I am legend

[alby]

Originally Posted by alby

Both shouldn't have been made ^^

However, Hollywood is a business and when it comes down to it.

War of the Worlds:
$ 234,277,056 total gross

I Am Legend:
$ 77,211,321 opening weekend gross

after three weeks, I Am Legend is up to
$205,090,000

[ty]

It's not that great.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by ty

It's not that great.

I don't think anyone here (or anyone else) is saying that it is.

[sike]

the first 30 minutes are great though

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by sike

the first 30 minutes are great though

I agree. The first half of the movie I think is really good. The movie falls apart after he meets the girl and the kid.

[ty]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I don't think anyone here (or anyone else) is saying that it is.

I was referring to the post above--the money.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by ty

I was referring to the post above--the money.

Ah true, but the sad fact is worse films have made more money. It's not necessarily good films that make the gazillions. Just the big ones.

[dalmations202]

the movie was weak, IMO.

I guess I was expecting more of a Independence Day / 30 Days of Night crossover thriller that only a Will Smith/Denzel Washington can pull off. Didn't get it though.

[Usually Lurkin]

I really liked the movie. Since no one else has jumped on it, though,I'll go ahead and say that the changes they made significantly weakened the story. I'd only read a graphic novel version, but it was considerably more complex and the main character was much more interesting. The ending of the movie was just mush. Just by changing that, they changed the meaning of the whole film, and took out what was really the only thing that separated this story from those million other Zombie flicks.

This movie was better than Omega Man, though (Thank you, living in the future!) and Will Smith was about on par with Charleton Heston for coolness

[Nash13]

I will say after watching this movie for a second time, it seemed better. It was better than about half the movies that came out between may-july.

[bernardos70]

I did watch it twice........ I should have paid more attention the 2nd time I guess, but I fell asleep instead. I'm sure I didn't miss out on a whole lot.

[MavsX]

Originally Posted by Usually Lurkin

I really liked the movie. Since no one else has jumped on it, though,I'll go ahead and say that the changes they made significantly weakened the story. I'd only read a graphic novel version, but it was considerably more complex and the main character was much more interesting. The ending of the movie was just mush. Just by changing that, they changed the meaning of the whole film, and took out what was really the only thing that separated this story from those million other Zombie flicks.

This movie was better than Omega Man, though (Thank you, living in the future!) and Will Smith was about on par with Charleton Heston for coolness

would you mind sharing some of the stuff that was different in the book?

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by MavsX

would you mind sharing some of the stuff that was different in the book?

>>>>>BOOK SPOILER ALERT!!!<<<<<







The main character was a drunk, apathetic English chap who went around during the day killing vampires while they slept... (and he didn't create the virus...)


What he didn't know was that there were 2 types of vampires:

1) complete vampires (the nasty blood-suckers who hunted humans at night...)
2) the "still living" (a half-infected group of people who held the disease at bay...)

The still living had pale skin and an aversion to sunlight, but didn't crave human blood... Like vampires, they also slept during the day...

Our hero couldn't tell the difference between the vampires & the still living, so he killed them all the same...

Eventually, the still living sent a girl named Ruth to talk to Neville, but he knocks her out & tests her blood, only to discover she's infected... After she wakes up, she explains how her people view him as a monster, wins over his trust, then knocks him out with a mallet & escapes...

A few months later, the still living capture him, then sentence him to death for his crimes... Ruth gives him some suicide pills before his execution (burned at the stake) and he reflects on how he was as much a monster to the still living as the vampires were to humans...

[in the end, Neville is Legend because he terrorized the still living in their sleep, just like our current legends of vampires who terrorize humans in their sleep...]

[Usually Lurkin]

Originally Posted by Underdog

>>>>>BOOK SPOILER ALERT!!!<<<<<

The main character was a drunk, apathetic English chap who went around during the day killing vampires while they slept... (and he didn't create the virus...)

>>>>>MORE SPOILERS ALERT!!!<<<<<



I didn't think he created the virus in the movie, either. That british chic did, right?

In the book (graphic novel, at least), the "still living" vampires were a mutation on the virus. There was considerable amount of time spent with Neville exploring the legend aspect of the vampires v. the biological, virus aspect. There had been a debate while the world was falling apart about whether it was just some disease or if people were really turning into vampires. Much of the vampire lore, he figured out, was superstition on the part of vampires. Only vampires who had been Christian were affected by crosses, for instance. Those that had been Jewish might be afraid of the Torah. The book explored well this tension between the power of our physical nature v. the power of legend. In the end, he had figured his way through much of the physical aspect of the disease, but had himself become a dangerous legend. Some other differences:

He wasn't a scientist before the outbreak; he learned what he could from libraries afterward.
His wife and child didn't die conveniently while escaping in a helicopter (man that was weak). They got infected and he had to kill them.
Neville spent a lot more time in the book mulling over his own dark-side (drunkenness, lusting, wondering why he didn't just kill himself), and had to get over these in order to be productive. He always viewed the vampire killing as a virtue, though (or at least a matter of practicality).
The vampires knew where he lived, and surrounded his house every night.
The main vampire dude was an old car-pool buddy of his, and stood outside his house every night calling for him to come out. Neville really wanted to kill that guy.
He found the dog during the story, and had to teach it to trust him.

Plus, there was a cool scene in the book (that was also in Omega Man) in which the zombies/vampires get into Neville's house and do a lot of damage. He had to fight his way through them and reestablish his safety zone. After, he thinks all is lost, but realizes that they were too dumb to destroy the generators, and is able to regain motivation in daily survival. In all, the book made for a pretty cool metaphor for how we sometimes find our way through right and wrong in life. The movie was just too simplified to get at stuff like that.

[MavsX]

Underdog, i owe you some more rep.

thanks fellas for the insight. That story sounds crazy, its funny how hollywood makes these movies that are nothing like the books they are based on.

[mqywaaah]

That scene where he had to kill Sam the dog made me want to burst out crying. Aww...

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Usually Lurkin

I didn't think he created the virus in the movie, either. That british chic did, right?

I dunno - never saw the movie... I just gathered the plot from reading forums & decided it was nothing like the book, so I took a pass... Plus, I just can't get jiggy with Will Smith (he's the same guy to me whether it's Wild Wild West, Fresh Prince, or Muhammad Ali...)

[Usually Lurkin]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Plus, I just can't get jiggy with Will Smith (he's the same guy to me whether it's Wild Wild West, Fresh Prince, or Muhammad Ali...)

are you a parent? That would make sense, then. You know, 'cause they just don't understand.