Official I Am Legend Thread

[bell110]

I didn't really like the movie after I finished watching it, yet for some reason I can't stop thinking about it. I gave the movie an 8. I'm really interested in reading the book now.

 

[Warhammer]

I've noticed everyone who dislikes the film, dislikes it because it ventures off from the book.

That's odd, seeing how we knew for a while now that the film was going to be different.

I liked the filmed for its differences. It's a different spin on a classic story. If you go in expecting Matheson's story, you're only going come out angry and disappointed.

Just some random babbling...

This is what I do on every film based on a book. I feel that people should always have this mindset upon seeing a book to film adaptation, or just don't see it, at all. Rate the film on it's own merit.

 

[tekken]

i really liked the movie. i didn't read the book, so lucky for me, i went in not expecting anything. lol.

one of the best lines: "the people who are making the world worse aren't taking a day off. how can i? light up the darkness"
it sounds like something batman would say.

anyway. does anyone know the music in the beginning of the I Am Legend trailer? not the clint mansell one, but the one in the beginning.

 

[the a1ant]

Saw this today and loved it. Smith is really becoming an amazing actor. My only problem with the film was that the ending felt rushed. The CGI was pretty good to me - besides the close-up head shots of the bad guys.

 

[Jake Cassidy]

I haven't seen it yet, but I've never read the book or seen Omega Man. So I guess I'm gonna like it.

 

[omid17]

This is what I do on every film based on a book. I feel that people should always have this mindset upon seeing a book to film adaptation, or just don't see it, at all. Rate the film on it's own merit.

 

[Star]

I'm seeing it tonight. Can't wait, one of my friends said it was amazing

 

[TheVileOne]

This is what I do on every film based on a book. I feel that people should always have this mindset upon seeing a book to film adaptation, or just don't see it, at all. Rate the film on it's own merit.

A self-absorbed "character piece"/action picture for Will Smith with a dumb ending.

 

[Genesis 1.0]

I hadn't read the book in forever but this movie was a great stand alone take on it. Seeing the diffrences between the two brought a rather stark contrast to mind but it wasn't a negative one to me. Great action and suspense.

8.9/10

 

[Infinity9999x]

His recent story in EW says nothing of the sort. And I'm not sure why that would be true since all this movie is, at the end of the day is a big budget update of Omega Man than a more faithful version of his book.

Oh and the "Oscar worthy" performance from Smith.

With the way they did the movie, I'm not sure how the original ending can be much better considering they jettisoned a ridiculously key element from the book.

It did incorporate more of the slow spiral into insanity that was present in the book...but yeah, other then that it was basically Omega man.

I do think Smith did a great job acting though, I don't know why you seem to be mocking that opinion.

Also, since I've never seen The Last Man on Earth, did that have the I Am Legend Ending? I know Matheson worked on the script but wasn't happy with it.

 

[snap-hiss]

It stands alone as a great film. Sure it falls short of some of the key elements of the book, but it also achieves things the book did not. I've followed the production of this film for a long time, and was just as skeptical as anyone when it came to Neville being a scientist, the changes to the infected, NYC instead of LA, even the casting of Will Smith, but in the end, for me, this is the first film based on a book (which I've read/seen that I can remember) which had significant changes made from the source material that stands up to the book.

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

Really? It cost 110million to shut down a couple of blocks of NYC? It didn't cost Bay anything remotely close to that much money when Transformers was filmed in Los Angeles. I'm still wondering where the budget went because I don't buy this explanation for one second.

Dude...this is New York...the busiest city in America...especially Times Square. That doesn't compare to Los Angeles. They shot a scene in Brooklyn where I live that was supposedly cost 10 million alone to block off the streets for a week here.

 

[Figs]

A self-absorbed "character piece"/action picture for Will Smith with a dumb ending.

Sorry if I sound dumb but can you explain what you mean or even what others mean when they say "self-absorbed"???

I always get the feeling it's just a cop out term being pretentious when someone talks about a film/book or somethign they don't like.

 

[ToddIsDead]

What the creatures looked like before they decided to CG up the place:

More makeup SFX goodies.

 

[snap-hiss]

What the creatures looked like before they decided to CG up the place:

More makeup SFX goodies.

I would have been fine with that. The ONLY complaint I have with the film is the overuse and poor quality of the CG. And I'm a Star Wars fan. t:

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

they should have made them look like the reapers from blade 2

 

[The Geek Vault]

I think I understand the reason they went with CGI. Will Smith's character is supposed to be one of the LAST PEOPLE ON EARTH that means all other people on earth are vamps. In order to make that seem that way, they wanted to have massive numbers of vampires, which would mean a lot of extras, so instead they decided to go easy way out and use CGI.

 

[Crook]

Eh, I didn't see a ridiculous amount of them. I've seen low-budget zombie movies with more extras than in IAL.

CGI "Dark-seekers" were definitely an odd decision. They could've spent just as much money hiring extras, putting on make-up, and enhancing them via cg if necessary. You would've gotten a more realistic result.

 

[ToddIsDead]

Well apparently they did the first few scenes with real people in makeup but it didn't look right on film so they switched to CGI half way through production.

 

[TheVileOne]

I think I understand the reason they went with CGI. Will Smith's character is supposed to be one of the LAST PEOPLE ON EARTH that means all other people on earth are vamps. In order to make that seem that way, they wanted to have massive numbers of vampires, which would mean a lot of extras, so instead they decided to go easy way out and use CGI.

That's the most ridiculous reasoning I've ever heard.

 

[snap-hiss]

It's not just the infected CG that was unnecessary, why exactly did they need to animate the lions (other than the pouncing onto the deer)?

!snap

 

[Tyrinus]

This is what I do on every film based on a book. I feel that people should always have this mindset upon seeing a book to film adaptation, or just don't see it, at all. Rate the film on it's own merit.

I expected changes to the story when I went to see the movie. One of the main reasons I watch movies based off books I've read is to see exactly how they decided to adapt it. But they really dropped the ball here. I mean they completely changed the reason he is 'Legend.' The book had a far more interesting, less cliche, premise as to why Neville was a legend. I've no problem with Smith's performance, it's the story that fell short, especially with the plot holes.

 

[LastSunrise1981]

I expected changes to the story when I went to see the movie. One of the main reasons I watch movies based off books I've read is to see exactly how they decided to adapt it. But they really dropped the ball here. I mean they completely changed the reason he is 'Legend.' The book had a far more interesting, less cliche, premise as to why Neville was a legend. I've no problem with Smith's performance, it's the story that fell short, especially with the plot holes.

Exactly. Well said.

 

[co2]

Yeah, I gave it a 7. It was a mind-blower, but it was certainly worth seeing.

 

[Warhammer]

A self-absorbed "character piece"/action picture for Will Smith with a dumb ending.

More power to you.

I expected changes to the story when I went to see the movie. One of the main reasons I watch movies based off books I've read is to see exactly how they decided to adapt it. But they really dropped the ball here. I mean they completely changed the reason he is 'Legend.' The book had a far more interesting, less cliche, premise as to why Neville was a legend. I've no problem with Smith's performance, it's the story that fell short, especially with the plot holes.

That's why it's called an adaptation.