I Am Legend

TheCentralScrutinizer · 13 Nov 07 :: 03:41

I love this story, by Richard Matheson. I've longed for it to be filmed forever. I've known for years that they were trying to make it with Will Smith. I saw the original theatrical trailer months ago.

But HOLY F*CK! I just saw this TV spot that was WHOO! Amazing. It was during Prison Break and it was intense and really fast and tight.

Man, I can't wait for this movie.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 13 Nov 07 :: 03:56

PS: Before anybody goes all film-scholar on me, I do know that the book has been adapted before. Notably in The Last Man On Earth with Vincent Price and Omega Man with Charleton Heston. I've seen them both. The Price movie was more interesting, but ol' Chuck was quite the two-fisted hero in his version. I've aways been interested in a modern interpretation, with good FX and more scope. And I love Will Smith.

OhGnarly · 14 Nov 07 :: 04:49

My brother is afraid that this movie will totally rape the book. Probably won't stop us from seeing it though. I haven't actually read the story yet, I should borrow it from him tonight.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 14 Nov 07 :: 05:10

I sure it will be no more faithful than Hollywood will allow during any decade when they revisit the story. Ah well. A lot of what Matheson does is unfilmable. Take my favorite, Hell House. Probably the most disturbing ghost story I've ever read. They made a movie in 1973, but it was incredibly diluted. It was rated PG. If that movie had been faithful to the book it would've left The Exorcist in the dust. I'm not sure they could film it today. Well, yeah, OK, they could. But it might be rated NC-17.

The Will Smith version of I, Robot was a complete bastardization of the original story, God bless it. It was incredibly entertaining. The original story is a snooze-fest. And I LOVE Asimov.

The bottom-line is, you can't stay faithful to a book written that long ago unless you want to make a weird, low budget period piece. Nobody's gonna green-light that.

Illinoisguy1 · 14 Nov 07 :: 14:12

Speaking of The Last Man on Earth. I got the dvd from a company called Digiview. They sell for $1 and are at Wal-Mart. The quality is pretty good for a public domain title. I remember seeing this on tv a long time ago and always liked it.

I'm sort of surprised that deb liked i, Robot. I remember when it came out and it seemed that most people didn't care for it or compared it to the old Twilight Zone episode with Leonard Nimoy as the robot's lawyer. The old episode is slow and really the best part is at the end when he sacrifices himself to save the kid from getting hit by a truck. I bought the film on dvd and really liked it. The design of the robot/android is great and the fx were great. I also liked the twists in the story.

herrommance · 14 Nov 07 :: 15:06

Wow! I just saw the trailer for this last night. I want to see it so bad. it looks really good.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 14 Nov 07 :: 17:02

What can I say, Illinois? I like what I like. I make no pretensions otherwise. And I loved I, Robot. A lot of it is Will Smith. But I also loved Sonny, the robot as played by Alan Tudyk --- he was brilliant. It was just a fun movie and beautifully to look at. It would've been perfect if Sheephead wasn't in it.

Illinoisguy1 · 14 Nov 07 :: 17:10

Who's Sheephead?

justme · 14 Nov 07 :: 18:03

She doesn't care for Shia LeBoeuf.

TeeJay · 14 Nov 07 :: 18:41

Will Deb hit me over the head if I corrected you and said he's called Shia LaBeouf?

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 14 Nov 07 :: 18:59

He'll always be Sheephead LePoof to me. You guys can call him whatever you want. How 'bout Jailbird? That has a nice ring to it.

justme · 14 Nov 07 :: 19:53

DUCK!!!:o:o:o

(...coconut cream pie whizzes past TeeJay's head.)

I've never seen anything he's been it and take a certain pride in my inability to spell his name.

magicalturkey · 14 Nov 07 :: 20:15

I just wisely stay out of conversations like this anymore...

Illinoisguy1 · 14 Nov 07 :: 20:47

The only thing I've seen Shia in is Transformers and I thought he did very well in that. Will see Indiana Jones 4 with him in it once it comes out on DVD.

TeeJay · 14 Nov 07 :: 21:10

LOL @ Carol. Hmmm, coconut!

I've seen Transformers and Disturbia, and I thought he did a decent job in both. I liked Disturbia much better, though. Not a terribly deep movie, but it had way more substance (story-wise) than Transformers.

(I'm sorry, Deb, I didn't mean to make this thread about Da Sheephead. I can go talk about him somewhere else if you prefer.)

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 14 Nov 07 :: 21:16

Yeah, get that little bugger out of my I AM LEGEND thread before I sic some futuristic zombie vampires on you! :angry:

TeeJay · 14 Nov 07 :: 22:45

Ooooh, then I'll go get Eric Kowalsky to help me kill them!

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 14 Nov 07 :: 23:53

As long as he brings his one-handed-shotgun-cock.

herrommance · 15 Nov 07 :: 03:25

mhm

Chnyst · 15 Nov 07 :: 05:01

I cannot wait for this movie either!
I loved the book too and I really hope they stay faithful to it...or at least use the same premise which from what I have seen, looks pretty good so far. I am intrigued by stories about survival and this is one of my favs!

TheCentralScrutinizer · 15 Nov 07 :: 05:08

Hey, at least they kept the title this time. I like survival stories too and I LOVE seeing New York City all grown over like that. Kinda reminds me of being a kid and seeing those cool shots of Washington DC all grown over in Logan's Run. And of course that great shot of the head and shoulders of the beached Statue Of Liberty at the end of the original Planet Of The Apes.

Funny, I read the book back when I first got obsessed with vampires in the 80's. It was on a list of best vampire books. But it's not really anything like any other vampire story up to that point. People are always ripping it off nowadays. In its day though, it was pretty fresh.

Chnyst · 15 Nov 07 :: 05:24

Sisterdebmac wrote:

But it's not really anything like any other vampire story up to that point. People are always ripping it off nowadays. In its day though, it was pretty fresh.

Exactly! Without ruining it for anyone..It actually puts a cool little spin on the idea of 'predators'....

Chnyst · 15 Dec 07 :: 12:17

Well, I just got back from seeing a late showing of this.
I showed up around 9:20 and the next 3 showings were sold out. Since it was showing on like 4 screens, I only had to wait about an hour to catch the next available showing. Oddly enough, all the Alvin and the Chipmunk showings were sold out too.
I'm not good at giving reviews but I'll try my best!
I'll also try not to spoil it too much for those of ya that haven't seen it.
I'm sure you've all seen some trailers and heard about the story: Basically a man-made virus has wiped out the world's population, leaving Will's character, Robert Neville, alone in New York City. Robert is a scientist and is immune to the virus and spends a lot of time trying to find a cure for it, since the city is over run by infected humans who can only come out at night. Robert farms, exercises,searches for other humans, and mainly just keeps himself occupied during the day, while he hides at night in his 'fortress from the infected.
I mentioned before that I really like survival movies. Whether it's a Last man on earth scenario, or a group of people against a city of zombies-I always imagine myself in that type of situation. How would I fight the 'bad guys' and also, what would I do for entertainment, food, medicine, gas, etc.. being all alone like that. While the Last Man on Earth and the Omega Man are seriously dated, they still had some charm to them. Vincent Price and Charlton Heston did nicely in their roles . They address many of the issues and situations that I pictured myself going through. Rummaging for food, exploring, stocking up on ammo for protection, going a little delirious and seeing 'things' and talking to themselves or inanimate objects. Same goes for Will Smith. In a film where he is pretty much the only person you see aside from flashbacks and the 'Dark Seekers',he carries the movie nicely. His interaction with Sam, his German Shepard, was great. There's been a lot of comparison of Will and Sam's partnership to that of Tom Hanks and Wilson in 'Castaway'. Obviously, I felt more attachment to the dog and the film plays upon this quite a bit.
It was easy for me to 'feel' for these two characters and you can't help but get a little edgy when there is a perilous moment and their lives are put in danger. There were several scenes where something quick happens and it makes everyone jump, but it didn't come across as a cheap gag like some horror movies like to do. If there was one negative about the film that really got to me, it had to be the creatures themselves. <possible spoiler stuff> The creatures were all done in CGI and while CGI is pretty advanced and constantly improving, I think they could've done a little better job with the Dark Seekers. They looked like a big army of Valdemorts(sp?) from Harry Potter. Or Eddie, the 'mascot' for the band Iron Maiden, :devil: . The first couple of times you see them, they are shown in quick glimpses in a very suspenseful scene and come across quite frightening, but as the movie went on, I was kind of annoyed with them. I guess I just was hoping for a little more in that area.
I was also hoping for a little more in terms of Robert's life. We see him doing some exploring, and researching for the cure, but I was hoping to see Robert hunt for the creatures during the day, while they hunted for him at night. I've always pictured Robert as this being that maybe doesn't necessarily strike terror into creatures, but he is respected and known to be dangerous, because he is the only 'normal' human. In a sense, this makes him the Outcast. The Monster. The guy who can walk around in the sun and not be affected by the virus. He is a Legend not only to to mankind, but also to these creatures. It touches upon this a little, but I guess I just wanted to see more of that. Maybe that's just me.
Anyways, I give it a B+. I wanted more from the movie, but I was still entertained none the less. So check it out on the big screen!

Illinoisguy1 · 15 Dec 07 :: 13:25

I read on IMDB that "something" happens to the dog, is that true? Don't spoil it though.

I got the preview dvd from Circuit City and while it doesn't go into much depth into the film it does show some nice clips from the film. The FX looks good, the deers look very realistic.

Chnyst · 15 Dec 07 :: 20:04

Yea, the deer look pretty good actually. You see them several times throughout the movie. They also did an awesome job on New York City. Parts of the streets are overrun with vegetation, several forms of wildlife live in the cities, empty buildings as far as the eye can see. The Brooklyn bridge was destroyed and looked quite impressive too. I think they did an incredible job on the city itself.
A far as your question about something happening to the dog:
The least-spoiler-free-answer-that-I-could-think-of is
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yes

Last edited by Chnyst (15 Dec 07 :: 20:05)

Chris Marquette Message Board

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I Am Legend

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