Omega Man and "I Am Legend" (1 Viewer)

[JediFonger]

it's been a while but i don't remember reading about him+familly being a major sequence. i remember reading about flashbacks... i hope those beginning sequences are done in flashbacks and not in a linear fashion... cause if it was done in a linear fashion it'd suck.

 

[RickER]

It was a good read, that IMO has not been done right on film. I do love Omega Man, but as those things tend to do, it left a bunch of the book behind. Its not a long book either.

 

[Andres Munoz]

Rick, that spoiler is creepy. I like it! I think I'm going to pick up the book.

 

[JediFonger]

andres, the book is incredible!!! it does read like a film... but like so many books, it's also difficult to adapt onscreen.

 

[Radioman970]

My favorite version is easily the one with Vincent Price. There's a bit of talk about this new version but people are only mentioning the Heston version. I'm surprised Price doesn't get more love because it's a very spooky film.

I, too, will be seeing this. I figure a little desolation will be perfect for a holiday watch with the family.

 

[Richard--W]

It's not difficult at all. It requires a discipline in drama, that's all. Matheson already had that discipline, and experience, when he wrote the book. All the elements are present in the book. Nothing is missing. Everything a dramatist and film maker needs is in the book. The novel is short and it reads just like a script.

Neville is alone, isolated, haunted. At first we don't know all the details. The details are revealed gradually in his memories, which step into the room and soon become more real to him than the present. As the present fades away he goes outside and we experience the contrast then and now. Life is dying everywhere, even at home. He is always yanked back into that barricaded house to deal with the present matter of preserving his own life. When he lets his guard down, and trusts, he is betrayed by the same person he's trying to save.

Adapting I Am Legend into a film is simple: shoot it the way Richard Matheson wrote it.

 

[JediFonger]

that's what you and i think richard, but i don't think that's the version we'll see in a 'will smith' vehicle.

 

[Nelson Au]

Now you guys got me interested in the book. I re-watched that trailer at higher rez, looks like Will SMith's character is a military man. He was wearing a uniform in the New York scenes, another element from Omega Man?

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Nelson read the book! Matheson rocks - The Incredible Shrinking Man, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet etc etc. He is a writer whose works are well worth tracking down.

 

[Andres Munoz]

Well, you guys convinced me. I just ordered the book from Amazon.com. Hope I get a chance to read it before the movie comes out. When does it come out again?

 

[Nelson Au]

Lou, I'm reading Ian Fleming right now, second to last novel of short stories. Still have to find a vintage copy of Octopussy, then I'll jump on Matheson's I am Legend.

Andre, the Will Smith film opens in December 14, 2007.

 

[ErichH]

I like the way this treats the dog and the companion (a honey trap twist)

http://www.horrorlair.com/scripts/legend.txt

 

[Richard--W]

Akiva Goldsman,a producer on the film, did a page-one rewrite on that script so it has probably changed drastically.

Aside from the script itself, here's a short list of what's wrong with this remake:

Special Effects by
Ozzy Alvarez.... lab technician: Quatum creation FX
James R. Bilz.... special effects technician
Michael Bird.... special effects technician
Jeff Brink.... special effects foreman
Conrad V. Brink Jr..... special effects coordinator
J.C. Brotherhood.... special effects foreman
Robert DeStefan.... lab technician: Quantum Creation FX
Gilbert Gertsen.... special effects technician
Micheal Hartney.... special effects technician
Mike Hartney.... special effects technician
Allison Klein.... assistant to designer: Tatopoulos Studios
Micheal Maggi.... special effects foreman
Harold McConnell.... special effects technician
Robert McKinnon.... concept artist
Scott Oshita.... special effects mechanical designer
Robert Paquette.... special effects technician
Toby Rosen.... special effects technician
Charlie Simunik.... special effects foreman
Patrick Tatopoulos.... creatures designer and supervisor
Christien Tinsley.... creature suit designer/creator: Tinsley Transfers Inc.
Diane Woodhouse.... creature effects shop coordinator: Tinsley Transfers
Robert Woods Jr..... special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Bill Anastas.... digital production manager
Joel Ashman.... Flame artist: Sony Imageworks
Colleen Bachman.... plate production supervisor
Leslie Baker.... senior technical director
Louise Baker.... previsualization artist: Proof
James Bancroft.... character set up
Jim Berney.... visual effects supervisor: SPI
Glenn Burton.... previs artist
Mike Chambers.... visual effects producer
Benjamin Cinelli.... senior character animator
Yoshi DeHerrera.... 3D laser scanning
Monette Dubin.... visual effects coordinator
Fish Essenfeld.... senior technical director
Crys Forsyth-Smith.... visual effects producer: SPI
Joshua Frankel.... previsualization artist: Proof
Scott Fritts.... animator
Frederick Gaudreau.... lighting and compositing technical director
Monty Granito.... previs animator: Proof, Inc.
Robin Griffin.... visual effects producer
Steven Hansen.... lighting atd: SPI
Dave Hardin.... senior character animator
Joe Harkins.... lead character setup
Rebecca Heller.... data wrangler
Nicole Herr.... digital character animator: SPI
Ki Jong Hong.... character modeler
Justin Israel.... senior production service technician: SPI
Mitchell Kase.... visual effects production assistant
Michael Kimmel.... lead character animator
Piotrek Krawczyk.... technical director
May Kuckro.... visual effects editor
Luis Labrador.... senior character modeler
Dan Lavender.... look development/color & lighting
Rich Lee.... pre-visualization supervisor: Proof Inc.
Dylan Maxwell.... previsualization artist: Proof
John J. Meehan.... special projects supervisor
Michele Moen.... matte painter
C. Michael Neely.... previs artist
Michael Hugh O'Donnell.... digital coordinator
Peter Pace.... look development artist
Scott Palleiko.... senior technical director: SPI
Joseph Pepper.... technical director
Daniel Perez Ferreira.... senior effects technical director: SPI
Cynthia Richards.... visual effects coordinator: SPI
Rebecca Rinn.... visual effects coordinator: SPI
Brian Ripley.... digital artist: SPI
Clarence Robello.... senior character animator
Ryan Rogers.... lighting & compositing technical director
Justin R. Rotolo.... character pipeline
York N. Schueller.... character technical director
Todd Semmes.... spydercam coordinator/rigging
Randy Sharp.... senior modeler
Janek Sirrs.... visual effects supervisor
Sharmishtha Sohoni.... color and lighting technical director: SPI
Marc Steinberg.... modeler
David Stodolny.... senior character animator
Terrance Tornberg.... lighting: SPI
Terrance Tornberg.... look development: SPI
Max Tyrie.... animation lead
Gaston Ugarte.... senior modeler
Rick Walia.... technical director
Joe Wehmeyer.... on-set visual effects data research assistant
Barry Weiss.... senior staff: SPI
Michael D. Werckle.... previsualization animator: Proof Inc.
Sean White.... technical director: SPI
Elbert Yen.... texture lead: SPI

 

[TonyD]

that list means nothing to me.
can you at least tell what these people have done that you dont like and why you dont like it.

 

[Richard--W]

Read posts 92, followed by post 106.

 

[TonyD]

i did.
what does the "short" list have to do with what you wrote in those 2 posts.

can you just say what you're getting at.

 

[ErichH]

Agree - It would be interesting, but with Smith attached and the script (whatever form is final) they're moving things up to mid/late 2000s. Obviouslly with lots of gadgets in the house, car, etc. for Smith to play with and to keep the film pushing along (Resident Evil). Hi Tech Zombie Movie.

So, we get `Inspired By' instead of the Book. Hopefully it will keep some good aspects of the Novel. Fans of the book will eat it or not. When's The Last Time a SciFi/Horror made it to screen in true form? Blade Runner perhaps?

E

 

[Richard--W]

Sure.

I Am Legend is an internalized, personal thriller that is told from the point of view of a single character going through a terrible ordeal and facing a personal horror.
I Am Legend is not an epic big-scale special effects story.
I Am Legend doesn't need all those special effects to tell its story.
I Am Legend tells a horror sci-fi story without those special effects.
All those special effects are for big action scenes that the book doesn't have and the story doesn't need.
As soon as you put all those special effects into I Am Legend it is no longer I Am Legend, it is something else.

Also, Robert Nevile is a stoic hero, in the Hemingway sense of that term (Matheson is from that generation of authors who was influenced by Hemingway). But the character as written in the script above (see the link) is not a stoic hero, he's a bitch slap throwing a hissy fit.

Sorry.

 

[TonyD]

ok i get it. i am a little dense sometimes.

you just didnt want this to be a big budget special fx film.

you would have preferred a smaller independent type film?
so all those names says to you, too many people, too much crew.

 

[ErichH]

Tony - I think Richard is truely a man of art and great story, and as much as I love the thought, the suits will have their way with any material blessed by money. So we have what this film will become. We can only hope for some portion of the great story to seep through the grinder.

I always like to see the half full portion - not the half empty. Hope for the best?

And BTW - my first reaction to this story and Will Smith Was WTF!!! Like most in this string.