They looked like they were rubber half the time and after seeing what can be done in Resident Evil: Extinction I just found the CGI on the Dark Seekers in this totally unacceptable.

Chardee MacDennis

they look like the robots from irobot, must be the same cgi team...

Drag00n79

While I enjoyed it, the whole thing appeared very rushed to me. Another twenty minutes would have been useful to iron out some things. I'm looking forward to the DVD to see what the deleted scenes are.

Kess73

Venom wrote: »

How did the book end?

I have done a rough version in white letters below, in case there are people who want to read the book without knowing a sketchy version of how it ends. Just highlight the blank looking space to read.




The book follows a different final third totally. There is no Anna and her kid, but there is a woman called Ruth that turns out to be another strain of survivor, there are two strains, the vampires and ones that also sleep during the day but do not kill. But Neville has been killing both as he thinks they are the same.

Basically he gets captured by the second lot and is to be executed as he is a mass murderer to them, as all he does in their eyes is kill them in his sleep, so Ruth gives him some pills to kill himself before the execution, and he slowly dies, realising he has become infamous, a legend to these people, he is there bogey man, the one who killed them in their sleep, which is where the "I Am Legend" of the title comes from.

brav

Ya they kind of changed the meaning of the title I think, i mean in this its because he created the cure and all that, where as in the book it was a bit darker, he was a legend in the eyes to the second strain vampires, someone who would come while your sleeping and kill you, as in legend like a ghost story.
Well thats what I thought anyway.

The rest of the film wasn't too bad, not too far off the book and a watchable hollywood flick.

jayteecork

just googleing there and came across this: http://www.horrormagazine.it/imgbank/NEWS/05-i-am-legend-poster-02.jpg
bit curious eh?

CyberGhost

I really really enjoyed the first part of the movie, but the second part like with 28 days/weeks later, blew.

BostonB

What was wrong with the other thread on this movie?

cold_filter

Just watched in on tv...

Thought it was fantastic but did have a 28 days later feel to it.

Haven't read the book but will aim to get it soon

monkeyfudge

There was certainly potential here... but it really went nowhere...

I'm really not sure what the point is in adapting a book if you're just going to throw away the ending and rip off the ending of a crappy film like Signs instead.

faceman

twas a shame indeed. Im still laughing at the bob marley bits!

monkeyfudge

faceman wrote: »

twas a shame indeed. Im still laughing at the bob marley bits!

faceman

monkeyfudge wrote: »

haha good one!

It annoyed me a bit. It's like the film needed to give a more dramatically obvious reference to its title. Completely stupid

For example:
Could you imagine while watching Empire strikes back and in a scene darth vadar goes, "You see son, the empire has well and truly struck back"

Or could you imagine watching Indiana jones and the last crusade and indy's Da goes "you know indy, this really is like my son, indiana jones, and his last crusade with his dad"

then again maybe im just being grumpy this morning!

monkeyfudge

They really didn't push how crazy he was going after 3 years alone enough.

There was little bit of talking to mannequins, but not enough to make you believe he was genuinely unhinged. So it was really silly when he fell for the trap.

faceman

monkeyfudge wrote: »

They really didn't push how crazy he was going after 3 years alone enough.

There was little bit of talking to mannequins, but not enough to make you believe he was genuinely unhinged. So it was really silly when he fell for the trap.

completely agree. I liked how in book they built him back up after he hit rock bottom. It would probably be hard to translate on screen with a top actor/writer and a good people director.

Einstein

pretty much agree with the concensus<sp? although I haven't read the book. Few plot holes no doubt, but not that bad a movie...

I am interested to read the book now though to compare endings, unless someone just wants to spoiler tag it for me?

faceman

Divers wrote: »

pretty much agree with the concensus<sp? although I haven't read the book. Few plot holes no doubt, but not that bad a movie...

I am interested to read the book now though to compare endings, unless someone just wants to spoiler tag it for me?

before someone does spoiler tag it, dont! read the book, its a quickish read and well worth it. One of the best books ive ever read and i read alot! Ending is superb

Snake Plisken

faceman wrote: »

before someone does spoiler tag it, dont! read the book, its a quickish read and well worth it. One of the best books ive ever read and i read alot! Ending is superb

Funny I finished the book last night and I was very dissappointed by the ending talk about a letdown no explanation or flushing out about the

New Race

So not the greatest Vampire Book I've ever read that would go to Salems Lot followed by Dracula, this would be in third place I'm afraid.

faceman

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Funny I finished the book last night and I was very dissappointed by the ending talk about a letdown no explanation or flushing out about the

New Race

So not the greatest Vampire Book I've ever read that would go to Salems Lot followed by Dracula, this would be in third place I'm afraid.

philistine! If i could ban you i would!! well actually i wouldnt, but i just wanted to demonstrate my disappointment with your feelings about the ending!

Snake Plisken

faceman wrote: »

philistine! If i could ban you i would!! well actually i wouldnt, but i just wanted to demonstrate my disappointment with your feelings about the ending!

Sorry to disappoint I really wanted to like it and I did up until the last couple of pages and then I just felt a bit let down, was expecting a better ending and certainly a stronger one then the movie versions, I'll still go out and buy more of Matheson's books, but maybe my expectations were to high for the ending

lostexpectation

was okay ened a bit quick though, ending in the film seems **** compared to the book...

TerrorFirmer

Never read the book but plan to. Film was quite good, certainly watchable, though the first half was far stronger in building up the interest and setting a very good atmosphere, the actual introduction of the - I can't even remember what they were referred to as - sort of signaled a gradual downwards slope that ended in a totally predictable ending.

Worth a watch. Definitely. But not quite the film I'd been expecting. Better then average, but not enough to recommend it as a must see.

OfflerCrocGod

This might simply be because you watched the movie first and then read the book - wrong order me thinks! It's like reading a modern Fantasy series before reading LOTR; it can make you think LOTR is a poor series because you have a more modern counterpart to compare it to. I Am Legend is an awesome book and should be read before watching the film.

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Funny I finished the book last night and I was very dissappointed by the ending talk about a letdown no explanation or flushing out about the

New Race

So not the greatest Vampire Book I've ever read that would go to Salems Lot followed by Dracula, this would be in third place I'm afraid.

constitutionus

this has been the first film ive wanted to see in ages and overall i enjoyed it. i havent read the book and my exposure is pretty much limited to the omega man film from back in the 70s.

smith was alot better than i thought it was and i thought he did the slightly bonkers aspects of the character well. i agree the ending was a cop out and the vamps did look fake as hell when in daylight but the sneaking around in the dark was eriee and quite scary if your on the young side. i actually got the idea that he'd underestimated their cognitive funtions, not just in the trap but when you breifly see a vamp setting the vamp dogs on nevil after he got out of the trap. theres clearly some sort of primitive social thing going on.

not the best film, but by no means bad either. guess ya could use it as a date film if your stuck.

Jello

As a fan of the book I thought it was a terrible adaption, but I won't get into that.

As a film, I thought it was average. The overdose of CGI on the 'mutants' made them look terrible, and the ending (well most of the second half) was a huge disappointment.

The devastated scenes of New York did look great though, and Smith did a good job for the most part. There were some nice tense moments in there too.

Worth a look though. 3/5.

robby^5

Anyone catch the little easter egg in one fo the scenes oout on the streets? Big poster with a Batman & Superman logo on it

mikehn

This is a remake of the Omega man, a Charleton Heston movie from the early 70's. No computer generated special effects then and all that was used for the "Family" was a bit of white greasepaint and a few hooded cloaks, but in its day it was a far more satisfying movie than the Wil Smith effort. It probably wont be on any rental shelves but if anybody comes across it, its worth a look

faceman

mikehn wrote: »

This is a remake of the Omega man, a Charleton Heston movie from the early 70's. No computer generated special effects then and all that was used for the "Family" was a bit of white greasepaint and a few hooded cloaks, but in its day it was a far more satisfying movie than the Wil Smith effort. It probably wont be on any rental shelves but if anybody comes across it, its worth a look

deja vu ftw

Ghost Train

I liked the first half of the film, up to the point where he

went out at night and nearly gets himself killed. Liked the look of new york and the idea of being last person alive etc. Would have been nice to have some more flashbacks explaining how the virus spread outside new york etc. And the very end with the colony... not very good

Snake Plisken

OfflerCrocGod wrote: »

This might simply be because you watched the movie first and then read the book - wrong order me thinks! It's like reading a modern Fantasy series before reading LOTR; it can make you think LOTR is a poor series because you have a more modern counterpart to compare it to. I Am Legend is an awesome book and should be read before watching the film.

Nah nothing to do with your theory above, I knew the ending would be different from both the movie versions I've seen, its more down to

when the lads turn up in their black car and kill all of the vampires outside his house, there isn't really a clear explanation of who these new race are, it could have gone on to explore more of their background, the rest of the book built up nicely, its just a very abrupt ending, looks like Matheson ran out of ideas

I will still read his other books like Bid Time Return and Hell House, maybe it was to many people saying it was a brilliant book with a brillant ending that took me in.

Soby

Just talknig with a friend discovered how much of a plot hole this kinda is..


according to wikipedia "Akiva Goldsman decided to move the story from Los Angeles to New York City to take advantage of locations that would more easily show emptiness."

During the film we clearly see the airforce destroying the bridges cutting off the city..So hows does Anna and the child #1 make it to Smith and #2 make it to the survivors camp seen as shes on a island.i was also told without humans tunnels flood with water or something so she couldnt have driven off that way..just a small plot hole i guess due to them moving the film location

Thefirestarter

The ending.......well, i was severly disappointed.
Also, anybody notice when his alarm on his watch goes off for the 1st time while hes washing sam (the dog), he locks down the house and gets in the bath tub with sam.
Then, it cuts to the moring time and hes in bed with dog ?

It didn't explain either why he was squirting that liquid over the steps (i'm guessing it's onion or garlic stuff or whatever vampires dont like)
In the tv ad it shows him surrounded by vampires, but i can not remember this happening at all in the film ?

Soby

Thefirestarter wrote: »

In the tv ad it shows him surrounded by vampires, but i can not remember this happening at all in the film ?

Thats the ending in the book i think someone said earlier

CyberGhost

Thefirestarter wrote: »

The ending.......well, i was severly disappointed.
Also, anybody notice when his alarm on his watch goes off for the 1st time while hes washing sam (the dog), he locks down the house and gets in the bath tub with sam.
Then, it cuts to the moring time and hes in bed with dog ?

Maybe he is a sleep walker?

Petey2006

VERY disappointing film. My full review's on my webby, link below.

Jack Sheehan

If you take the Book and Movie as two seperate entities they are both very good in my opinion.

The book is obviosly the better of the two but te movie deserves credit for Smiths performance, the atmosphere of tension and Isolation at the same time and the sparing use of CGI.

MaxForce

mikehn wrote: »

This is a remake of the Omega man, a Charleton Heston movie from the early 70's. No computer generated special effects then and all that was used for the "Family" was a bit of white greasepaint and a few hooded cloaks, but in its day it was a far more satisfying movie than the Wil Smith effort. It probably wont be on any rental shelves but if anybody comes across it, its worth a look

I knew it. It was wrecking my head for days where I seen something remotely similar to this film and that was it. OOPS showing my age.:D

Tusky

I am Legend is my favourite book. I just got around to seeing the film today. I had my reservations about Will Smith but I actually thought he did a really good job. As with many others, I thought the first half of the film was really enjoyable and was actually thinking 'this might actually turn out to be quite good...'. Then the second half of the movie happened. There are a couple of things I just cant believe they did...I really cant. It makes me so angry.

1) This is the second adaptation of the book and both times, they used mutants instead of vampires. They make TWO movies of my favorite vampire book and neither of them have vampires....unbelievable.

2) The 'look' of the mutants was AWFUL. How did the director see them and think 'yeah, they look good' ? It would have been so simple...and cheaper to do them in a different way. First of all they should have been vampires. i.e look quite human with fangs. Something like the vampires from 30 days of night would have been great. Secondly, there is no way they should have been CG. They really did look awful and ruined the movie for me. In the book they could talk and would surround Nevilles house every night shouting out at him and taunting him. This would have been cinematic gold and really creepy but was a missed opportunity.

3) The title of the book 'I am Legend' is there for a reason. It is in reference to the FANTASTIC ending to the book...the last line is even 'I am Legend'. How can they make an adaptation of the book and change the whole idea behind it ? I am gob smacked. The Ending to the book is infinitely superior to that of the movie. For anyone who hasn't read the book.

He does not save the day. He does not cure the virus. There are no other humans that are resilient to the virus alive. He IS the last human alive. There is a group of infected people that don't kill as the vampires do. He is a legend to these people as he is known for killing hundreds of them...This ending, in my opinion is so much better than the film version

If you had never read the book, the film would be a good popcorn movie but it was hard to enjoy knowing what could have been if they were more faithful to the book. I enjoyed the shots of New York deserted although dont really understand why they changed the location from LA & as I said, I thought there was lots to like in the first half of the movie. I was also quite impressed with Will Smith, the guy can clearly act...although I can think of lots of actors who would have been more suited to the role.

As a movie - 3/5
As an adaptation of the book - 1/5

jayteecork

1) This is the second adaptation of the book and both times, they used mutants instead of vampires. They make TWO movies of my favorite vampire book and neither of them have vampires....unbelievable.

There's actually 3)- Vincent Price's The Last Man on Earth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Man_on_Earth_%281964_film%29

4) if you include the shameless Asylum Production's "I am Omega"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1075746/

Duiske

Seen the film tonight, and for the most part it was enjoyable. Fantastic work on the deserted NY look. As someone has already said, the ending seemed a bit rushed, and with no real conclusion to the main plot it seems to be left wide open to a sequel.

tman

Jack Sheehan wrote: »

The book is obviosly the better of the two but te movie deserves credit for Smiths performance, the atmosphere of tension and Isolation at the same time and the sparing use of CGI.

Did we even watch the same movie?
CGI was overused to horrible effect in this movie, but apart from that it was fairly enjoyable.
I'd definitely recommend it to someone who hasn't read the book, but I'd suggest that they read the book instead first.

senordingdong

faceman wrote: »

It annoyed me a bit. It's like the film needed to give a more dramatically obvious reference to its title. Completely stupid

Couldn't agree more.
As for Mr. Pliskin....I think you have missed some of the point of the ending. It is more about

him spending years coming to terms with the fact that vampires, the things of legend, are alive and real. While he, the last mas alive, has become the thing of legend.

So, I pretty much agree with everyone here, as a movie, it was ok. Despite the obvious flaws of plot holes, bad ending, bad acting etc...

As an adaptation of the book, it was terrible. They changed so much of it, they should have changed the title too. Think how less offensive this move would have been if it hadn't carried the names 'I Am Legend' or 'Richard Matheson'.

Where to begin with the list of flaws....
CGI was terrible and as Tusky said, Vampires would have been easier, cheaper, and just plain better.
How convenient that he is a soldier and virologist. And immune.
If the mutants fed on flesh, how did they survive three years?
Animals turned into monsters too?....just ridiculous.
The insanity thing was awfully under-played.
They couldn't make up their minds if the monsters were smart or stupid.
All that Bob Marley went through my ****ing head. I swear, it seriously hampered my enjoyment. Was the director/writer just a huge fan and felt everyone else should share his love of a particular artist, or was he actually trying to suggest that Bob Marleys music can change the world? Those end credits were one of the biggest headaches of my life.

Check this link...
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=i_robot

Tusky

Mr.S wrote: »

it was like 28 days later meets Children of men.

it wasnt..bad but it wasnt good.

one thing:

what was the point of all the protection in the house, when they finally came it did sweet **** all.

when they where in the glass room, why didnt he just throw the grenade through the crack and jump in the place where the women and kid where?

CGI was terrible, the monster guys looked weird aswel, and the first scene with the mustang, very badly done.

In the book they know where he lives and surround his house every night but cant get at him because the place is so well defended. I have no idea how it was so easy for them to get in in the film.

Jack Sheehan

tman wrote: »

Did we even watch the same movie?
CGI was overused to horrible effect in this movie, but apart from that it was fairly enjoyable.
I'd definitely recommend it to someone who hasn't read the book, but I'd suggest that they read the book instead first.

Well I actually thought it was quite well done. You didn't even see the vampires for about 45 minutes or so and then they weren't overused. I agree with you completeely on your second point though. Book first all the way.