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March 28, 2024, 02:47:58 PM
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Author Topic: I Am Legend...  (Read 31371 times)
Killer Bees
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« Reply #45 on: January 20, 2008, 07:31:42 PM »

Beware:  Here Be Spoilers.

I saw this movie yesterday at the cinema.  And I can honestly say I LOVED it.

I know there are a lot of things that various posters on this board have complained about, but I didn't think they were that bad at all.  Will Smith managed to capture the desperate loneliness and isolation of a man on the edge of sanity very well.  There were quite a few heart wrenching moments for me.  When Sam the dog died, I cried along with Robert Neville and when he was in the video store after Sam died and he said to the mannequine, "please say hello to me" I was sobbing like a baby. 

And when he died at the end, I was shocked.  I thought for sure they would go with the usual Hollywood ending.  Also the part where he stopped his car in the middle of the road, I think just after Sam died and the camera panned right out and away.  Very poignant.

If I hadn't read this here, I wouldn't have realised that the lions and the deer were CGI, they went past so fast, it was hard to tell.  The Dark Seekers I could tell, but I expected them to look a little unreal after the virus had done it's damage and with them constantly living in the darkness with raggy clothes and being hungry all the time.

Neville had a great set up in his townhouse.  Especially all the security precautions he took, bleach on the steps so the Seekers couldn't find him, the bombs in the parked cards outside his home, the guns around the house, the hand grenade that finally killed him, the little hidey hole in the basement he shoved the kid and the woman into to save them.

The city looked believeably abandoned as well.  All the plant growth and derelict cars and decaying buildings.  I remember reading in the New Scientist magazine a while back just how long it would take nature to reclaim a major city like London if all the people disappeared.  The film makers did New York exactly how they described London in the magazine.

I had no problem with the Seekers coming after Neville the way they did.  After all they were still human and if the virus ravaged them so quickly to make them Seekers, then it makes sense that they would evolve very quickly into cunning predators.  And, in every group, there are always those who are more advanced and quick thinking.  It also makes sense that Neville wouldn't necessarily know how far advanced they were because his whole time was spent staying away from them with just the occasional subject captured for tests.

The head Seeker coming after him makes sense as well.  Neville captured dozens of mutants for experimentation.  The Seeker would naturally come to kill him to protect his own.  I didn't get the sense that it was that last female Seeker he was especially interested in saving, just an overall, "you killed my kind, I'll kill you" kind of deal.

I certainly didn't expect the ending.  I thought Neville would go with the woman and kid to the new colony even if he didn't believe it existed, if only to keep people around him.  He felt responsible for not containing the virus and I think his drive to find a cure was the only thing that kept him sane-ish for the 3 years. 

After the movie, I was stressed and freaked out and I had a head ache and stomach ache from being on edge the whole time.  Also I couldn't sleep and this morning, I still have the movie in the my head and I feel kind of depressed about life in general.
So that's a good movie  when I react this way.   Thumbup 

I give it 4 1/2 out of 5 
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« Reply #46 on: January 20, 2008, 07:40:16 PM »

How did the bleach keep them away? I was wondering about that.

I agree with you about a lot of things, even though I didn't particularily enjoy the ending.
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Killer Bees
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« Reply #47 on: January 20, 2008, 07:46:38 PM »

How did the bleach keep them away? I was wondering about that.

I agree with you about a lot of things, even though I didn't particularily enjoy the ending.

I assumed it masked their smell.  Bleach is very strong in your nose when it's undiluted and it makes sense as a precaution.  After all, when the woman found him, the Seekers caught up with him pretty quickly because she didn't mask their scent before going inside.

That seemed a little odd to me that she wouldn't do that.  If she made it all the way from Maryland to New York to find Neville, surely she would have had to adopt security precautions like that to survive?  Or maybe him being a military guy, he was just more paranoid?
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« Reply #48 on: January 20, 2008, 08:04:59 PM »

Hmm, I'm not sure. Perhaps it was a slip up on her part.

Bleach is a good idea, but he was all over the city during the day. You think they would be able to follow his scent to his street at least and figure more out from there. I guess then it wouldn't have made for a good movie if he was caught immediately...
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Killer Bees
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« Reply #49 on: January 20, 2008, 08:58:14 PM »

Hmm, I'm not sure. Perhaps it was a slip up on her part.

Bleach is a good idea, but he was all over the city during the day. You think they would be able to follow his scent to his street at least and figure more out from there. I guess then it wouldn't have made for a good movie if he was caught immediately...

Good point.  I just assumed that him tooling around in a car all day, the petrol smell would mask his scent.  Or that he had something in this shoes or on his clothes that would throw them off.  If he was all over the city, then it would be easy for them to lose their way considering they only had night time to find him.  Added to that, the deer and lions and other animals mixing things up.  I would think that even Seekers would be a little wary of lions and such.

What puzzled me was:  where were all the dead bodies?  I guess after 3 years, they'd all be decayed out in the open, or eaten by wildlife, or even by the Seekers, but wouldn't there be bones or some kind of remnants left over?  At 90% mortality rate, you'd think there'd be more evidence.
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« Reply #50 on: January 21, 2008, 12:32:41 AM »


I gotta say I enjoyed this one.

Not knowing the original source material probably helped, and I didn't like the ending AT all, but overall there were a few key things I enjoyed:


The Hive was freaky as hell, and was a well shot scene.  The seekers just standing there panting was very good at creeping me out.

The scene where his mannequin friend is outside of his normal place was another good twist.  Until then you 'knew' something was coming with the seekers, but you didn't know what.  The fact they chose his same trapping method was a nice touch and a good way to mess with your mind.  Though the dogs annoyed me a bit, and the fact he had them on a leash.  It just was badly shot.

Something that was a really nice touch in the above scene was when he first notices the out of place mannequin, I'm pretty sure the head moves slightly.  Might have been my eyes playing tricks on me, but that was a really good shot.

The general feel of the film was pretty good atmosphere-wise, both in the night scenes and the city itself.

Making the dog a female was just a cheap shot to get a bit more emotion out of the scene.  And it worked...  TeddyR

Though the seekers reminded me too much of 'The Mummy' in their CGI and their climbing on roofs and whatnot was just plain silly, I did like the way they moved generally.

Sure it was still too 'Hollywood' and the ending drove me a bit nutty with how nonsensical it was, but overall it is still better than I expected at the time.
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frank
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« Reply #51 on: January 24, 2008, 04:32:18 AM »


Just seen this one yesterday (it takes some time for the movies to come over here...)

I haven't made my mind up yet. As has been said before, the CGI was plain awful, as was the ending. But, then I'm pretty fond of the story itself, so it's hard not to like the movie.

I watched "Last man on earth" the day before with some colleagues at the lab, which was a lot of fun and eventually added to the new adaption yesterday. And it very plainly shows what`s wrong with the last part of the movie, as has been mentioned before. We were all laughing out loud when watching "I am legend" when the Bob Marley song was played the first time, because "Everything is gonna be alright" is exactly what Vincent says to his colleague, his daughter, his wife, and the dog right before they die, and what he says to the woman right before he himself dies. So that seemed not to be a good omen for the characters in the new adaption.
(OK, I admit, Bob Marley sings "every little thing", not "everything", but it sounds similar....)

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Killer Bees
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« Reply #52 on: January 24, 2008, 09:42:50 PM »

Look out, look out, there are spoilers about!



Another thing I liked about the movie was the attempt at reality.

Like when Neville set off the bombs outside his home to kill the Seekers.  The concussive wave that hit the building knocked out his windows and sent him pitching back into the apartment.  He also barely held onto consciousness and had a hard time standing up and walking around.

And when the Seekers trapped him.  As the noose tightened around his ankle and jerked him up, he hit his head on the ground and started bleeding.  That knocked him out and he stayed blacked out for most of the day, which is what you'd expect from a head injury.  And that thing stuck in his leg, nearly crippled him.  He could barely pull himself by his arms and every time he tried to stand up, he screamed in pain.

Not like in some movies where they get up wincing in pain, but manage to hobble to safety.

I just really love this movie and can't say enough nice things about it. Smile
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« Reply #53 on: May 31, 2008, 08:22:46 AM »

I am a late comer to this thread because I just watched this a few days ago.  I liked the film but probably wouldn't go out and buy it. 

Spoilers

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I dig the realism of Smith's role which was oddly refreshing.  Another example is when he walks inside the dark building to find his dog.  You'd expect in a movie with blood sucking creatures for the lead to shoot up the place fearlessly.  He really captured what a lot of us would be feeling in that situation.  Also, the fact an army of creatures can easily take out a few sun lamps seems probable too in real life.   Kudos to the film for this concept.  Although the film diverges from the book, it at least captures the nature of Robert Neville living alone in the world.

I guess what really killed it for me was the CGI and the concept of the creatures.  Seems like a "been there done that" kind of feel to them from their sounds to their movements.  I guess that was unavoidable though seeing the book did center around vampire-like creatures.  The ending seemed to be a bit of a quick count for me personally. Also, and this is quickly beginning to bother me in films,  the silly symbolism.  You know, the butterfly on the girl's neck which of course means Neville must kill himself so save humanity.  Maybe I'm shallow but I'd see it as a lousy tattoo rather than an omen.

End Spoilers

Smith luckily doesn't really play himself in this one which he seems to do a lot.  Its worth a watch or two IMHO but I doubt it would be on my video shelf.  Rather, its one of those films I'd probably stop to watch on tv while channel surfing.

« Last Edit: May 31, 2008, 08:30:36 AM by The DarkSider » Logged

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« Reply #54 on: May 31, 2008, 09:14:12 AM »

I saw this one about a month ago on DVD.

Yes Smith doesn't play the typical "Oh look at me I'm so cool role." that gets so very tiresome.
I didn't find it as great as some did, portions of it was just not that plausible. Vampire/Zombie/whatever had the were with all to know moving a manikin would cause a freak out and this guy that goes from trying to find a cure for this virus to being deep into madness. And that these creature would know how to build a snare trap even through that had de-evolved into some blood sucking night dweller. That just seemed like a stretch to me.
This movie was set, what 3 or 4 years into the virus? And Smith had not become a decent hunter in that amount of time?  The hunt scenes were just silly IMHO, the guy couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.
I'd have to watch it again to remember everything that jumped out at me, it didn't totally suck but I didn't think it was all that either. And do be fair I haven't read the book, which is now on my list of things to read.
Much of it was predictable like the manikin in the puddle, if that didn't scream trap I don't know what did. Finding the girl, saw that coming a mile away, Loosing the dog was predicable, and the close calls, along with other all predictable I thought.
Anyway it was ok, but like so many films nowadays, it just didn't live up to the hype.
   
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Killer Bees
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« Reply #55 on: June 02, 2008, 10:28:48 PM »

Spoilers Ahead

I guess you can't really say how you'd act in Neville's place unless you really do think you're the only person left in the world.  I read a book called  "The World Without Us" and it used New York as an example of what would happen to the place if everyone disappeared.  I didn't know the geography of New York so to find out that most of the buildings would collapse due to land susidance and the water table etc was quite interesting.  Plus all the gas piping and stuff, the place should have been pretty much burned to the ground as well.

But with Hollywood you'll never get true realism no matter what.  I think if they made it exactly as it would happen in real life, it would either be pointless, boring or so harrowing that nobody would watch it.

What did puzzle me about the movie was that he realised his blood was the key and I don't remember him knowing that earlier in the movie.  Or was that just a huge epiphany he had at the end?  I'm surprised her and the kid survived in their little hidey hole considering the bomb he set off would have levelled the building.   Also, blood goes off if you don't refrigerate it.  How did she manage to keep it viable all the way to Vermont? Or was it Colorado where she ended up at the survivor's camp?

In spite of all that, I still loved it and will purchase the special edition with the extra DVD which includes the alternate "shocking" ending.  Can't wait.
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Heal what has been hurt
Change the fates' design
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« Reply #56 on: June 02, 2008, 11:35:49 PM »

I read a book called  "The World Without Us" and it used New York as an example of what would happen to the place if everyone disappeared.  I didn't know the geography of New York so to find out that most of the buildings would collapse due to land susidance and the water table etc was quite interesting.  Plus all the gas piping and stuff, the place should have been pretty much burned to the ground as well.


The History Channel recently aired a really neat special titled "Life After People".
It would take hundreds of years for all the buildings and other structures to come down.
It's pretty interesting stuff.

Here's the first part:
Small | Large


The entire show is on Youtube in seperate segments if you want to watch the whole thing.
« Last Edit: June 02, 2008, 11:41:26 PM by Ash » Logged
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« Reply #57 on: June 10, 2008, 09:25:56 AM »

Anyway it was ok, but like so many films nowadays, it just didn't live up to the hype. 

Cheeze, I couldn't agree more!  I expected so much more out of this movie.  I know it was a remake and all, but you have to bring something new to the table.  This type of movie has been done to death I think.
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