Questions about "I Am Legend" [Spoilers]

[[R_H]]

I watched "I Am Legend" for the first time yesterday, I found it to be a fairly good movie but I have a few questions about it (mostly about the Infected) after having seen it.

1)Why is he hunting deer with an M4, wouldn't a larger caliber rifle be more effective?

2)Why is he trying to run down and shoot the deer while driving the car?(3:00 to 5:00)

3)What does he spread on the front step of his condo? (7:55)

4)What were the locations he was marking on the map (red X inside a black circle? (20:28)

5)Who's appartment was he gathering supplies from? (20:38 to 22:00)

6)Do the Infected eventually die after being exposed to sunlight for a long enough period of time [after jumping out the first story window with an Infectee on clinging onto Neville's back, who's skin begins to burn while it's writhing around on the ground]? (30:09)

7)What happen to the two other Infectees that also were chasing Neville, and that also jumped out of the window while persuing him? (30:09)

The bait for the trap he sets was a crushed test-tube full of his blood, were the Infected able to smell it, or did they watch him set the trap and then just went to see what he had placed there? (32:00)

9)He mentions hypothesizes that the KV-Infected "decreased brain-function" (He blathers something about social de-evolution, even though an Infected male exposes himself to sunlight after he captures an Infected female and the Infected living in "hives" seem to contradict this.) yet they're able to use Fred the mannequin as bait for a snare trap (which they built) that Neville gets trapped in. (46:25)

10)Why is he using an ACOG, why not a reddot/reflex sight (Aimpoint etc)? In the combat scenes he's in CQ evironments where, IMO an ACOG wouldn't be as effective as an Aimpoint.

11)Why doesn't he carry a pistol on his person? It would be useful in case he A) gets seperated from/loses his rifle (which is the case after he frees himself from the snare trap the Infected set) or B) his rifle malfunctions.

12)Why would the Infectees keep Infected dogs with them? Wouldn't they just eat them (seeing how they're social de-evolved and all)? Why would they need them (it's implied that the Infected humans have a better than normal sense of smell)? (49:50)

Infected physical abilities
- Two Infectees impact (one after the other) Neville's SUV with enough momentum flip it over. The left side (and the side that they ran into) of the SUV was on a slight incline though. (59:21)
- The Infectee female that Neville experimented on needed six times the human dose of the sedative "Dilotted Push [?] only sedates effectively at six times human dose" (33:10)
- The Infectee were able to follow Neville, Anna and Ethan back to Neville's condo even though "there was light on the horizon" (767:089)
- An Infectee is able to drag Neville with Neville's neck/shoulder in his mouth and then tosses him from the floor onto a table (throws him about 1.5 to 2 meters up and Neville lands upwards of 2 meters away). (79:06 to 79:26)
- Neville stabs the Infectee with a screwdriver into its thigh, after pulling the screwdriver out, the Infectee jumps down the flight of stairs, vaults over the bannister and runs into another room (79:35 to 79:52)
- An Infectee is able to hang from the ceiling while tearing a hole into it
- That same Infectee is not incapacitated after being shot at (at very close range) by 6 (possibly less) 9mm gunshot wounds (81:20 to 81:29)
- Infectees are able to rapidly climb up the walls of the condo (which is 3 or so stories tall) (82:10)
- A group of Infectees is able to break down the lab door (sending it flying across the entire width of his lab. Said door is locked and barred (not as massive as the front door though). (82:55)
- An Infectee (the hive's leader?) rams himself into/hits the Plexiglass (?) door 27 times before putting a hole into it (83:27 to 85:45)

The KV (Krippin Virus) Infectees have (according to Wiki):
"Adrenal glands that are "permanently open", giving victims increased strength but also a faster metabolism. This results in increased body temperature, heart rate, and breathing speed, making those infected hyperventilate constantly. Pupils became permanently dilated and skin became hypersensitive to UV radiation, forcing infected hosts into a nocturnal life cycle."

Wouldn't the constant release of adrenaline massively increase the threat of cardiac arrest? Why would their adrenal glands be permanently "open" if they are nocturnal? Wouldn't the Infectees die out fairly rapidly, as they need would need to intake more calories to accomplish the physical feats they are capable of, yet there is no evidence that they do anything but hunt for food. If the Infectees are able to reproduce, assuming their offspring would be born as normal humans, would 90% of them die at birth, 9% become Infectees and 1% be unaffected? If that were the case, wouldn't the death rate be much higher than the birth-rate, meaning that the Infected Humans would die out fairly rapidly?

[andrewgpaul]

2) That was a bit odd; I think t was because he spooked them when he was on foot, and doesn't want to lose them in the city.

3)I think it was ammonia, or something to hide his scent from the 'dark seekers'.

4) I thought they were locations of 'nests' or ones he'd cleared out.

5) No-one in particular. Manhattan wouldn't be short of abandoned homes.

I think the implication was they had an excellent sense of smell, but poor vision, especially in or close to daylight. The blood was a lure.

9 )The first half of the film is heavily implying that the Dark Seekers are developing their own new society, led by the one we see watching him after he traps the Seeker. It was that one's plan, after all, to trap him using that snare. The comments about reduced brain function and 'social devolution' are simply the main character's inability to see what the Seekers are becoming (in that way, the first half of the film - until the arrival of the Brazilian woman and boy - is quite close to the original story).

10) from a brief Google, and from everyone's favourite internet encyclopaedia, "unlike "red dot" electronic sights, such as the Aimpoint CompM2 (known in the U.S. military as M68 CCO), these scopes do not require batteries." Take that as you will.

12) It seems likely that the chief Seeker deliberately used those dogs to neutralise the main character's Alsatian.

[andrewgpaul]

addendum;

We don't know how long the Seekers live; perhaps they do have a massively increased risk of cardiac arrest. Perhaps they only live a few years, a couple of decades.

There's no need to be a link between increased adrenal gland operation and nocturnal behaviour (although it's not so much nocturnal behaviour as an extreme reaction to UV light); both could be independent symptoms of the viral infection. After all, there's no information on what Dr Krippin actually did to the measles virus.

[Tanasinn]

1.) Because he's a scientist, not a professional hunter.
2.) Because he's a scientist, not a professional hunter.
3.) Ammonia or some other sort of chemical to destroy his scent trail.
4.) If I remember that scene's placement correctly, houses he'd hit for supplies (and maybe survivors or nests, too).
5.) As said, no one in particular's.
6.) Presumably, yes.
7.) They probably landed off-camera and cooked themselves alive.
8.) Smelled it seems to be the implication.
9.) Smith's character was either in denial about their sociability and brain function (it makes capturing and killing them while searching for a cure less awful, I imagine), or was genuinely ignorant of their mental capacity.
10.) Because he's a scientist, not a professional soldier.
11.) Because he's a scientist, not a professional soldier. Further, I strongly doubt he goes into dark places LOOKING for infected: the audience sees plainly how terrified he is to be inside a nest. Presumably this is something he never does (choosing to rely on traps instead to capture subjects), or only does when necessary (again, to capture subjects).
12.) The infectees might hold their own "kind" of dogs in the same regard we do our own dogs. Further, it's stated in a throwaway line that they have higher UV tolerance, if I remember correctly. That makes them a useful tool when trying to catch a guy at dusk.

[Themightytom]

Why did they show him doing pull up after pull up so taht later on when he is caught in the trap he lacks the strength to pull himself up?
because its Will F Smith and he is jacked but still the Everyman.

[Agent Fisher]

1.) and 2.) He's bored. If I had the chance, I'd be hunting deer from a sports car, firing a M-4.

[[R_H]]

2) That was a bit odd; I think t was because he spooked them when he was on foot, and doesn't want to lose them in the city.

3)I think it was ammonia, or something to hide his scent from the 'dark seekers'.

4) I thought they were locations of 'nests' or ones he'd cleared out.

5) No-one in particular. Manhattan wouldn't be short of abandoned homes.

I think the implication was they had an excellent sense of smell, but poor vision, especially in or close to daylight. The blood was a lure.

9 )The first half of the film is heavily implying that the Dark Seekers are developing their own new society, led by the one we see watching him after he traps the Seeker. It was that one's plan, after all, to trap him using that snare. The comments about reduced brain function and 'social devolution' are simply the main character's inability to see what the Seekers are becoming (in that way, the first half of the film - until the arrival of the Brazilian woman and boy - is quite close to the original story).

10) from a brief Google, and from everyone's favourite internet encyclopaedia, "unlike "red dot" electronic sights, such as the Aimpoint CompM2 (known in the U.S. military as M68 CCO), these scopes do not require batteries." Take that as you will.

12) It seems likely that the chief Seeker deliberately used those dogs to neutralise the main character's Alsatian.

Regarding #4, I think it's the places that he goes and scavenges from. Before he goes into the building that the appartment is in, he crosses off one of the locations on the map.

How is it that the Dark Seekers' sense of smell is so massively improved compared to a normal human? Wouldn't their noses have to have a different physical structure in order to smell better than human norm?

Battery life of the M68 CCO is supposed to be 10'000 hours, which is slightly over a year. The Aimpoint M(L)3 has a battery life of ~50'000 hours (almost ten years). I don't think it would have been too difficult for him to have found surplus batteries....Semantics either way.

I find it bizzare that the Seekers are never shown to use tools or weapons. They're able to build a fairly complicated trap, but it hasn't occured to them to use a club? They seem to be hugely numerous too, Mahattan is less than 60km^2, yet the Dark Seekers number into the dozens, if not hundreds (attacking his house). Hunter-gathers need

It has been estimated that people who depend on hunting and gathering must have approximately 20 to 1,500 square kilometers (10 to 700 square miles) of land per person, depending on the climate.

and that

Hunter-gatherer societies were generally very small. Large groups would have exhausted available food supplies rather quickly in any one area.

Source
The Dark Seekers would need more food than normal due to their boosted metabolism....Mahattan wouldn't have been able to support that many Dark Seekers, unless they were scavenging from abandoned appartments and houses.

addendum;

We don't know how long the Seekers live; perhaps they do have a massively increased risk of cardiac arrest. Perhaps they only live a few years, a couple of decades.

There's no need to be a link between increased adrenal gland operation and nocturnal behaviour (although it's not so much nocturnal behaviour as an extreme reaction to UV light); both could be independent symptoms of the viral infection. After all, there's no information on what Dr Krippin actually did to the measles virus.

If I came off as implying that there was a link between adrenal gland operation and noctural behaviour, I apologize for any confusion. If they react extremely to UV light...how do their bodies synthesize vitamin D, which is from what I've read, damn necessary from humans?

[[R_H]]

Addenum.

The Aimpoint CompM4 is

The CompM4 is now the latest version of the US Army’s M68 CCO (Close-Combat Optic)

It has a battery life of

... 80,000 hours (over 8 years) of daytime operation on one AA battery

I doubt finding that finding AA batteries would have been a problem.

1.) Because he's a scientist, not a professional hunter.
2.) Because he's a scientist, not a professional hunter.
3.) Ammonia or some other sort of chemical to destroy his scent trail.
4.) If I remember that scene's placement correctly, houses he'd hit for supplies (and maybe survivors or nests, too).
5.) As said, no one in particular's.
6.) Presumably, yes.
7.) They probably landed off-camera and cooked themselves alive.
8.) Smelled it seems to be the implication.
9.) Smith's character was either in denial about their sociability and brain function (it makes capturing and killing them while searching for a cure less awful, I imagine), or was genuinely ignorant of their mental capacity.
10.) Because he's a scientist, not a professional soldier.
11.) Because he's a scientist, not a professional soldier. Further, I strongly doubt he goes into dark places LOOKING for infected: the audience sees plainly how terrified he is to be inside a nest. Presumably this is something he never does (choosing to rely on traps instead to capture subjects), or only does when necessary (again, to capture subjects).
12.) The infectees might hold their own "kind" of dogs in the same regard we do our own dogs. Further, it's stated in a throwaway line that they have higher UV tolerance, if I remember correctly. That makes them a useful tool when trying to catch a guy at dusk.

Regarding 10 and 11. He was a lieutenant colonel in the US Army. While he was probably never a front line combat soldier while in the military, he had military training geared towards oppenents much more lethal in a CQ environment (IMO) than Dark Seekers. I thought he was terrified because Sam, who had been his companion for 3 years, went into dark place, not because he had to go in their.

[Beowulf]

US Army doctors do not go through combat training. They get directly commissioned as Captains, and get basically enough training as to be able to put on their uniform, and give orders to enlisted medical personnel. They don't necessarily learn how to shoot a gun, unless they do it on their own time. This is because they're generally considered non-combatants, even though they wear a uniform.

[The Spartan]

Regarding 10 and 11. He was a lieutenant colonel in the US Army. While he was probably never a front line combat soldier while in the military, he had military training geared towards oppenents much more lethal in a CQ environment (IMO) than Dark Seekers. I thought he was terrified because Sam, who had been his companion for 3 years, went into dark place, not because he had to go in their.

No. He was terrified for himself and Sam. Just because he's a LtCol doesn't mean he's going to be able to handle an entire nest of Zompires. Even with an M4 he's going to be overpowered damn quick. And as Beowulf noted, he's a doctor not a combat soldier. Or do you think he spends much time running combat drills?

1)M4 Fires .223. Not an uncommon round among hunters. Not the preferred one for deer mind you, but still used. And at any rate, that's likely just what he happened to have so that's what he was using.

2)Best I can tell, he uses it to get close enough, even if it means chasing them down. That's about the best justification I can come up with that doesn't boil down to, "Because it's fun."

3)Vinegar

4)Clean areas that he'd been too.

5)Random person.

6)Would you live very long with your skin burned off?

7)They died

They can smell his blood.

9)I got the impression that the trap was one that he set and forgot about. It was a while before they showed up and found him like that.

10)That may simply have been what he could get a hold of.

11)Weight? Otherwise I'm not sure. When I'm hunting in hog territory I carry one just in case, so I'm not sure exactly what his mindset is.

12)They're not as socially de-evolved as Neville thinks they are. Notice how they organize an assault? It's a part of their humanity that managed to survive.

[[R_H]]

US Army doctors do not go through combat training. They get directly commissioned as Captains, and get basically enough training as to be able to put on their uniform, and give orders to enlisted medical personnel. They don't necessarily learn how to shoot a gun, unless they do it on their own time. This is because they're generally considered non-combatants, even though they wear a uniform.

Ok. My bad, thanks for clearing that up. Do the Army doctors in Iraq (and I guess Afghanistan) get weapons training before they head into theater, or is it strictly optional?

[CycloneRider052]

US Army doctors do not go through combat training. They get directly commissioned as Captains, and get basically enough training as to be able to put on their uniform, and give orders to enlisted medical personnel. They don't necessarily learn how to shoot a gun, unless they do it on their own time. This is because they're generally considered non-combatants, even though they wear a uniform.

Ok. My bad, thanks for clearing that up. Do the Army doctors in Iraq (and I guess Afghanistan) get weapons training before they head into theater, or is it strictly optional?

It's been a few years since I did that 'train up' before I was deployed, but I don't think there were any medical officers in the group. Take that with a grain of salt since it was 5 years ago and I was paying more attention to my own shit to who was in the class too.

[Aaron]

Ok. My bad, thanks for clearing that up. Do the Army doctors in Iraq (and I guess Afghanistan) get weapons training before they head into theater, or is it strictly optional?

I can't speak for the US but Canadian Forces docs and nurses all carry pistols (with the appropriate training) as they may have to defend their patients. And everyone gets a refresher before deployment.

[2000AD]

9)I got the impression that the trap was one that he set and forgot about. It was a while before they showed up and found him like that.

Of course it took them a while to show up, it was daytime! Since he missed his appointment down at the pier that day we can assume he got caught sometime before noon, so there would be a good few hours before the infected could even get near him.
Notice that as soon as the sun gets low enough to safely allow the infected to show himself he does.