Audience Member
[left][color=#000000]Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.[/color][/left]
[left][color=#000000]101 Minutes[/color][/left]
[left][color=#000000][i]Directed By:[/i] Frances Lawrence[/color][/left]
[left][color=#000000][i]Screenplay By:[/i] Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman[/color][/left]
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[indent][left][color=#000000]My name is Robert Neville. I am a survivor living in New York City. I am broadcasting on all AM frequencies. I will be at the South Street Seaport everyday at mid-day, when the sun is highest in the sky. If you are out thereÂ… if anyone is out thereÂ… I can provide food, I can provide shelter, I can provide security. If thereÂ’s anybody out thereÂ… anybodyÂ… please. You are not alone. -Robert Neville[/color][/left]
[/indent][left][color=#000000][b]Synopsis[/b][/color][/left]
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[left][color=#000000]This entire movie seemed full of hopelessness. Everything was lost. In the vastness of Manhattan, Robert Neville appeared to be the last man alive. After three years his hope in finding someone else, or curing the disease that had infected those who were left was waivering. The only thing left alive was the morphed creatures that haunted the night where Robert hid in his fortresslike home waiting for the frightening hours to pass. With no human contact, and only a dog as his companion, his mind slowly begins to deteriate and his carefully structured existence along with it. [/color][/left]
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[left][color=#000000][b]Review[/b][/color][/left]
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[left][color=#000000]The film was centered around fear, both visually and psychologically. As far as visually was concerned, it was abudndantly successful. The appearance of the vampire/zombieÂ’s were hardcore. In the sense that they really retained some of their human features and even expressions and didnÂ’t seemed completely monstrous. Of course, that was until they moved or howled. Obviously, this isnÂ’t a cheesy horror flick and steps were taken to make sure these creatures looked and moved in a way that was anything but typical. The time was taken to really seperate and define them as something very different from other movies of this nature. Their behavior was peculiar and interesting. I thought weÂ’d have some typical mindless zombie creatures running around looking for blood. But these were not the undead. They were still human, evolved into something even more horrible. They were not only intelligent, but they had certain abilities, such as amazing strength, speed, and agility. They could smell blood from an enormous distance. It called to them like a needle to a junkie. They worked together and stayed together, not unlike unaffected humans. The main difference between us and them was violence. This to me, made them even more terrifying, as humans are dangerous enough as is, without those abilities. [/color][/left]
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[left][color=#000000]There was a definite message behind the obvious. The things that weren’t said, the things that were symbolized. Days after I watched the movie I found myself asking questions like, how far from a possibility in reality is something like this from ever happening? If we continue to battle nature with science, are we going to inevitably lose a battle we never had the weapons for? It was obviously just a movie, but nontheless the validity in it’s statement is there. In my eyes the “monsters” weren’t some freak of nature, or overflowing of hell, they were US, and what we’re becoming, what we will eventually turn into. But even with that being said, I felt like there was hope in the final message, that even in our darkest hour, the few of us that fight, can still win, and still change things. I felt like that was why the Bob Marley side theme was thrown into the mix. [img]http://i28.tinypic.com/5nnas5.gif[/img][/color][/left]
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[left][color=#000000]There have been questions about the ending, and I concur it felt a little rushed and a little anti-climatic, especially after seeing the far superior alternate ending that really rang true to the novel the film was based on written by Richard Matheson. The alternate ending connected everything together in a much smarter way, and ended in a much more pure fashion. Even with a theatrical finale, I Am Legend was still better than 95% of whatÂ’s been released in the last two or three years. [/color][/left]
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[left][color=#000000][b]Cast[/b][/color][/left]
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[left][color=#000000]Will Smith played his solitude with the skill of an Oscar winning actor (I believe he at least deserves a nomination, but his performance will more than likely go unchecked). If he couldn’t sell it, this movie wouldn’t have worked. Though, he did have a pretty outstanding co-star, the German Shepherd Sam. The first signs of his beginning to “lose” touch were in the video store in the morning with the mannequins. The scene was awkward, but it hit you to the core when you realized how completely alone he had been, and for so long. The next scene that builds on this is when Sam runs after a deer into a dark building, it is also then we understand where these “humans” go during the daylight, but it exemplifies his attachment to his four legged friend, and what he’d risk for him. It’s a pivotal scene for ones that come later in defining his affection for Sam and why he reacts as severely as he does after a tragedy takes place. [/color][/left]
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[left][color=#000000][b]Ratings And Suggestions[/b][/color][/left]
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[left][color=#000000]While the story didnÂ’t may itÂ’s rightful homage to MathesonÂ’s literary work, this is still an amazing film. It was psychologically terrifying and had incredible depth, and very keen metaphors. Throughout the entire movie I was entertained, intellectually stimulated, frightened, got to enjoy good action, and even had a laugh (Shrek scene). This one will be on my shelf when it comes out on DVD. This is an easy star rating: Four out of Four Stars [/color][/left]
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Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Oh my God this movie was SO GOOD!! I couldn't wait for it to come out and when I saw it I sat in the front row (not in the very front, but close) with my little niece (HEY she wanted to go see it, too!!) It was so great, specially the part when he goes into the abandonded dark building to look for his dog, I almost DIED! I grabbed my nieces arm most of the time, and covered my mouth.
I would have gave it a 10 if he hadn't you know.....[size=1] died.[/size]
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
Full Review
Audience Member
[QUOTE]In 1994, Warner Bros. began developing the film project, having owned the rights to Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend since 1970. In June 1997, director Ridley Scott and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger entered talks with Warner Bros. for I Am Legend, based on a script by Mark Protosevich. Actors Tom Cruise and Michael Douglas were previously considered to star in the film. The following July, Scott and Schwarzenegger finalized negotiations with the studio. Production slated to begin the coming September, with Houston as a stand-in for the film's setting of Los Angeles. In December 1997, the project was called into question when the projected budget escalated to $108 million due to media and shareholder scrutiny of the studio in financing a big-budget film. Scott rewrote the script in an attempt to reduce the film's budget by $20 million, but in March 1998, the studio canceled the project due to continued budgetary concerns. In August 1998, director Rob Bowman was attached to I Am Legend, but he moved on to direct Reign of Fire.
In March 2002, Schwarzenegger became the producer of I Am Legend, commencing negotiations with Michael Bay to direct and Will Smith to star in the film. Bay and Smith were attracted to the project based on a redraft that would reduce its budget. However, the project was shelved due to Warner Bros. president Alan F. Horn's dislike of the script. In 2004, Akiva Goldsman was asked by head of production Jeff Robinov to produce the project.
In September 2005, director Francis Lawrence signed on to helm the project, with production slated to begin in 2006. Guillermo del Toro was also approached to direct. Lawrence, whose film Constantine was produced by Goldsman, was fascinated by empty urban environments. He said, "SomethingÂ’s always really excited me about that... to have experienced that much loss, to be without people or any kind of social interaction for that long."
Goldsman rewrote the screenplay to be closer to the second I Am Legend film adaptation, The Omega Man, of which he was a major fan. The rewrite was also done to distance the film from the numerous zombie films inspired by the novel. A forty-page scene-by-scene outline of the film was developed by May 2006.
When delays occurred on Will Smith's film Hancock (2008), which was scheduled for 2007, it was proposed to switch the actor's films. This meant filming would have to begin in sixteen weeks: production was greenlit, using Goldsman's script and the outline. Elements from Protosevich's script were introduced, while the crew consulted with experts on infectious diseases and solitary confinement. Rewrites continued throughout filming, because of Smith's improvisational skills and Lawrence's preference to keep various scenes silent. The director had watched The Pianist with a low volume so as to not disturb his newborn son, and realized that silence could be very effective cinema.[/QUOTE]
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/14/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Did they have to bring up the issue of god in such a trivial manner near the end of the movie? The arguement given by Neville was sound, but he failed to realize the impact of what his numbers really meant. He pointed out that the virus killed 99% (?) of 6 billion people. That leaves 60 million resistant people that would certainly be targetted by the mutants as food. His premise that all 60 million would be killed by the mutants was [u]not[/u] reasonable. Let's say the mutants were 99% effective at killing the 60 million survivors. This leaves us with 600,000 survivors presumably scattered around the world. So, he should have agreed with Braga that there was a small, but statistically improbable possibility of a surviving colony in Vermont, but that her god had nothing to do with it.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/26/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I liked the flim, but it misses some of the major points. The virus changing humans into a type of vampire (rats, dogs, etc). Some of the issues going on didn't quite make sense exactly. Still a good flick with some neat action sequences.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/09/23
Full Review
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