I Am Legend Movie Trailer (!!!)
Alright. Greatest novella ever (IMO) made into a movie? Awesome.
Alright. Casting Will Smith in the lead role? Not as awesome as the original statement I just made.
Having a big effects scene with F-14's blowing up bridges and all sorts of other horsesh*t that has nothing to do with the story: less awesome than statement number 2.
Stupid "It's Dark and I'm Breathing Heavily and You Can't See What's Behind Me" moments that have nothing to do with the tone or story of the novella: Stupid.
Overall prediction? Could be OK. Will Smith is a terrible choice for the role. He's far, far too charismatic, his delivery is all wrong, etc etc. Terrible choice. That said, the trailer did have a feel to it, as though they were somewhat misrepresenting the movie. If it follows the novella more closely than the trailer would seem to indicate (and I have a hunch that it will,) then it could be cool.
It is interesting, though. Not a single mention, or showing, of vampires. Are they trying to be mysterious, or do they think people will write it off immediately, if they find out?
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So the full title is:
I Am Legend
-ary at Raping Respected Sci-Fi Source Material?
Well, the novella is a classic. I'm not sure how it will translate to being on the big screen, but that trailer gave me the impression that it might be an interesting post-apocalyptic movie in its own right. I'm going to give this one the benefit of the doubt.
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Personally, I thought it looked pretty good for a spin-off and I'll definately check it out. If you want to see something a little closer to the original source material, I'd recommend the excellent Vincent Price movie "Last Man on Earth" or even "The Omega Man".
If I remember right, "Last Man on Earth" is available on Google Video since its in the public domain.
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I was excited by the trailer as well. I love Will Smith so i'm ok with that. I think the choice to not show the others is mysterious but let's face it, the book is old and most of the main movie going public probably has not read the book. They have to make a trailer that will grab the interest of viewers.
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Darn my burned out sound card!
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Would you guys recommend the Novella then? Sounds pretty interesting, the trailer looks half-decent too.
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I can only imagine the discussion among studio executives:
"How much money do you need to make I Am Legend?"
"I dunno, ten, maybe twenty million?"
"Aw, that's too bad. You're getting a hundred."
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Hey, it could be good.
I don't understand the Will Smith hate. He's like any big superstar, once an actor reaches a certain critical-mass, he or she starts playing themselves in whatever they are cast in. However, Smith has talent. I don't think this will be ID4 again.
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Hey this is cool. The I Am Legend fan site has links to let you watch, from a browser, 1964's Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price. A ton of free movies on this site.
We shall grapple with the ineffable, and see if we may not eff it after all.
I just watched the Last Man on Earth on Google Video, like LnL pointed out. That's I Am Legend, minus the sexual themes. Vincent Price makes me think Ralph Fiennes and Gary Oldman had a manbaby that they then sent to the past.
I don't hate Will Smith. He's got that one, likable character he can play, which isn't Robert Neville. Plus he has the near infinite negative association of I, Robot. That's a stink that can't be washed off.
Yeah, RandomHero, I totally recommend the book.
Danjo Olivaw Lives
That's the first thing I thought when I heard he was playing Neville. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, but I'm one of those "I love the novella and am terrified for the movie" negative Nancies. So to speak.
I'm less afraid of the casting than the total change in feel, though. That, to me, could be the thing that breaks it.
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i dont know how closely people have been following this movie; but it's basically been in development hell since 1994.
despite the decent trailer, 13 years and tons of script-rewrites doom this flick with more power than will smith could ever hope to.
personally, i would've loved [loved] to see it in it's original incarnation: directed by ridley scott, starring ARNOLD.
People just have to let this go... it's NOT (from the looks of it) going to be a faithful adaptation of the book, which is NOT an action piece by any means. Just think of it as an "inspired by" with the same title, and you might actually enjoy the film in its own right.
It might suck ass, but we won't know until we actually see it.
And for the record, there is absolutely nothing wrong with I,ROBOT. Is it a faithful adaptation of Isaac Asimov's stories? No. Is it a decent, mindless action flick? Yes indeed.
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I don't understand the marketing behind this movie. Most movegoers have probably never heard of the book, so it's not like huge numbers of people are going to rush out to see the movie version of it. If they didn't want to faithfully adapt the book, why not just start from scratch and call it something else?
Vincent Price, Charlton Heston, and Will Smith.
One of these names does not belong among the other two. Even Bruce Willis would have been a better pick (at least he has the right attitude). That said, it will be an alright popcorn flick along the lines of the remake of Planet of the Apes or Independence Day.
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i like the choice of Will Smith as the lead.
I'm also a huge fan of Heston in Omega Man too.
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I think Will Smith *could* pull this off. It looks like this could be a decent post-apocalyptic flick, but not having read the novella, I don't feel the typical "they bastardized my favorite book!" anger in such a situation.
Here's to hoping the script is decent!
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I have no problem with Will Smith, in the same way that I have no problem with Owen Wilson. But neither should be playing Robert Neville.
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I think that Smith will do fine for this sort of movie. I know he has the acting chops for this sort of seriousness that even Denzel can't seem to muster without sometimes falling into caricature of himself.
Regardless, I think that people, without much knowledge of the novella, once they see the trailer and the hype machine gets going, will fall out to see this flick.
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So, for those anti-Smith for this film, who would you like to see play the part? It has been awhile since I've read it. I remember the guy having a calm demeanor, resigned maybe to being the last guy alive, but still a dude that kicked that arse.
I don't think I've ever said this sentence before, but man would I love to hump that butterfly.-- KrazyTaco
One phone call and you're melting like butter over my kettle pop. -- Edwin to Mex
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Anyone who can play the subdued thing a bit better than (I imagine) Smith can. Don Cheadle, Liam Neeson, Ed Norton... I really don't care. Just someone less... nice than Will Smith. Less immediately likable.
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The thing i remember from the novella is the sense of resolution & routine, coupled with despair. The main character in the novella is a guy who does what he does because he doesn't know what else to do, and yet refuses to just give up. Days filled with mindless routine of collecting food, staking a few undead... even though the nights are a total bitch, survived only with lots of records and lots of booze. I could see a very faithful adaptation being made in a style/budget similar to 28 DAYS LATER-- very low key, no big effects set pieces, etc.
Will Smith really doesn't seem to fit that role at all, yet what's the point in complaining now? It's not like the other two adaptations have been completely faithful. At this point, the movie will either be good on its own, or suck on its own. Trust me... as a lifelong fan of the Wolfman & Perez "New Teen Titans," I know how sickening it can be to see something you love turned into a completely craptacular production... but sometimes you just have to lie back and think of England, I guess.
If nothing else, this movie will draw attention to the novella, and that's always a good thing.
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I think this is going to be more a remake of Omega Man than a remake of The Last Man On Earth.
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Well, this makes me want to read the novella. I thought it looked kinda dumb in the theater, but, I figure, people are going to watch Transformers anyway.
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Has Will Smith actually tried a role like this before? I didn't think he was supposed to be that serious of a character in ID4.
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I'll stick with omega man:
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I think ID4 was a goofy-ish character, but I,Robot was definitely supposed to be a more serious type character, which he doesn't pull off very well (in large part, I think, because of the crap-tacular script and its horrid writing)
Well, Cooking Mama didn't help me become a better cook, and Trauma Center certainly didn't help me become a better surgeon. I have the proof of both sitting in my freezer. -- imbiginjapan
If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend watching "The Pursuit of Happyness". Excellent, excellent movie. I also thought he nailed the role of Muhammad Ali in the "Ali" movie a few years ago. He's got the ability to act standout dramatic roles when the material gives him the chance. He's definately matured from the wise-cracking action roles he got his start in to a versatile actor.
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