Official I Am Legend Thread - Part 1

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=18625

Tackling the apocaplyptic tale again
Source: Variety


In the mighty halls of Development Hell there are few filing cabinets as large or as bursting with unused scripts and yellowed casting sheets as I Am Legend.

So the news that Will Smith is having a second crack at starring in a version of Richard Matheson’s tale of an Earth ravaged by a blood disease that turns sufferers into, well, basically vampires, and the last man left alive who fights them, has us feeling distinctly sceptical.

That said, Warners Brothers is convinced it has the team in place at last: Smith is on a pay-or-play contract, which means the studio executives will be eager to get him to start work next year in New York (because they'll have to pay his fee even if the film never happens). And they’ve already attached Constantine director Francis Lawrence and Da Vinci Code writer Akiva Goldsman to the film.

The Hitch star previously tried to get the Legend adaptation up and running in 2002, when he was planning to star for his Bad Boys director Michael Bay. But that version collapsed. As did a long-running attempt in 1997, which would have seen Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ridley Scott shoot a $108 million budgeted epic. That one was scuttled by the mounting budget and the dual kick in Schwarzenegger’s career stomach from Batman & Robin and Jingle All The Way.

Goldsman is adapting a fresh script from Mark Protosevich’s original screenplay. Over the years, the likes of Gladiator’s John Logan have tried to turn it into a workable, affordable film, but to no avail. And let’s not forget that two cinematic versions of Matheson’s story have already been made: Vincent Price’s The Last Man On Earth and Chuck Heston’s The Omega Man.

Can it work again at last? That sound you hear is an office full of studio executives nervously twisting rosary beads or preparing to sacrifice interns to the great gods of Hollywood to ensure that it does...
 
^ that footage depresses me, because even as a test its far more scary than the cgi crap we ende up with.
 
im torn. i dont mind the creatures you see in the actual film, because i kno that even if they went with this design it still would have just ended up as cg most of the time anyways, but the weird teeth and alien-esque eyes intrigue me. however i think they decided against the eyes because they wanted to reserve some humanity for the unrated cut. but still a great design
 
even if they still used cg for the giant herd of zombies that kind of thing, times when it was necessary, for the closeups that kind of thing, this would have been so much better.

No one ever said they had to limit themselves to one tool, just that they should use them well.
 
^ that footage depresses me, because even as a test its far more scary than the cgi crap we ende up with.


I don't like it. :cmad:

why do they look like they're partially MELTED?



attachment.php

I don't know who he is, but he looks good!
:up:


Infected RAT!
10df49c.jpg


Will vs infected dog puppet :D
2m4zy9z.jpg
 
Last edited:
God, 2/3rd's of this is such a great movie. Then once the woman and child come in and brings it to a halt.

And why they still haven't used the ending from the book I will never know. One of the most brilliant endings ever. You have your work cut out for you. But nope! Let's opt for action schlock instead.
 
Let alone changes the entire meaning of the title.

But yes, the first two thirds are brilliant.
 
Two big mistakes:
- Opting for 100% CGI instead of make-up effects or a mix between make-up effects and CGI
- Dumbing down the material, and especially the ending
 
Such a great underrated film. I like all 3 acts but yeah the first two halfs are best!

What's the difference between the theatrical ending and the alternate ending on the dvd? I didn't the film in theaters but got the alternate ending edition dvd
 
Such a great underrated film. I like all 3 acts but yeah the first two halfs are best!

What's the difference between the theatrical ending and the alternate ending on the dvd? I didn't the film in theaters but got the alternate ending edition dvd

It's in low quality but here it is




I'm one of the weird ones who thought both possible endings were fine.
 
Also, I so miss the days of the viral campaigns that actually put the effort into them...

 
I wouldn't necessarily call this a great film, but I do think it's a really good one, especially for Will Smith's performance in it. His scenes with the dog hit me hard to this day, and I can still remember a lot of the whimpers and sighs that a certain scene got when I first saw this in a packed theater opening weekend. The only real drawbacks for me is the bad CGI on the creatures and the ending, but other than I do enjoy it overall.

Also, I so miss the days of the viral campaigns that actually put the effort into them...



Man now those were the times. The viral campaigns for this, Clovefield and TDK were something special and I am so glad to have been in high school at that time to experience it first hand.
 
Yeah I do think this movie is a tad under rated, but it did have a few flaws which unfortunately brought the final product down.

I do hope someone does a straight adaptation of the book some day though.
 
As others have mentioned, the first two-thirds of this film are amazing. Shame that it fumbles the ending.

Sam's death wrecked me when I first saw it.
 
I remember seeing this in theaters. Wild experience
 
God, 2/3rd's of this is such a great movie. Then once the woman and child come in and brings it to a halt.
I like the parts with the woman and the child preceding the attack on his house. The last part needed some work to be better.
 
I like the parts with the woman and the child preceding the attack on his house. The last part needed some work to be better.

They shouldn't have betrayed the heart of the original story.

That Robert Neville is the true villain, hunting down who has taken the place of human beings. But of course that stuff don't fly with Will Smith. We all know by now how he wants his characters and movies to go down a certain way.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top
monitoring_string = "afb8e5d7348ab9e99f73cba908f10802"