No, not me. I’m more of an urban myth.
We just came back from the movie "I Am Legend". Right up until the end, this was a very solid and fundamentally intense movie. There was almost no soundtrack, very little dialogue, and tight acting by Will Smith who has grown into a formidable actor.
SOME MILD SPOILERS AHEAD.
But then it slammed headlong into goofy territory. I won’t spoil it for you, but the gritty reality of the movie was overturned in the last five minutes as abruptly and stupidly as it possibly could have. There was no reason at all to do what it did, and it makes me wonder if someone tacked the ending on at the last minute.
Let me say that I am not all ticked off because it invoked God– in fact, I think that would have made a very interesting subplot had it been handled correctly. No, it’s just the whole mystical thing was very jarring when it had no real buildup and very little to do with the actual story. There was no reason for it at all, and had they stuck with the flow from the rest of the movie, the ending could have been far, far better.
Don’t avoid the movie because of that; it’s a fine flick and I was literally cringing with tension for a lot of it. The use of silence was incredibly gripping, and in fact when we finally get to the point where we see the Infected, it’s a bit of a let down. No way to avoid that I suppose, but it does make the first half of the movie superior to the second, even without the silliness at the very end.
I may go and find the novel this is based on, to see how this deviated from it. It sounds pretty cool.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Spoiler deleted by The Bad Astronomer.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
and it makes me wonder if someone tacked the ending on at the last minute.
Funny you should say that Phil. That’s exactly what happened.
I don’t have all the details, but from what a friend of mine in Hollyweird said is that some executive at the studio thought it was going to be a franchise film, and they had to reshoot the ending at the last minute.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
The film deviates pretty significantly from the novel. You might want to wait to read the novel, lest you get angry at the movie.
December 26th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
A synopsis of the novel’s plot is given on Wikipedia, and personally I would have much rather seen the movie stick to that. I do agree though that overall the movie is entertaining enough but like you the ending was a let down for me. I guess even more so now that I’ve seen how the novel does it.
December 26th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Haha, sorry for trying to ruin it but I just couldn’t resist. You left it so open by having a spoiler alert and not really saying anything!
December 26th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
That Guy, sorry about that, but I don’t want any major spoilers here.
December 26th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Hey Phil, that was my reaction to the movie as well, and I went out and bought the book right away. Very different and interesting. I heard somewhere that they changed the ending at the last minute after doing some test showings. I can’t wait for the DVD to see what the original ending was (assuming that tidbit is actually true).
Donna
December 26th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
I agree in that I thought the loss of faith/redemption arc felt hurried. It’s not that the exposition of it had to be the focus of the movie (Children of Men managed to do it very well in Michael Caine’s two minute long speech), but something felt lacking for where the movie wound up.
I also wanted more development about his sense of personal responsibility for what happened (We saw the magazine cover, but I felt there was more to the story as to why he repeatedly said “I can fix this”?)
December 26th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Yes, get the book. The ending completely changes the story–I can’t believe they ruined it with that crap they stuck on the movie.
December 26th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Meh, I liked it, ending or no. Deserted streets of NYC was more than enough to make it worth my ten dollars. I didn’t go see the film because I was expecting some intricately woven subplot about anything. I wanted to see weeds on New York’s streets and translucent zombie-vampires. I got both, I am happy.
December 26th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I cvan highly recommend the book, BA. A great SF classic, right up there with This Perfect Day. (Another novel overdue the big screen treatment.)
December 26th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
I’m curious as to whether the movie gives an explanation for the title as the novel does at the end. Not to give away the ending, but the title is very deliberate in the book.
December 26th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Sam, yes it does give an explanation. Just not the same one.
The movie deviates from the book majorly. But, I like them both. I think the script writer was very smart up until the ending. The intensity was incredible. And, wow, Will Smith has grown a lot as an actor.
December 26th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
I appreciate the lack of spoilers. I pretty much always wait for movies to come out on DVD’s now. The last time I was in a theater, I almost got into a fistfight who kept running their yaps during the movie.
December 26th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Enjoyed the movie but thought the ending was a bit too “Hollywood” for my tastes and I read afterwards that many who have read the book (I haven’t) were disappointed with the ending too. I read somewhere that the ending in the movie was the second one they shot. Perhaps the first one will show up on the DVD release.
If you enjoy that type of movie (post-apocalyptic scifi/horror) then you must rent or buy “28 Days Later” (not to be confused with its piece-of-dren sequel “28 Weeks Later”). One of the most gripping movies I have seen in a long while.
December 26th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
I have a simple rule, I never expect the movie to do the book justice, for while a picture may be worth a thousand words, 2 hours of film is rarely worth matinée prices.
I liked I am Legend, though I must agree with you about the second half. I haven’t read the book either so I didn’t have any preconceptions, but I watched this movie and felt like the director spent too much time watching The Omega man. What a fool it turns out I am since it is in fact the same movie, though they really screwed up the ending.
That’s the real tragedy of getting old, the only decent stuff put out these days turns out to be crappy remakes of classic movies I once loved.
At least Will Smith’s acting was worth it.
December 26th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
this movie wasn’t so much an adaptation of the book “I am Legend” as it was a remake of the older movie “The Omega Man” which was only passingly based on the same book. Taken in this light the new movie was definitely better done than “The Omega Man” and if you see it expecting it just to be another hollywood movie the only thing leaving you wanting is the ending. Its never a good idea to see a movie expecting it to be even remotely close to the book its supposedly based on, you’re always disappointed, in this case that’s a very apt rule to keep in mind. Wait a few weeks, then read the book and don’t think about it in relation to the movie, just enjoy both and pretend they had nothing to do with each other.
December 26th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
JOE says - i never expect the movie to do the book justice -
now although you were talking about i am legend, how about The Lord of tthe Rings. i have read the books after the movie and though the books came half a century before the movie i wiuld say the movie did great
December 26th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Sounds like I will wait for the ‘revised ending on the DVD set’ from comments. I have the novel - autographed by the author - and also a copy of The Last Man On Earth (The Italian? adaptation starring Vincent Price, which I much prefer to Omega Man). Sounds like the changes have trashed the entire premise of the book, which I was concerned about when the SciFi Wire mentioned there would be changes.
As a rule, I figure if the movie comes within 50 percent of the book, it’s viewable. At sixty to seventy percent, it’s a good adaptation. Above that, I can’t really think of a movie that does better, though some adapt well enough that it could be considered superior (LOTR series is one of the few that I can give high marks to as adaptation/superior)
J/P=?
December 26th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Phil, you’ve seen Last Man on Earth, right? If not, do. It’s based on the same book, but it’s got Vincent Freaking Price.
On the other hand, avoid Omega Man, which had some tacked on religious content almost as stupid as I’ve heard this film has. (Seriously, Charlton Heston? You already played Moses, trying to play Jesus too is reaching a bit.)
I don’t really know what to make of the new film now. I read your and PZ’s reviews, and just hearing what they did with the ending makes me angry. I don’t think I can enjoy it, and I don’t want to send the damned film studios money for pandering in the most artistically-bankrupt way to some idiot executive’s idea of what the movie-going public wants. Maybe if the original ending is on the DVD, I’ll check that out.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Just to confirm that the ending was, indeed, tacked on at the last minute:
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=45970
December 26th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
The LotR movies were great movies on their own and were better than average adaptations of the books, but still didn’t do the books justice.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:48 am
I’ll probably wait til DVD. Speaking of which, I indulged and bought a 50 movie pack of Sci-Fi Classics today, with such gems as They Came From Beyond Space, Battle of The Worlds, Queen of the Amazons, Atomic Brain, and what looks to be totally awesome, Voyage The The Planet of Prehistoric Women. Movies from a time when spaceships were, well, two dinner plates glued together and hung on a string!
December 27th, 2007 at 1:53 am
Going to have to throw myself in here and agree with pretty much everybody. I loved the book and hated The Omega Man. I wes very pleased with how Smith acted, surprised actually that he could carry the whole film almost on his own. The plot deviations were acceptable imo, except for the ending. It makes the title of the movie meaningless. There’s a reason it’s called, “I Am Legend”, and that reason is probably the coolest thing about the story, and in the movie they had to tack on a silly voice-over to try to explain it away - badly.
The shame is that I don’t expect anyone will ever make another movie version of this fantastic story, and I don’t think this version will encourage too many people to read the book. Reactions I overheard at the cinema indicate to me that people thought it was dumb.
But it was a cool film anyway.
Forgetting the bad guys - the effects of the overgrown city were totally believable.
December 27th, 2007 at 2:21 am
chris H,
I haven’t invested the time to watch the LOTR movies, It took me forever to read all those books and I got sick of it about halfway through the Silmarillion… which I realize was not really part of the trilogy, but I read everything about it, and overdid it… I’ll watch it someday, but I’m not in a hurry.
December 27th, 2007 at 3:55 am
I mostly enjoyed I Am Legend, due to the great acting by Will Smith, and the brilliant photography by Andrew Lesnie (who was DP for the LOTR movies and King Kong).
However…
Even before the last twenty minutes of the movie, there are some wildly, wildly illogical bits.
We can start with the issue of metal fabrication during an apocalypse.
Or how about the fact that gas pumps work without electricity?
Or how about letting people leave Manhattan when the Army said that the “disease had gone airborne?”
????
Oh well.
December 27th, 2007 at 4:36 am
Unless I’m mistaken, The Last Man on Earth is a public domain movie, now, and freely distributable. If you haven’t watched it, then there’s no excuse not to.
December 27th, 2007 at 5:46 am
Kimpatsu posts:
[[A great SF classic, right up there with This Perfect Day. ]]
For me, This Perfect Day was completely spoiled by the rape scene. A book against coercion loses its coherence when the protagonist we’re supposed to be admiring coerces somebody else.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:12 am
I’ve read the novel and watched the two previous movies made in the past, both very nice movies, but with very few in common with the novel.
I’m sure this one too is far away.
The novel is really epic and marvelous. I don’t think any producers in Hollywood would ever have the courage to made it on movies.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:31 am
Can anybody who watched it tell me if they left in the science-y bits? I remember the thing I liked the most about the book was how the main character set out to scientifically figure out what the mutant vampires were, and how to cure them. I know Will Smith screamed something like that over and over again in the movie, but did they actually portray science in a good light, or was is the token science that Hollywood sticks into films?
December 27th, 2007 at 7:48 am
I was turned off of the movie once I realized it was an Army recruitment film.
The “us against them” and “light versus dark” and “we must always fight” and all the “ground zero” talk was just WAY too much for me. Smith playing the good soldier instead of the good father/man/human being was pretty limp. And yeah, once they show the monsters it loses all interest for me. I REALLY loved the first time we saw them in a group in the building. That scene is worth the whole movie. And the walking through the city parts were really well done and full of tension.
Otherwise…meh.
———-MILD SPOILERS———–
I thought they missed a great opportunity to make the monsters more human. When Smith (sorry, I forget the character’s name) catches the female monster, the male leader makes a big deal out of it, exposing himself to the sun in an attempt to get her back. Then, at the end, they could have made it more obvious that the leader was just trying to get his girlfriend back, perhaps breaking through and ignoring the others in favor of just getting her out of the lab. Or maybe he gets her out and THEN the others attack Smith. If they would have made the monsters show feelings for each other instead of making them all suicide bombers, I think it could have propelled the film to great heights. Especially if Smith continued to miss the fact that the monsters had real emotions and feelings for each other. (He mentions in his report that they seem to be devolving further, becoming more hostile even to themeselves, when in fact they would have been becoming more human.) THAT would have been some social commentary!
———–END SPOILERS——–
Just another example of dumbing down a film for a mass audiance. I can’t blame them, but it’s still sad to see.
December 27th, 2007 at 8:54 am
I saw the movie in Manhattan over our Chrifsmas vacation, and I must say, I was left with the same impressions you were. The God commentary coming from Will Smith was very apt - religious people are illogical, and I could totally see them continuing to believe in a good God even after a worldwide armageddon wiped out 99.999% of humanity. That part was handled well.
What wasn’t handled well, and here come the spoilers, was when the woman said she knew of the haven in Vermont because “God told her” - and then it was actually there. What the hell? Why couldn’t she have just heard about it on the radio, like she heard about Will Smith’s character? Why inject a huge gaping plot hole there for anyone who doesn’t believe? I have no idea why the film makers decided to go down that black hole.
December 27th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Hey what’s with all the bashing of Charlton Heston and “The omega man”?
Chuck’s performance lifts this film to sci-fi schlock masterwork. Anthony Zerbe’s Matthias is also inspiring in its portrayal of a post-apocalyptic anti-messiah. Some environmentalists should take note of the similarity of his cult’s anti-technological message to some strains of modern eco-misanthropy.
Even as a young atheist I was moved by Chuck’s “crucifixion” at the end of the movie. It was more gaudy, over-the-top allusion than spiritual message. Man I loved going to all those matinee sci-fi masterpieces. “Get your filthy paws off of me you damn dirty ape!”
Then there is the greatest line ever uttered in cinema,
“It’s people! Soylent Green is made out of people!”
December 27th, 2007 at 9:33 am
I also enjoyed the movie but make no mistake it strayed wildly from the book and not just the ending as has often been mentioned.
I agree with BA that the movie does an excellent job showing the despair, silence and loneliness that one would feel (and more importantly the book portrayed) but the whole underlying story is significantly changed and the whole point of the book is not even conveyed primarily through the change of the ending but whole roles within the movie have been altered.
I wish I could say more here but I don’t want BA censoring me (just giving you a hard time).
If you want my opinion you can check out my blog post with MAJOR SPOILERS in it.
http://skeptigator.com/2007/12/27/i-may-be-a-legend-but-the-movie-wasnt/
December 27th, 2007 at 11:34 am
A solid movie, and enjoyable for what it was, but I felt it missed its shot to be a truly great movie that you remembered as such. The ending felt very tacked on, and it explains a lot to see the proof that is was indeed changed that other BABloggees have provided. As another poster noted, it messed up the tone to have Smith’s character launch into a anti-religious missive (and a good one) one second and then have the character seemingly change by the end of the movie… scant hours later in movie time and at the most critical of times. Also, very good catch by ZB, they obviously left some sort of subplot regarding the monsters retaining some humanity and feeling unresolved… and I have a feeling the original ending resolves it. Hopefully the director can someday release a director’s cut that retains the original ending on to DVD so we can judge it for what it was before some studio hack screwed it up.
December 27th, 2007 at 11:51 am
Soylent Green is people, well thanx for ruining the ending for me. Geez, do you tell 5 year olds there’s no santa just to watch them cry?
December 27th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Cyde Weys writes:
[[religious people are illogical]]
Yeah. Think about William of Ockham, Roger Bacon, C.S. Lewis… what a bunch of illogical dummies!
December 27th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Barton Paul Levenson wants to have his faith and eat it too.
December 27th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Skeptigator,
Whadaya mean …there’s no Santa Claus?
December 27th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Phil,
Those who recommend Last Man on Earth know what they’re talking about. It’s very much worth purchasing the DVD. Endings can make or break a movie and the ending in Last Man on Earth makes that movie a superior work of literary filmmaking. It’s also what makes the movie worth watching more than once, whereas I Am Legend’s retreat into a tacked-on happy ending makes the movie good for one viewing only. On the other hand, I Am Legend is much better sequel material than Last Man on Earth. The adventures of the Children of Neville fighting the Dark Seekers and bringing them back into the light. It’s got post-apocalyptic adventure written all over it.
December 27th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Ha, I have the book but probably won’t see the movie so I can’t tell you how far it deviates. I know that the Charlton Heston version ain’t even close so…?
December 27th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
The Last Man on Earth is in the public Domain. One can download it from the InternetArchive:
http://archive.org/details/the-last-man-on-earth
December 27th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
I try to go into movies based on my favorite books with an open mind. They did deviate quite a bit from the original Matheson novel when making this movie. In fact, there were whole subplots left out entirely! Looking at it from a purely theatrical standpoint though, I wasn’t completely disappointed. It was quite a bit better than the previous two movie versions of this novel in my opinion. For anyone who hasn’t read the book, I highly highly recommend it. Richard Matheson is one of my favorite authors of all time and “I Am Legend” is one of his very best novels.
December 27th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
For some reason, the link to the InternetArchive does not work. To get to the movie, try this:
http://www.archive.org/details/the-last-man-on-earth
December 28th, 2007 at 4:31 am
I Am Legend Fan Site
December 28th, 2007 at 7:54 am
Last man on earth is a very good movie. Very few to do with the book, but very good.
The one with Vincent Price is almost faithfull to the book. I love it.
I don’t think you know about it because it’s an italian movie and in b/w.
December 28th, 2007 at 10:08 am
Way back
# Michael Lonerganon 27 Dec 2007 at 12:48 am
I’ll probably wait til DVD. Speaking of which, I indulged and bought a 50 movie pack of Sci-Fi Classics today, with such gems as They Came From Beyond Space, Battle of The Worlds, Queen of the Amazons, Atomic Brain, and what looks to be totally awesome, Voyage The The Planet of Prehistoric Women. Movies from a time when spaceships were, well, two dinner plates glued together and hung on a string!
I have this set and I love it. Most of the “Space”Movies are old Italian neo classics with rocket ships built, no not built, they were actually model kits I had as a kid. They bring a tear to my eye.
December 28th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Read the book… its possibly one of the greatest horror novels ever written… I don’t recall anything about God in it… I haven’t seen the movie, but the ending is beautiful… almost a skeptical ending!
December 28th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Phil,
Definitely read the book. The book and movie share some commonalities, but overall I think the book was executed in a much more compelling way. That being said, I thought the movie, except for the aforementioned insertion of the religious aspects, was amazing. I’d never been much of a Will Smith fan, but this time out he certainly flexed his acting chops.
Still, try the book.
See you in May!
December 28th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I felt the same way about the ending, I said the very same thing to my brother after the movie. God would have been fine, if they imprinted it all the way through.
December 31st, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Phil, I’m pretty sure you didn’t watch silent movie, so when you say there was ‘almost no soundtrack’, you really mean ‘almost no MUSIC’. There was very much a soundtrack, one that a team of folks would have worked very hard on to help you feel the tension you did. To dismiss them with a comment like that is quite insulting.
(And yes, I am a professional sound editor/mixer for Film & TV)
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I went into some detail about how bad the science was:
http://wordsfromrob.com/2007/12/22/i-am-legend-critique/
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:44 pm
I went into some detail about how bad the science was :
http://wordsfromrob.com/2007/12/22/i-am-legend-critique/
January 6th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I believe I heard Richard Matheson - that’s the book author? - talking somewhere on British radio lately, and about film adaptations of [I Am Legend] : I think he basically said he doesn’t care what they do with it, takes no interest. Well, it was a long time ago. I presume he gets a cut, but who knows? He may have sold the film licence outright?
February 1st, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Will Smith is a great actor and I found the movie entertaining. However the story was not believable and the ending was poor. Read All of Yesterdays Tomorrows. Similiar idea but better story.
March 5th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Come on guys! The film SUCKED!
When you have a movie based on a book, you HAVE to compare it, see how it stands up against the novel. And in that light, the movie happens by chance to share the name of the novel and the protagonist. And that’s where the similarities end.
The book is a masterpiece of the horror-sci-fi genre, and this film just shows that we all ought to know: hollywood can’t make decenf films. Hollywood can’t produce half-decent actors.
Will Smith a formidable actor? Mr. BA: no ofense, but you’re a hell of a scientist. As an astronomer you gave us all lectures. I have learned a lot from your website and blog. As a movie critic… stick to the stars that are on the sky
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
It’s pretty sad that most of us cannot except the fact that religion is a part of the spirituality of mankind, whether we like it or not. So why is it strange as some here have injected, that this movie injected just a small fraction of it’s time to it. After all Will Smiths role completely objected to it’s existence. Isn’t that enough for you atheist out there?
A movie like people, individuals are going to be flawed, that’s life. A cynical depressing movie like this feeds the flock of doomsday follower’s.
Unfortunately, after 9/11 we all seem to become believers that the Human race will never be able to endure and survive it’s faults. For myself
I don’t believe this and I hope just one of these days Hollywood can make a movie as good as this one, but one that can inspire us with hope and give us reasons everyday to go on and inspire others and make this world a better place to live. But this is only I dream I have…