Thread: Why would you deliberately screw up I Am Legend?

Originally Posted by tabre

Perhaps if you saw the movie first, then read the book your opinion would be different? Just a thought. I saw the movie and have never read the book. I thought the movie was good.

actually you might be onto something there
I read the book before seeing the movie so that might be why I didn't like it

when you read the book. you will see it's core elements are completely different to the movie

for instance (no spoilers) the infected ones are typical vampires not mutated humanoids
thats one major difference
other than that, I can't say much for fear of ruining the book

I'm pretty good at separating remakes from originals or in this case books from movies. The book was very good and I enjoyed all three movies to different degrees and for different reasons though none of them were all that true to the book.

So did you read the original book by Matheson, or was this one of those books thats a novelized version of the movie?

As far as the movie goes, they actually changed the ending at the last minute. You know how there were those hints that the vampires were intelligent? They were supposed to develop into something, but the studio or somebody didn't like it ending that way.

I found the page that talks about it:

5 Awesome Movies Ruined By Last-Minute Changes | Cracked.com

Pete not sure who you are referencing with the question, I read the book
the link you attached is a hilarious reference thanks!

Originally Posted by Pete_S

So did you read the original book by Matheson, or was this one of those books thats a novelized version of the movie?

As far as the movie goes, they actually changed the ending at the last minute. You know how there were those hints that the vampires were intelligent? They were supposed to develop into something, but the studio or somebody didn't like it ending that way.

I found the page that talks about it:

5 Awesome Movies Ruined By Last-Minute Changes | Cracked.com

Wow that new ending actually wasn't too bad. I want to watch the movie again with that ending.

I read the original... I don't mind books to movies since the book was the inspiration to the movie but books from movies are usually pretty much a waste to read, lol.

Wow, last man on earth looks WAY more like the book just from screenshots. Downloading now, thanks.

Have to say that there are also movies that we based on a book, and ended to be better than the original book (of course this is subjective). Or the movies were so different that that the only think that linked it to the original book was the name.
Shortly thinking at least one movie comes to mind. I think that 'Bladerunner' was far more better than 'Do androids dream of electric sheep?'

[QUOTE=JasonC;510599]The book is fantastic very bleak and desperate all the movie versions of the book have been completely different to the book itself, I could mention why but that might ruin the book for you Richard Matheson has distanced himself from the early film
QUOTE]

That is the crux for me. The theme that the book explores is completely ignored in all three movies (each of which is interesting in its own right, as a movie, but each of which refuses to do justice to the book). Like JasonC, I don't want to give it away, but the book, which is a decently-written sci-fi adventure on purely literary grounds, has a thought-provoking twist in perspective as its moral theme.

I think it's fair to say that all three movies simply reject that perspective and take a fairly ordinary "last human against the zombie apocalypse" approach which is precisely the perspective the original book invites you to question. The theme explains the title of the book; the Will Smith version of the movie gets it almost hilariously wrong by interpreting that title as completely opposite its original meaning as could be.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD:

The other thing I disliked about the Smith movie was its dumb and ham-handed political slant. Smith is a military doctor who invents the cure for the vampire disease. The remnants of humanity are living inside a military compound guarded by soldiers. Smith sacrifices himself to save the others. And as others have already noted, a major character is changed from zombie to human, further undercutting the theme of the original novel. It is hard not to read this as an allegory for the "War on Terror" (in much the same way that the original vampire/zombie/alien movies were often metaphors for the Cold War), in which "the troops" are heroic saviors of the "good humans" against the implacable, monstrous hordes who look just like us but want to wipe us out. (Again, this subverts the original book, which simply cannot be read in this sense.) As a movie it's not too bad, but as an interpretation of the original novel it seems to be an exercise in trading introspective nuance for self-congratulatory cliches of the most obvious kind. A true Hollywood triumph.

I think the movie (Will Smith's version) was quite good, akthoug not completely faithful to the book, but the atmosphere was quite similar...By the way, I finished reding today "The Road" and inmediately reminded me of "I am Legend", even the style of both writer I find similar in some parts....