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Gil Hamilton wrote:As for the rest, well... we treat people with AIDS, don't we, even though there is no chance of saving their lives and eventually will be killed. They are sick, and helping them if possible is the right thing to do, even if shooting them on the spot would be more expedient. Maybe if they are rehabilitated then they can stop being "useless", as you put it, and go back to possibly being someone's loved one or family or just a human being again.

People living with HIV and AIDS can be and are productive members of society up until a period very near their death, so the analogy doesn't quite follow in this case. Moreover, treatment allows them to maintain a pre-infection quality of life. In the case of the infected, there is legitimate medical precedent, I feel, to suspect that the infected have been brain damaged in some drastic way. I believe that extremely high fevers can cause brain damage, so we are forced to consider what spending 3+ years with your body temperature around 106 F would do to your brain.

Another, more sinister interpretation I thought of is this: when he first treats the infected woman with the cure, it kills her. It's only by lowering her body temperature, then giving her the cure, that he can actually save her life. If it turns out that the infected, once cured, suffer from extreme brain damage, the various enclaves of humanity could then use the cure to reliably and easily kill every infected person they encountered, thus ensuring their own survival. As a bonus, if they encountered someone with the early stages of infection (like Sam the dog), they would retain a valid treatment for these people/animals. Therefore, Neville's legend would be one of a savior of the humans as the destroyer of the infected, rather than a savior of both the humans and the infected.

Finally, we must consider that the upper limit for the worldwide human population is around 12 million people, with another 588 million infected. This doesn't account for the humans that the infected have hunted and killed, as well as the infected who have been killed. Regardless, the ratio of infected to healthy humans is staggering, and we must call into question the mere practicality of attempting to cure half a billion insane monsters. How much of your labor force can you spare for this task, which includes manufacturing the cure, building and maintaining appropriate treatment facilities, and actually venturing out and capturing violently unwilling people to administer the cure? What kind of casualties can you endure before you have to shut down the program entirely, as you have to focus on keeping the crops growing and the electricity running.

That's just the thing though: assuming the infected don't come out braindead after the cure, you're effectively tapping into a massive new source of labor. That's kind of a big assumption though.

It seems the writers of I Am Legend are Peak Oil aware. As seen on the gas station signs, the price of gasoline in 2009 is $6.69 per gallon, which seems to be a reasonable projection given how oil & gasoline prices are going up these days.

It could be gas prices were going up in response to shortages caused by the worldwide apocalyptic plague, and not peak oil.

CaptainChewbacca wrote:It could be gas prices were going up in response to shortages caused by the worldwide apocalyptic plague, and not peak oil.

Or by old-fashioned price gouging.

Patrick Degan wrote:

CaptainChewbacca wrote:It could be gas prices were going up in response to shortages caused by the worldwide apocalyptic plague, and not peak oil.

Or by old-fashioned price gouging.

For some reason, when I read your post, and then looked at your avatar, it had a cowboy hat for a moment, and it was screaming, "Yee HAW! Price gouging!" and then shooting the air with a revolver.

1. This movie was basically Castaway..... with zombies.

2. There was a poster with the Superman S superimposed (haha) over the Batman symbol on one of the walls in time square. Future project in the pipeline?

Aenigma wrote:1. This movie was basically Castaway..... with zombies.

2. There was a poster with the Superman S superimposed (haha) over the Batman symbol on one of the walls in time square. Future project in the pipeline?

One the friends I went to the movie with made the same observation. That would be a really interesting way to silently announce a new movie, just to slowly get hype building. And 2009 is when it would be, too.

Aenigma wrote:2. There was a poster with the Superman S superimposed (haha) over the Batman symbol on one of the walls in time square. Future project in the pipeline?

I saw that one too, I pointed it out to my friend. She got excited (not as excited as after the Dark Knight trailer, though).

So 2009 is going to be the year shit go's down according to this and Children of Men.

I saw this movie recently and I enjoyed it, although there were parts that irritated me. The science behind how the infected came about was, of course, a bit suspect. Ten thousand trials and they couldn't even detect a hint of problem? Was this even a longitudinal study? It also seemed a bit contrived that the dog could not get the infection by airborne but could by direct contact.

I wished the movie was a bit longer and had included more of the flashbacks. In particular, I would have liked to have seen how Smith's character began the whole survival part. If they were going to go for a Cast Away feel, they should have included more of that element. I don't think people realize just how difficult it can be to survive on our own, how dependent we are on specialized trades.

I would agree with what others have said, that the CGI effects on the vampire zombies were a bit of a let down; costumes would have certainly been a better choice. However, I didn't mind the last third of the movie, although it certainly bothered me a bit. The movie certainly would have ended better with Anna simply seeing nothing, that the Vermont colony was just her hoping.

I still don't understand what exactly it was that Smith's character was spraying; was it bleach or some sort of soap? Also, the vampire zombies were smart enough to build a rather complicated trap? Overall, an entertaining m movie.

Aenigma wrote:1. This movie was basically Castaway..... with zombies.

2. There was a poster with the Superman S superimposed (haha) over the Batman symbol on one of the walls in time square. Future project in the pipeline?

I noticed posters for a Teen Titans movie and a Green Lantern movie on the video store as well.

SylasGaunt wrote: I noticed posters for a Teen Titans movie and a Green Lantern movie on the video store as well.

Both are actual movies in various stages of development. The Green Lantern movie is supposed to be out in 2009, can't find anything on the Teen Titans movie other than it's being worked on.

Was this even a longitudinal study? It also seemed a bit contrived that the dog could not get the infection by airborne but could by direct contact.

As far as I know there's nothing scientifically wrong with a virus losing something in the mutation to go airborne.

I still don't understand what exactly it was that Smith's character was spraying; was it bleach or some sort of soap? Also, the vampire zombies were smart enough to build a rather complicated trap? Overall, an entertaining m movie.

I wasn't sure either. I saw it a second time yesterday and tried to get a look but couldn't read the label. I'm guessing it was something to obliterate his scent on the steps so they wouldn't realize he was in there.

And yes they appparently are. In the last attack we had one after all that rushed right by Neville to head up to the top floor and start making a hole in the roof for the others to get in through. Part of the film story I think is showing that while he thinks they've lost all social ability and human behavior, he's wrong. After all the big one seemed to hold a grudge over what appears to be neville kidnapping his girlfriend.

Fire Fly wrote:I still don't understand what exactly it was that Smith's character was spraying; was it bleach or some sort of soap?

I'm thinking it was ammonia or something to throw off his smell from the dark seekers.

Loner wrote:

Fire Fly wrote:I still don't understand what exactly it was that Smith's character was spraying; was it bleach or some sort of soap?

I'm thinking it was ammonia or something to throw off his smell from the dark seekers.

that or vinegar. and it had to be to kill off his scent.

Someone posted the full movie on Youtube. If you want to check it out before seeing it in the theatre, or waiting for the DVD release:

+http://youtube.com/watch?v=eJ6og3Dkl-s

I just got back from watching the movie, and I got to say I really liked it. I'm not sure what people's problem is with the movie after Anna and that kid arrive though, its not like the movie suddenly turns to crap afterwards.

Darth Ruinus wrote:I just got back from watching the movie, and I got to say I really liked it. I'm not sure what people's problem is with the movie after Anna and that kid arrive though, its not like the movie suddenly turns to crap afterwards.

I have to agree. I was waiting for this tremendous letdown from the reaction I read here. The movie didn't stray off course once. In fact, I give it major kudos for keeping Nevill's character borderline insane right up to the end of the movie.

So the woman found the colony alive at the end . OOOh, big fuckin' letdown. Just destroyed any credibility the rest of the movie had.

Darth Ruinus wrote:I just got back from watching the movie, and I got to say I really liked it. I'm not sure what people's problem is with the movie after Anna and that kid arrive though, its not like the movie suddenly turns to crap afterwards.

I also agree. I saw it a few days ago (right before the crap about the Will Smith Hitler thing), and I found no problems after Anna shows up. I was expecting it to, having read this thread, but their interaction was some fot he best acting in the film (not to knock the rest of the acting, it was very well done.)

You forget that a lot of people here have an allergic reaction to religion of any sort

I thought the religious aspect was nice enough, she has her faith, and he has...his insanity. Him noticing the butterfly tattoo was like the scene from the Matrix, except it was his own subconsconsience telling him instead of a computer screen.

Phantasee wrote:You forget that a lot of people here have an allergic reaction to religion of any sort

I thought the religious aspect was nice enough, she has her faith, and he has...his insanity. Him noticing the butterfly tattoo was like the scene from the Matrix, except it was his own subconsconsience telling him instead of a computer screen.

Except there are people who do rely on faith like she did. Statistically speaking, doesn't it make sense that a survivor happens to be someone religious? I'm rather glad it didn't let it become overwhelming, except for that one scene where he argues with her about it. Even then, they both did an excellent job of portraying their respective characters. The butterfly thing was more just there to fuck with Neville's head some more. With his character, I think he might have done the same thing even without the Butterfly tattoo.

Davis 51 wrote:(right before the crap about the Will Smith Hitler thing)

What the fuck? What are you talking about?

Darth Ruinus wrote:

Davis 51 wrote:(right before the crap about the Will Smith Hitler thing)

What the fuck? What are you talking about?

http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=117101

Check out N&P sometimes.

Saw it last night. I thought Fred's trip to the subway terminal was a bit spooky, until someone pointed out that the monsters had obviously moved the mannequin to act as bait, having seen the same thing happen the day before with a vial of blood.