I Am Legend (Spoilers)

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2008-01-08 04:05am

I had the strong impression that they blew the best CGI on flawlessly rendering a dead and ruined Manhattan, but had less time and money left over to make the Zompires any good (they would've been massively improved if they used actual people in make up or body paint, like with the captured Dark Seeker woman).

I don't understand what was so genuinely bad about the ending with that small enclave in Vermont, where in The Stand there were organized survivor enclaves and Land of the Dead concerned a citadal among a sea of zombies. Although it was presented in a rather naff way with the school kids and pristine Georgian colonial town square. It should've looked slightly grimer and more obviously fortified.

Maybe more could've been made of the Dark Seekers defining themselves as a seperate intelligent species, maybe shown to have snippets of memories of their past lives, developing a Moria Orc style culture, and even reproducing (the captured girl could've been pregnant with the Alpha Male's child).

The Spartan · Post by **The Spartan** » 2008-01-08 07:35am

Big Orange wrote:(they would've been massively improved if they used actual people in make up or body paint, like with the captured Dark Seeker woman).

I remember reading somewhere that they did have live actors at first but the director didn't like the way the actors in make up looked and wanted what we saw, and since they can't have real people constantly hyperventilating they went to stand-ins for the interaction and used CGI to give us what we saw.

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2008-01-08 07:38am

The CGI we saw looked like shit and did not hyperventilate anyway. Meh.

tim31 · Post by **tim31** » 2008-01-08 08:19am

Apart from the first time we see them(circlejerk), that's true.

Interestingly, they got Mike Patton to record all the zompire sounds because his vocal range seemed slightly inhuman.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2008-01-09 10:45am

tim31 wrote:
Interestingly, they got Mike Patton to record all the zompire sounds because his vocal range seemed slightly inhuman.

That's quite sad really since the eerie sounds the Zompires made were far more scary than their actual appearance. When Neville first bolts everything down in his home and cowers into the bath tub for the night then hears the steadily growing howls, snarls, and shrieks echoing through the empty avenues of New York, the unseen Zompire hordes implied wandering the dark streets was much creepier than actually seeing them (it was a similar story with not fully seeing fully them properly in that derelict building).

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2008-01-10 04:24am

Out of interest, is there any actual Oscar rule that stops animals being given awards? Because the dog gave one of the best performances by an animal of all time.

DarkSilver · Post by **DarkSilver** » 2008-01-10 11:06am

managed to see it.

I enjoyed the entire movie - I thought Will Smith did excellent in his role being Neville, with dog was great also. The movie actually had me tearing up a few times (especially when Neville had to kill Sam.....you can just see Neville's heartbreaking....). The Zompire's were less scarey then they could have been, the sounds where more frightening than the actual looks.

When it hit the ending...there was no payoff. What the movie was building to, wasn't what we saw. It annoyed me, and I can understand why Smith hated the new ending.

It should have ended more inline with the original Matthison novel, Neville realizing he had become a monster instead of the other way around. We see the wall full of those he killed trying to find a cure (in his human trials), and the fact he all but hunts them in order to get his test subjects.

Neville, in the end, is far less human than the infected were, I think.

Overall, the movie was good, 3.5 stars out of 5 - I hope the true ending is on the DVD so I can see how it was supposed to play out.

Phantasee · Post by **Phantasee** » 2008-01-11 01:14am

I was going to take my friend out to see The Golden Compass, but when I heard the ending was going to be the most expensive DVD extra ever, I decided we'd see that then. I figured I Am Legend would make for a good movie instead, except...the ending is going to be another DVD extra. FUCK.

Post by **Vympel** » 2008-01-11 01:38am

Phantasee wrote:I was going to take my friend out to see The Golden Compass, but when I heard the ending was going to be the most expensive DVD extra ever, I decided we'd see that then. I figured I Am Legend would make for a good movie instead, except...the ending is going to be another DVD extra. FUCK.

Golden Compass is shit. Be glad you didn't waste the money.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2008-02-15 05:44am

Kind of late, but I hope my small necro be pardoned...

As a longstanding post-apocalypse reader, I could not miss Matheson's novel. I admit I was kind of uneasy when such a serious theme was handed to a Will Smith movie. Though, remembering the semi-good work on I, Robot, I thought I'd give that a try.

And, well, it was a great movie. Not exactly 100% in line with Matheson, but I'd say a creative new plot which nonetheless keeps all the main motives - the virus, the fear, the joy having a healthy dog as the only possible companion. It's all nice and dandy - right up until the end.

The ending infuriated me. Just what the fuck were they thinking?

I mean, the movie is slowly getting at the idea that (1) vampires have a primitive society (2) Will Smith is being rather ruthless towards them

I read that there was an alternative ending where the female vampire from Smith's basement interacts with the furious vampires, and tells them to spare Smith. And that would be on the DVD. That's closer to the novel and 1000 times superior to the slapsticked, silly happy end in the theatrical version.

Then I read that the studio bosses didn't like the ending because it wasn't too appealing to the mass viewer or something, and I thought hell, at least we're going to get a better ending, but those studio people can ruin a movie entirely just as they did with that pathetic "end" in the theatre.

A few other things that irked me, was the moment where Smith and the dog fight against three vampire dogs and kill them (but the dog is infected), however, the human vampires massing in the Grand Central don't attack and allow Smith to slowly pick up the dog and drive away.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2008-02-15 08:54am

Yeah, the studios are idiot busybodies occassionally, but I won't be that mad if they release the original cut of I Am Legend as it was supposed to be intended on a SE DVD (Smith understandably got quite angry at the rushed, more Hollywood ending being shoehorned in for the theatrical release).

And the Zompires didn't rush out to get Neville because it was highlighted in a poster on one of his apartment cuboards that the infected dogs have a higher tolerance to UV light.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2008-02-15 09:44am

Yeah, I just hope the DVD has the alternative ending - which was the real one planned for the movie if not for the studio hacks who ditched it shortly before the premiere and re-shot it entirely. I can understand Smith and I'm entirely with the scenarists - that "hollywood" ending sucked donkey balls, especially for such a well-done, heavy and dark script.

Raesene · Post by **Raesene** » 2008-02-15 11:16am

I am Legend was a movie that pleasantly surprised me after I was convinced to go and see it - I do not know the novel or any of the previous films and expected a slay-the-monsters movie.

I didn't mind the end, as Neville doesn't make it (shrunk spoiler just to be sure). He treats the zompires as a serious danger and is very, very careful whatever he's doing. The alternative ending sounds like it's worth to buy the DVD, and I'm still looking for the movie version with Vincent Price as Neville.

Golden Compass: I can second Vympel's opinion. That movie postponed my starting the books as I'm afraid to find out wether I wasted a Christmas wish or not.

Lord_Xerxes · Post by **Lord_Xerxes** » 2008-03-20 08:02pm

Seeing as how this thread has already been necroed...

Vympel wrote:I loved the movie - especially Sam. She reminded me of my current German Shepherd, Ollie:-

I was really emotional when she died.

God, this movie hit me like a ton of bricks. Even going into it with the assumption that the dog bites it (from the trailers), it cut at me like a knife when it happened because I related so much to Neville's character. My dog just died back in November, much to early due to some cancer that had gone undetected and had not made him sick up until we had to put him down. It was that shock of seeing what I'd been feeling portrayed on film. It's not flattering to see a grown man cry.

At least it was in the privacy of my own home.

When Neville was driving after burying Sam and the seat is empty next to him...Perfect scene. It really conveys all the lonliness and despair without having him break down and lose it like the way I did. Kudos to them for showing it that way.

The religious thing did bother me, and it was for the same reason that someone posted here earlier. That it reinforces that it was "god's plan" for a pocket of humanity to survive, and not the will or determination of humans...like Anna and small child, to find a way through their own devices, and by doing so reinforces her argument as such while making his claim about the dominance and viciousness about the spread of the virus seem somehow less correct of an assumption after 3 years of evidence to the contrary. And it just really, really felt like signs and the trend of movies of late to push the religious question/M.O.

It felt cheap and forced in Signs and in the third Matrix movie, and it felt cheap and forced here to. Why can't it ever be human skill/will/ability to suceed and instead be like sports athelete thanking god for him winning the big game- not his pratice, training, or teamwork?

All that being said, I enjoyed the movie, although I agreed with the majority here that the ending felt anticlimatic and lacking, and that a combination of the original, alternate, and book would have been better.

Mr_Mudkip · Post by **Mr_Mudkip** » 2008-03-23 01:44am

Book was better.

Plus, a Hand Grenade would not kill Will Smith.
Mere explosives cannot kill the Fresh Prince.

chitoryu12 · Post by **chitoryu12** » 2008-03-23 12:49pm

Mr_Mudkip wrote:Book was better.

Plus, a Hand Grenade would not kill Will Smith.
Mere explosives cannot kill the Fresh Prince.

That's nice, now do you have anything of substance to add?

What I'm wondering is how in the nine levels of hell Neville got everything he had. I can understand that being in an infected zone and a leading virologist, he would have his lab and the fortifications for his doors and windows, and he could have gotten the M4 from one of the soldiers as he was returning home, maybe given to him for "protection", but where did he get all the floodlights and explosives?

I'm also wondering why he had a hand grenade in a drawer of medical and lab supplies. It's like he was expecting to get trapped in there and having to use it somehow.

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2008-03-23 01:15pm

chitoryu12 wrote:What I'm wondering is how in the nine levels of hell Neville got everything he had. I can understand that being in an infected zone and a leading virologist, he would have his lab and the fortifications for his doors and windows, and he could have gotten the M4 from one of the soldiers as he was returning home, maybe given to him for "protection", but where did he get all the floodlights and explosives?

Neville had the run of military ships in port, and I'm sure floodlights could have been grabbed from anywhere in the city. In the book, Neville powered the streetlights in front of his house to watch the vampires.

I'm also wondering why he had a hand grenade in a drawer of medical and lab supplies. It's like he was expecting to get trapped in there and having to use it somehow.

Take a look at the reinforced glass of the lab as well. He probably made it his "last stand" room, with the cubbyhole in place.

And for the record people, the movie was much better than the book, IMHO. I read the damned thing. Neville spends the entire book getting drunk and throwing drinks at the walls, and getting drunk, and listening to music, and throwing drinks at the walls. The ending wasn't so incredibly, explosively orgasmically better than the movie, either. The movie, with the theatrical ending was MUCH better.

Death from the Sea · Post by **Death from the Sea** » 2008-03-23 01:16pm

chitoryu12 wrote:
What I'm wondering is how in the nine levels of hell Neville got everything he had. I can understand that being in an infected zone and a leading virologist, he would have his lab and the fortifications for his doors and windows, and he could have gotten the M4 from one of the soldiers as he was returning home, maybe given to him for "protection", but where did he get all the floodlights and explosives?

I'm also wondering why he had a hand grenade in a drawer of medical and lab supplies. It's like he was expecting to get trapped in there and having to use it somehow.

well... he did have the whole city at his disposal for how many years? stocking up on supplies couldn't have been that hard once you are alone, aside from doing it during daylight hours and staying out of dark buildings. As for the grenade in the lab. That makes sense. If they found his home, the basement lab would be his last stand place. The bigger question would be how did he get the large glass doors/wall down there?

Darth Ruinus · Post by **Darth Ruinus** » 2008-03-23 02:22pm

Could he have perhaps gotten that lab installed before some of the shit went down or maybe slight after? The plague couldnt have spread too far, and perhaps he got some military workers to put that lab down there?

Phantasee · Post by **Phantasee** » 2008-03-23 02:23pm

chitoryu12 wrote:I'm also wondering why he had a hand grenade in a drawer of medical and lab supplies.

What, you don't have various weapons lying about in convenient drawers and closets in your home? How will you be prepared for the zombies, man?

chitoryu12 · Post by **chitoryu12** » 2008-03-23 05:52pm

Darth Ruinus wrote:Could he have perhaps gotten that lab installed before some of the shit went down or maybe slight after? The plague couldnt have spread too far, and perhaps he got some military workers to put that lab down there?

Most likely, yes. He was a virologist and Lieutenant Colonel, so he probably had the lab installed in his basement when he realized just how serious the infection was. With his rank, he could have gotten some of his hardware, like the rifle and modifications, but where would you scrounge up all those explosives? Wouldn't any military ships carrying the proper materials to lay a string of car bombs in front of your house have taken off to ship survivors?

And for the record people, the movie was much better than the book, IMHO. I read the damned thing. Neville spends the entire book getting drunk and throwing drinks at the walls, and getting drunk, and listening to music, and throwing drinks at the walls. The ending wasn't so incredibly, explosively orgasmically better than the movie, either. The movie, with the theatrical ending was MUCH better.

Oh, fuck yes. In fact, except for the "God told me to come here" part, pretty much everything was better than the book. I kept laughing the whole time if I thought about what he did at this point in the book, like when I would remember that instead of going crazy and doing a one-man assault with an SUV on a pack of infected, book Neville only got into a fight with them when he was so busy experimenting on how to kill the vampires faster that he forgot to check the time.

And the novel vampires were pussies. Neville held off the crowd by shooting with a handgun (which did practically nothing) and then kicking a few of them back so they knocked over the rest of the crowd like bowling pins. At least the zompires in the movie could put up a fight.

Death from the Sea · Post by **Death from the Sea** » 2008-03-24 03:41am

chitoryu12 wrote:And the novel vampires were pussies. Neville held off the crowd by shooting with a handgun (which did practically nothing) and then kicking a few of them back so they knocked over the rest of the crowd like bowling pins. At least the zompires in the movie could put up a fight.

put up a fight? hell they were waaaaaay overwanked. They were ramming his landrover and each one almost made it rollover. and the jumps they were doing would make Spiderman and Michael Jordan jealous.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2008-03-24 05:48am

Now that I've seen the movie with captioning (I saw it in florida over christmas in a non rear window theater); I can comment more on that stupid woman and her kid.

No wonder everyone hated her. She turned a decent movie into a shit-fest.

It would have been better if she had explained further her "God put me here" speech to be a bit more logical; "I was ready to shoot myself when I heard your voice over the radio"....and then back up her claim of a enclave in Vermont with some EVIDENCE, like her being able to say who runs it, etc, rather than blindly believing in it.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2008-03-24 05:58am

There really needed to be another flashback; showing the hows and whys about how Nieville set up all that cool shit. Where did he get all the guns in the cabinet from? The C4? The lights? etc.

Whenever he came up with some new thing, it seemed a bit forced; like "I need this, lets pull it out of my storage shed"; especially his fully equipped lab in the basement...

Zor · Post by **Zor** » 2008-03-24 11:55am

MKSheppard wrote:There really needed to be another flashback; showing the hows and whys about how Nieville set up all that cool shit. Where did he get all the guns in the cabinet from? The C4? The lights? etc.

Whenever he came up with some new thing, it seemed a bit forced; like "I need this, lets pull it out of my storage shed"; especially his fully equipped lab in the basement...

He was alone in a city formally home to millions (most of whom died before the majority of the survivors went apeshit) for several years and had military aid before the collapse. It is not too much of a strech.

Zor