Author Topic: I Am Legend  (Read 25094 times)

Reggie

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on: July 22, 2007, 04:32:47 PM
I'm not really into horror in general, but every now and then something will get my attention.

So, recently that was the preview I saw before Transformers for I Am Legend starring Will Smith.

I figured there was something more there than what a Will Smith movie would make of it, so I looked it up and found the book...and read it, because it sounded pretty interesting to me.

I just finished it a couple of days ago and I was wondering what any of you think of the book, and what kind of expectations you may or may not have for the movie version...?

(I know there's another Vampire thread below, but I didn't think this fit into that)



Leon Kensington

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Reply #1 on: July 22, 2007, 06:15:13 PM
I expect it to be better than Omega Man, which I don't think will be hard.



Reggie

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Reply #2 on: July 22, 2007, 06:34:06 PM
Hmm...I haven't seen that...I think I'll Netflix it....



Simon

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Reply #3 on: July 23, 2007, 08:39:29 AM
I adore "I am Legend", one of my all time favourite SF stories (surprised you've started this thread over in horror to be honest)...

The tightness of the narrative, when for over a hundred pages there is one character, mostly living in the present, is staggering.. Its a truly astounding work or paranoia.

Up until last week I thought it was the origin of the Post-Apoc Zombie story, until I came across Dark Benediction by Walter M. Miller (author of the classic A Canticle For Leibowitz).  This is another "Unexplained virus turns everyone into roaming predators and brings the end of civilization" story, only it was published 3 years before Legend...  Unfortunately (and much to my surprise after the seminal Leibowitz) the story is badly written, badly characterised and has an almost embarrassingly bad denouement.  I read it in a 3 novella book along with The Daftseller and Conditionally Human, both of which exhibit the same horrendous writing...  I was therefore completely staggered this morning when I found that its a Gollancz SF Masterwork...

Looks like Gollancz are beginning to dilute the top quality stuff in order to keep the range going.  Still, I stongly suspect it was the seed for Matheson's masterpiece.



Alasdair5000

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Reply #4 on: July 23, 2007, 11:50:34 AM
The book has the distinction, along with Se7en and The Mothman Prophecies, of being one of the three things that has ever really, really unsettled me.  It's astonishingly grim and weirdlessly timeless both in the prose and the setting.  If they keep the ending for the Will Smith version I will be amazingly impressed.
   As for the new movie version I'm really looking forward to it.  Judging by the trailer they've got the desolation absolutely right and Smith is, I still maintain, a far smarter leading man than almost all of his movies have let him show.  There's real potential for something very very dark here and even if we don't get it, the movie should still work extremely well as a big budget high end piece of apocalyptic cinema.
   Oh as an aside, someone has stuck together the I Am Legend teaser with the 1-18-08 teaser, elements of 10,000BC and Sunshine  and put it on youtube.  I was amazed by how well it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS8CqHz8loI



Leon Kensington

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Reply #5 on: July 23, 2007, 03:11:00 PM
Maybe that is the 1/18/08 secret, it's really just another Scary Movie.



Reggie

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Reply #6 on: July 23, 2007, 08:16:28 PM
Yeah...I know I Am Legend is actually referred to as sci-fi, but I see vampires and think horror....like I said...I'm not really that big into horror...at all, really, so what would I know?  :)

I really like reading books that are made into movies and then watching the various movies that are made from them.  I try to read the book first, but I always feel like a poser when I decide to read a book because I see a preview for the movie version of it first....and since this one is supposed to be so influential on so many writers and filmmakers, I feel like that even more this time around  :-\

But I was pretty pleased with it. And I have already Netflixed "The Last Man on Earth" (starring Vincent Price) and The Omega Man, which are the two existing movie versions of it because I'd like to watch those before seeing the new one.  Considering the Will Smith version is actually called I Am Legend, one would expect it to be the most faithful adaptation....you know, like I Am Robot....  ::) 

And, Simon, you mentioned hoping that it was the origins of the zombie story as we know it but found that other story that came before it.  I found in my research into other movie versions of this story that previous zombie tales aside, I Am Legend is actually the one that influenced and inspired George A. Romero to make his films.  So....there ya go.

 :)   



Alasdair5000

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Reply #7 on: July 24, 2007, 09:10:25 AM
Maybe that is the 1/18/08 secret, it's really just another Scary Movie.

I'm actually frightened by how much sense that makes:)



Leon Kensington

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Reply #8 on: July 24, 2007, 03:46:10 PM
Dear God!  I could be right.

For the love of all that is SF, if this happens someone please kill JJ Abrams.



Kris

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Reply #9 on: July 25, 2007, 04:12:21 AM
Someone - I think my mother - bought me I Am Legend for my birthday years ago, and the astonishing power of its final pages still resonate with me. That theme has been done over and over again since.

On the downside, it encouraged me to seek another Matheson novel and bought Hunted Past Reason. Man, that is a bad book. It's hard to believe the same person wrote both.

I'm reserving judgement on the movie. If they give Smith some acting to do and don't just have him running around for two hours, I think it could be the best adaptation yet.



Reggie

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Reply #10 on: July 25, 2007, 08:05:30 PM
Right on, I argue with my friends all the time that, yes, Will Smith is in fact a good enough actor, we all loved the Fresh Prince, he's just been so typecast into the same role over and over again, because it sells tickets...It'd just be nice to finally get to see a bit more depth.



Darwinist

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Reply #11 on: December 17, 2007, 06:30:24 AM

Saw the movie yesterday.  I thought it was pretty good.  I have not read the book but will do so.  The first 2/3 were pretty interesting, towards the end the movie became more of an action fllick and a little more bloody.  Won't say much else.   The scenes of deserted New York were amazing.   I would be interested in hearing what people who read the book have to say about the movie. 

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


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Reply #12 on: December 17, 2007, 02:48:02 PM
I loved the book...I was so excited to hear there was a movie coming out... then two word combinations broke my heart...  1."Will Smith" and 2. "PG-13"

I'll be waiting for the scene where Will Smith punches a zombie in the face and says something like "chew on that!"

And a PG-13 zombie movie??? C'mon!

The CG looked pretty cruddy from the preview- how is it in the movie?



Darwinist

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Reply #13 on: December 17, 2007, 04:11:54 PM
I loved the book...I was so excited to hear there was a movie coming out... then two word combinations broke my heart...  1."Will Smith" and 2. "PG-13"

I'll be waiting for the scene where Will Smith punches a zombie in the face and says something like "chew on that!"

And a PG-13 zombie movie??? C'mon!

The CG looked pretty cruddy from the preview- how is it in the movie?

I hear you on the Will Smith thing.  I thought the same thing going in but actually I thought he was pretty good.  The CGI was not good.  The deer in NYC scenes looked fake and the zombie action scenes were ridiculous.  My son and a few other people I know that saw the film hated the ending.  It thought it was OK.  I can't wait to read the book. 

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


DKT

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Reply #14 on: December 17, 2007, 09:05:08 PM
I'm disappointed to hear about the crummy CGI.  Whatever problems I had with Constantine (mostly pacing and plot) I thought the visuals were impressive and I thought Francis Lawrence would bring that game to I Am Legend.  Guess not. 

Still, it made $75 million on the opening weekend?  Holy crap, that's a lot of money!

I'll probably see it eventually, but I don't know if it will be in the theaters...


Darwinist

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Reply #15 on: December 18, 2007, 04:52:17 PM
I'm disappointed to hear about the crummy CGI.  Whatever problems I had with Constantine (mostly pacing and plot) I thought the visuals were impressive and I thought Francis Lawrence would bring that game to I Am Legend.  Guess not. 

Still, it made $75 million on the opening weekend?  Holy crap, that's a lot of money!

I'll probably see it eventually, but I don't know if it will be in the theaters...

I guess I would say that most of the visuals of the movie were great, much of it being NYC of course.  The things that were fake-looking (deer & zombies) didn't have huge amounts of screen time.  I saw it matinee on a mega screen and I thought it was worth the $5.50.

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


goatkeeper

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Reply #16 on: December 18, 2007, 10:37:26 PM
When you've got Will Smith in your movie why bother wasting money on decent CG?  People are going to go see it either way...
Yes, I'm in a cynical mood today.



eytanz

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Reply #17 on: December 18, 2007, 10:41:38 PM
When you've got Will Smith in your movie why bother wasting money on decent CG?  People are going to go see it either way...
Yes, I'm in a cynical mood today.

I neither saw, nor have any interest in seeing, this movie, but the majority of reviews I've read (I like reading reviews for movies I won't see) make a point of the CG being really great for most of the movie.



Chodon

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Reply #18 on: December 19, 2007, 05:27:24 PM
I'm leaving work early today with some co-workers to check this movie out.  All I have to say is:

Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither.


oddpod

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Reply #19 on: December 24, 2007, 07:30:12 AM
i hear thay are already thinking about a sequel to i am legend ,
 this is worying

card carying dislexic and  gramatical revolushonery


eytanz

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Reply #20 on: December 24, 2007, 08:27:33 AM
i hear thay are already thinking about a sequel to i am legend ,
 this is worying

Oh dear. But it's going to be fun to try to figure out what the title will be. At the moment I think my favorite idea is: I am legend 2: I am still legend
« Last Edit: December 24, 2007, 08:58:10 AM by eytanz »



Russell Nash

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Reply #21 on: December 24, 2007, 10:58:54 AM
i hear thay are already thinking about a sequel to i am legend ,
 this is worying

Oh dear. But it's going to be fun to try to figure out what the title will be. At the moment I think my favorite idea is: I am legend 2: I am still legend

I Am Legend 2: The Legend Lives On



Darwinist

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Reply #22 on: December 24, 2007, 07:23:55 PM
i hear thay are already thinking about a sequel to i am legend ,
 this is worying

What??!!  That's ridiculous.  Who is the story going to be about?  DJ Jazzy Jeff?  Spoiler: The Fresh Prince is gone!  Gawd.   

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


DarkKnightJRK

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Reply #23 on: December 26, 2007, 10:55:40 PM
I read the book, first through the Steve Niles comic adaptation and then the actual novel by Matherson. I'm hoping the movie will at least be similar to one of Smith's other recent works, I, Robot: Not exactly the story, but keeps the tone and theme of the piece with it. I don't have a problem with Will Smith and think he's a pretty good actor (watch Six Degrees of Seperation if you don't believe me).

Question to those who've seen the movie--no need to spoil me completely, but: how close is the movie's ending to the book ending?



Tango Alpha Delta

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Reply #24 on: December 27, 2007, 02:04:47 AM
I read the book, first through the Steve Niles comic adaptation and then the actual novel by Matherson. I'm hoping the movie will at least be similar to one of Smith's other recent works, I, Robot: Not exactly the story, but keeps the tone and theme of the piece with it. I don't have a problem with Will Smith and think he's a pretty good actor (watch Six Degrees of Seperation if you don't believe me).

Question to those who've seen the movie--no need to spoil me completely, but: how close is the movie's ending to the book ending?


Okay... we're so very close to being in agreement... if we just change a couple of the words... seriously, I have enjoyed Will Smith in his popcorny MiB, Independence Day-type roles, and I have seen him do great dramatic work, too (screw you, I'm allowed to like "Pursuit of Happyness").  I'm open to the possibility that they might have managed to make this "Legend" story successfully. 

But I have a serious beef against what they did to I, Robot.  I mean, if you're a studio, why pay Isaac's estate, use the title, and CG in some robots... if you're not actually use any of Isaac's stories?  There is literally, a whole universe of storytelling there, and they blew it for a half-assed hack job of Minority Report.

Here's a mind blower for you:  Sigourney Weaver as the REAL Susan Calvin.  Let her stretch her legs and solve a couple of clever puzzles.  Then put Gary Sinise and Jack Black through the wringer on Mercury ... friggin' Mercury in a movie, how cool would that be?  And Alan Rickman was so great as Marvin in Hitchhiker's Guide... let him actually put on some tin-man makeup and bring the robot prophet to life!

How's about you play... who'd make a good Elijah Bailey?  R. Daneel Olivaw?  Hmm?




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