I Am Legend
 

After talking about it briefly in another thread, I thought I'd start one about this possible disaster of a movie to see what, or if, anyone thinks about I Am Legend.

I don't know how many have read the book, but just from the previews it looks like they completely destroyed that material, turning it into I, Am Robot Legend as far as adding the action and changing the setting and pretty much leaving the source material in the circular file.

I understand partially why they did it. Its very hard to market a multi-million dollar vampire movie, or any horror movie for that matter, especially when the source material is more of a Indie Film style character study than an Hollywood action/adventure.

And of course this isn't the first time they have gutted this book, concidering the crapfest that was Omega Man back in the 70's. I'm sure many will disagree with me on this one, but when compared to the source material, its has many shortcomings.

Anywho, I'm curious if anyone else has any opinions about this.

According to the Wikipedia article, they are in talks for a sequel.

That movie can go to hell as far as I am concerned.

Check it out: I AM ROBOT LEGEND

I Am Legend is gonna be like this. Meh. I'll go watch it and cry anyway.

...

I'm just glad that they haven't butchered Stephen King's franchise as much. :shakehead:

Are you kidding... Stephen King has been butchered more then any other author.

Sarcasm.

God, didn't you see "badass" Timothy Dalton in the Dark Half? I almost shit myself. And ate it.

[adds jerkass smiley to previous post]

The only reason I'm going to see this is the Dark Knight preview that I posted about in the Dark Knight thread. This movie looks like ass.

I haven't read the book, but I am excited by the preview of I Am Legend. Now about the Dark Knight, I really enjoyed the Batman Begins movie, I was excited about a sequel.

I wonder sometimes.

Are we upset that they butchered the book to create a movie or upset that in order to make a movie the book got butchered.

Well, its not necessary to butcher the book to make a movie, just to make a multi-million dollar blockbuster attempt at a movie. As I said before, the book itself is movie material, but more of a calm character study with a few action bits thrown in, rather than a summer explosion movie with bloodsuckers.

I think Castaway showed that a character study can be a popular and successful movie. I wish they had taken the risk and made the movie like the novella and not followed the line of The Omega Man.

Meh, having never read the book, i think it looks entertaining enough, but then again i'm a sucker for abandoned and decaying cityscapes.

I liked the book a lot. Not really interested in the movie so much - I dont see how it would translate - especially as I will know what's coming.

I also loved the book.

However, if you allow yourself to get over the fact that the movie will not necessarily follow the book, the movie looks like it might be quite entertaining.

As long as Matheson was paid well for the movie rights, I see no problem with this film.

Alternative Titles:

"I Am Sellout"

"I Am Legend(ary for Product Placement)"

When I was a kid I used to like the 1971 adaptation, The Omega Man. It deviates from the novel though, and hasn't aged well.

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I believe there's also a version starring Vincent Price but I haven't seen that.

Soylent Green Is Vampires!

Soylent Green is People...its People!!!

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/i4mYireNvcg&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/i4mYireNvcg&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Good ol' YouTube to the rescue! :)

from the TV ads this looks about 100% like 28 days later

Boastful title (funny), vampire causing bacteria (scientific explanation > asking us to accept supernatural), and Will Smith (will he rap for the soundtrack?).

I'll see it.

The only way to enjoy this movie is be totally ignorant of its origins.

A book?

Man, I sure hope he does a lot of slo-mo shots where he fires two pistols at the same time!

I've never read the book but the movie looks entertaining. I'll most likely read the book after I see the movie. I've read to many books and then seen it on the big screen. Nine times out of ten I come away disappointed.

I always pegged you as someone who reads the previous posts, Will. It was a book written in the 50s by Richard Matheson, which has seen other onscreen iterations including Omega Man and Last Man On Earth, none of which have held very close to the plot of the book, IMO. And this one looks to be the farthest from the book of them all.

Omega Man and Last Man On Earth have nothing to do with the story's origins. The origins are the book. Seeing as how no one here has seen the movie, I was confused as to how an ignorance of the book had anything to do with enjoying the movie.

Yes, I read all previous posts.

As for being farthest from the book, have you seen Omega Man? Not one vampire. That alone means that I am Legend is closer to the book than the previous interpretations. Not only that, but I read a review that states the explanation of the title "Why is Will Smith a Legend?" and it sounds just like the book: Spoiler: Will Smith's Robert Neville is a legend to the hybrid vampires because he killed them along with the fully infected.

Sorry will. I assumed by this: "Boastful title" that you didn't hadn't read the book. Because I wouldn't describe its use in the novel as boastful.

I think the title is hilarious without context. What would you think if a guy with a beard wearing a trash bag living in the park said that? I'd give him $10.

1. I've never read the book.
2. The trailer looks sweet.
3. Will be watching this.

I want to address this more fully (because I am a nut for Matheson and waaay too into this topic), but mostly in spoilers. This may indeed be the most faithful adaptation (we shall see) but that does not make it particularly faithful. The whole point of the novel is the crushing isolation that Robert Neville feels. I don't get that sense from the movie. If you want to see a movie that is a faithful adaptation of a Matheson story, look at Spielberg's Duel -- and that isn't totally faithful because of the differences in medium. It's hard to be solely inside someone's head in a movie. Spoiler: Anyway, this version looks more action-oriented than the novel, which is not about a heroic battle against vampires but a slow and ultimately fruitless struggle against impossible odds. And the title comes from this, will: Spoiler: in the end, as the last man on earth, as an object of fear and loathing, Neville has changed places with the vampire. He is legend like Dracula is a legend to us.

I'll be that man.

...

As long as I pretend the movie and book aren't related, I should be fine.

I apologize Will. I assumed that by asking the question "a book?" you were stating that you were unaware that there was a book which was the original material the movie was derived from. The whol point of me starting this topic was to be able to read other peoples feelings on the obvious leaps the movie is taking from the source material. And I stated above, I thought Omega Man was horrible, both as a movie and as an adaptation of the book. But I still think the deviation of setting and the shift to an action/horror oriented plot is going to make I Am Legend the one that feels the least like the book, which was mainly an introspective on Neville, and less a horror book about vampires.

Omega Man was mediocre as a stand-alone, but you're right considering it's source material it was a travesty.

The thing with previews is that they're not made by the same guy who directs the movie. Some marketing asshole finds the most visually stimulating parts of the movie and irresponsibly strings them together with loud noises and flashes because he or she thinks that will entice people better than what the movie is actually about. When it comes with the latest adaptation of I am Legend, I doubt they could really capture the sense of aloneness that was portrayed in the book and possibly portrayed in the movie. It'd end up being a 20 minute preview. It still could be the wonderful introspective piece, so long as Will Smith doesn't start rapping like an idiot.

Uh, yeah, yeah, here come da vampires big Willie style!

And I'll be sitting next to him.

And to all you tools in this and all other TFP entertainment topics... The movie isn't like the book... Get Eff'ing Over It. When YOU produce a multimillion dollar movie, feel free to follow the book exactly, and still get bad reviews.

Hell, I just want to hear WillRavel make fun of Will Smith's musical career. :D

(he's not that bad, ya know)

Just watched the trailer. I am definitely going to see this. And I like will smith, yes he did sell out pretty hardcore in iRobot, but I forgive him.

iRobot?

Is that like iPod?

(imagines jokes)

iJoke?

iSmith: Handheld hip-hop device.

Aww jeez guys, give the Smith a break

My bad, its I,Robot or something.

Forgive my mistake, every bloody thing these days is called iSomething.

This is I, Robot:

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4040/irobot0dt0.jpg


This is irobot

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6...loorvacln6.jpg


Not sure which one sucks more. :D

10/10

This is I, Robot:
http://www.crcstudio.arts.ualberta.c...y/15-71low.jpg
The Will Smith movie was a knockoff.

Will, I'm coming to your house with his rap CDs and some DVDs of the Fresh Prince for New Years.

We'll make sweet smiggity-smiggity-Smith music together.

Can ya feel it?

Fresh Prince? Shit yes. Rap? It had better be Pac. I doubt you'd catch Jay-Z quoting Shakespeare or openly supporting the Black Panthers.

Jay Z is too busy getting that dirt off his shoulders and making up "albums" with tracks that consist of ghetto grocery lists and expletives.

"Muthafuckin'" isn't an article or a conjunction after a hundred plus uses on one disc.

...

I like the I, Robot special effects where he has a fake arm and sparks fly off it. Yay for things I wish I had.

I kept expecting the "awakened android" in I, Robot to have Robin Williams' voice.

...

I wonder if the I Am Legend vampires will have huge '70s collars and bad accents a la 30 Days of Night.

same here! maybe not at the movies but i'll definitely rent it!

From the comments here, I went out and picked up the book yesterday and read it through in a few hours. I really wish I hadn't now though. I was so excited to see the movie, but now I'm having serious doubts...

In my mind, it's not even the setting, or the explosions, or the vampires that bug me the most... It's the fact that it's Will Smith playing Robert Neville.

Don't get me wrong. I usually think Will Smith plays some decent characters in movies, but all throughout the book, even knowing that it would be Will Smith in the movie, I pictured a guy looking more like David Wenham (The blonde guy that "narrates" 300). I can't imagine seeing Will Smith with a big thick beard running crazily after "someone". Then again, I'm sure with this adaptation, he won't be chasing "someone" at all.

Aliens will probably fly in to save him or something stupid like that...

I don't expect movies to mirror the book.

You just can't take a 400 page book and turn it into a two hour movie.

What I don't understand though is why they change things which do NOT need to be changed. Character personalities, stupid subplots, complete reworking of the central themes, all of which added nothing.

I think part of it is ineptitude. It really takes a great director to turn a book into a reasonable film that captures the essence of a book, most directors, are not great ones. I think the other part is directors want to play artist and make it 'theirs' its MY interpretation of this book. They might not even have understood the book but damn they are going to make it how it SHOULD have been.

Starship Troopers was a political book, the movie, well it had bugs and the name.

Jurassic Park wasn't a deep book but it was an interesting scenario with character development. The movie had black and white characters, most of which didn't match their counterparts in the books even remotely.

Dune....dear god enough said.

Its not even that the movies are 'bad' its that they didn't need to be what they were, they could be good and keep a least close to the book.

i had the same thing with The DaVinci Code. I read it and thought of William Peterson (Gil Grissom from CSI) as Robert. Tom Hanks was all wrong

Don't forget the fact that both the DaVinci code book and movie were some of the worst pieces of shit I have ever wasted my time on. I wouldn't wish either on anyone.

I think they did a decent job with Stephen King's The Stand, considering all the other crap that has gone through the book-to-flick meat grinder.

Then again, that movie was longer than a Boone's Farm piss at midnight.

this is the space that I'm in too. I saw the trailer on TV last night, and thought that it was very Twilight Light Zone-ish. I am looking forwards to it.

Generally book to movie conversions are crap. Doesn't matter if it's a classic or a modern book. I can list numerous book to film conversions and film to book conversions that were underwhelming. For those of us that haven't read the book I'm hoping the film will at least be entertaining. I was tempted to read the book before seeing the film, however, after reading intecel's comments I changed my mind.

Out of curiosity when you mention Dune are you talking about the 1984 version, the 2000 version or both?

Pretty sure he means the 1984 version. They're both sub par, but the 1984 Dune stands as one of the worst film adaptations in the history of the world.

Then the movie shouldn't be using the books Title, Main Character, critical story elements, etc.

There are hundreds of movies that have a quick byline in the credits, "Adapted from Blahblahblah by Writey McAuthorson". Those movies are judged against themselves, not the books they were derived from, and they do just fine.

That being said my distaste for what they have done to Matheson's story will likely outweigh my love of big screen horror/vamp flicks. I'll see it, but I'll be damned if I contribute full movie ticket price to the venture.

The 1984 version. Its really a shame because they had the budget to make it great. Dune would not be an easy book to make a movie out of, so I can give it some slack there, but they took that slack and made a noose out of it.

The 2000 version I've seen ridiculed, but it really did a much better job of following the book, and I did enjoy it. My only major complaint is that Irulan became the uber narrator and sort of 'tie every loose end together' character.

Well, when you don't have five sequals to do it in like Herbert did, you sort of need somebody to do that...

My college creative writing professor was a good friend of Frank Herbert. He said that the whole experience of having his vision wrested away from him and turned into this disaster of a film plunged him into a spiral of poor health and depression that, my professor felt, lead to his death. Bad adaptations kill people!

Well in all fairness every sequel pretty much sucked until the last one.

Dune really was a masterpiece though, and if that is indeed true, then my noose analogy was more apt than I could have imagined.

It is a shame people didn't realize that David Lynch doesn't make movies that entertain people. His movies are designed to make you think... (EXPLAINATION) Spoiler: when I say think I mean have the left and right side of your brain argue with each other. After watching his films your notice that your eyes no longer blink in cadence!

People want to make money, simple as that. And if they have to take a book and crash it in a plane only to rebuild it... make it better... faster... stronger...
I'll see it and know full well I walk into a movie where I can switch my brain off for the next two hours.

For those that argue that it's impossible to make a good movie from a book, I'd like to mention the Jason Bourne series. The movies were better than the books (overly complicated, not particularly strong writing).

Will still go see this. Just cos i was such a fan of the 1971 version.

The key thing for me is when you said, "make it better" and so often book to movie adaptions don't do that for some reason or another.


I'll agree with you there. I liked the films a hell of a lot more than the books.

However, I wouldn't say it's impossible to make a good movie from a book. I will say Hollywood often seems to buy the rights to a book because it was good. Then, in the name of making it fit into a nice two hour package the book is completely bastardized in its big screen conversion.

First of all... don't dis Omega Man. It's one of the great dystopian films of all time, and it's part of the Charlton Heston cannon of cheese.

As for Dune, the 1984 version, it wasn't as bad as all that. It was relatively faithful to the source material up to the moment that Paul and his mom crash in the desert and meet the fremen (TFP's Fremen would know this if he'd ever read Dune-- sorry I couldn't resist the dig).

I am not saying it's perfect, just that it wasn't the worst adaptation ever. That accolade goes to any number of Stephen King novels adapted to film.

I've found that the trailer doesn't necessarily give away much of the film. So, I'll reserve judgment.

Based on a novel, adapted from, sparked by ... no matter. The film you see in your head while reading a book can never be translated properly onto film because we all see it differently when we read it anyway, right?

*RAISES HAND* I'm going to see it!

@Prophecy:
I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I need a way to make my words [sarcastic]sarcastic[/sarcastic].
I know that it's damn near unlikely that a movie will be better than the book. That is only what Hollywood thinks they can do.

The Omega Man is a pretty good movie for a Sunday afternoon. Not a great interpretation of the book, no. But, a good 70's action film with a typical gun toting Chuck Heston nonetheless.

Will Smith ... not sure if I see him in this film. After I Robot, I think I'll wait for the DVD ... if then.

True, and the 1984 version wasn't a bad movie it just wasn't Dune.

The 2001 Dune was spectacular. What is it with the scifi channel? Either their movies are the most horrible, campy garbage ever made of they're gold.

It was okay, but not spectacular.

It was not loyal to the original story, so I owe someone here a cookie.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...lravel/IAM.jpg

Oh, a surprise though. Go see it. The Dark Knight 5 minute trailer before the movie. I'd have paid $15 for that.

woohoo, i like chocolate chip :)

I would like to know when Will Smith is going to play an actual character instead of playing himself in every movie. Is he type casted?

MonomAnny, go rent (or buy) Ali. It was a tour de force. Smith is magnificent in that movie.

read the book
saw the trailers
liked Omega Man
will see this. eventually.
i've sen enough book adaptations to know it wont be too close and it wont be high art but so what.

He was also pretty un "Will Smithy" in "The Pursuit of Happyness".

Wow... so I just got back from the theatre... I think the only similarities between the book and the movie was the character name. The creatures were also highly disappointing also in my eyes...

HOW could they have called this "I am legend"? If they had changed the character name and name of the movie, I would have never guessed...

I'll agree with "I am disappointed".

I actually liked the movie. having not seen or read any of the backstory of this made it more enjoyable for me I guess. But i'm sick of watching movies with girls around!!

"oh no, the poor dog is dead. boo hooo."

really? 5billion people are dead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the rest are dying or turned into night creatures that attack everything!

The first two thirds of the movie I thought were really spectacular. I was creeped out, I felt claustrophobic stuck on this one man who has taken to talking to manequins to keep himself company with the good scare coming every once in a while. Smith did a great job of running the show and bringing us inside the character's rampant alternating fear and hope and paranoia. The opening shots of New York deserted were phenomenal.

And then it all fell apart. Act 3 was just...terrible. The zombie/vampire special effects were embarassing for a movie made in 2007. That was the best they could do? Really? Have they seen NONE of the vampire or zombie movies of the past 5 years? The scenes where the zombies were actually out in the open were made much less enjoyable because of those effects. I just don't know what they were thinking when they settled for that, because it was a huge fail. The "everyone's happy" ending did not fit with the brooding, paranoid tone of the rest of the movie and the "god is telling us what to do" was just bad writing, which says nothing for how seriously they perverted the irony of the title. It all really paled in comparison to how taut and compelling the movie was until Sam died, which is too bad.

Ah well, I'm glad I saw it, though I doubt I'll be purchasing it. In a nutshell, take two parts "The Stand", two parts "Castaway" and one part "28 Days Later'. Layer into a cold glass and chug. It's probably worth seeing for the opening two sections, even if the end doesn't do the rest justice.

The death of the dog is incredibly important in the book. Thanks for using spoiler tags, btw.

Frosstbyte, thank you for that, concise, well put, constructive review. Leaps and bounds better than the typical "this movie sucks" deal.

they show it in the preview. not a suprise!

Wow. That just shows the lack of thought put into this "adaptation."

I'm proposing a new rule. If you fuck up the source material, you're not allowed to use the original title. Come see Will Smith in "Alone On The Planet Of The Vampires" this Christmas, brought to you by the team who made "Robots Rebel And Humanity Learns A Valuable Lesson."

I don't make a point of reading reviews, b/c most critics come across as cynical bastards when attempting to pick apart a film. I have always enjoyed these "last people on earth" type movies since I was young and read Stephen King's The Stand

Right, well I've seen it. The nightwalkers were more vampiric and less 28 Days Later. I liked that better as it seemed to make them act more sinister particularly as they demonstrated more intelligence in a well, more demonstrateable way. The lack of background music added to the atmosphere and the ability to shock when something did happen and that too was better.

The story was changed abit as it would have to be given the advances but it wasn't particulary bad. Over all it could have been longer, but Smith didn't once bring in the "Hell Naw" factor but rather took on the pain and rigour of isolation and survivial. I liked the dog as a symbol of a last connection to family and humanity.


Anyway I was stoked going in, and was very happy coming out. Except the kid behind me that wouldn't shut up.

Hahaha, the "Hell Naw!" factor. Coined genius.

I am outraged, out-raged,

the book, arguable the one of the best philosophyical novel ever written, explored human phychology to a freighting level, as well, the best part was that Bob's character was the actual demon amongst the mass yet he himseld did not realize until the very end, I was hoping that Hollywood can successfully convert that master piece of story-telling to a great movie,

this I AM LEGENG remake, while superbly performed by Will Smith, was badly, badly written and a shame to the original novel

I haven't read the book, but the movie looks interesting. I'll wait for it to hit Blockbuster online.

Went and saw it, didn't think much of it. However I will most definitely be picking up the book to read!

Saw it.

I can't stop thinking about the bacon.

He was saving that bacon, ya know.

Thats exactly what I thought to.

Hey, that's my line! I saw it first!

Actually it's: The bacon. I was saving it.

I was cracking up over that line walking out of the theater!

Yay! The Rosedales just put out a song about I Am Legend.

Not a lyrical masterpiece by any means, but damn if it isn't catchy.

I just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, who also wrote No Country For Old Men. It's no doubt the bleakest and sparest post-apocolyptic story I've ever read. While the father and son who are at the center of the book run into some nasty characters, they're just desparate, hopless people and there's no zombies or vampires or mutants or aliens or any other supernatural elements.

I imagine the hollywood adaptation will add lots of flame breathing mutants and a love story.

We saw this last night. I was pleasantly surprised. I went in thinking it was going to be another I, Robot but thankfully, it wasn't.

Will Smith's acting is excellent in the movie, and he manages (for the most part) to not be the same character he plays in every movie.

The first 2/3 of the movie could be award-winning status, but they basically fucked it all over with the climax and resolution. They had something truly unique going on, and it just turned into another Hollywood movie by the end. That's the only thing that sucked.


Well, that, and the graphics. Man what the fuck was that??? This is 2007. The CGI were down right TERRIBLE in some parts. I ask this: why didn't they just use real fucking people? What was the extreme need to use CG to create humanoids? I was used to the horrible graphics by the end, but using real people and real dogs would have vastly IMPROVED the movie - enough to where I think it would make up for the ending.

The ending wasn't terrible, but if you are going to go that route, you better do it right - and it's tough to do an ending like that without it feeling cheesy/hokey/etc.

7.5/10 - much better than expected

I agree with this, but I found the ending to be intolerable. 3/10 for saying fuck you to Matheson's original story.

Watched it last night. I didn't care for Will Smith's character at all. Let alone the other two. It was good in parts and bad in others. Overall, I'm not very impressed with the movie. I'd give it a 5/10.

I was hoping Anna would sacrifice herself so that Robert would survive and a sequel would be made.

I liked the movie. Even though I didn't expect much, I keep on thinking the movie should be "more" in some ways. Whatever it is, I can't put my finger on it just yet.

Best review here. Didn't mention the bacon, though.

Too many plot holes stood out for me to make it completely enjoyable. How did Anna and her kid get to Manhattan when the government had destroyed all access to and from the island??

Like mentioned above, the CGI was terrible. It was The Mummy terrible.

Will Smith was good, and the dog was good as well. Other than that, not the best movie, but not the worst either.