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I Am Legend(novel)
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I Am Legend
IAmLegend25028.jpg
First edition cover

Author
Richard Matheson
Country
USA
Language
English
Genre
Science fiction, horror, zombie fiction, vampire fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction
Publisher
Gold Medal

Publication date
 1954
Media type
Paperback
Pages
160 (1954 edition)
I Am Legendis a 1954 horror fiction novel by American writer Richard Matheson. It was influential in the development of the zombie genreand in popularizing the concept of a worldwide apocalypsedue to disease. The novel was a success and was adapted to film as The Last Man on Earthin 1964, as The Omega Manin 1971, and as I Am Legendin 2007, along with a direct-to-video2007 production capitalizing on that film, I Am Omega. The novel was also the inspiration behind the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead.


Contents [hide]
1Plot
2Critical reception
3Influence
4Adaptations4.1Comics
4.2Radio play
4.3Films4.3.1The Last Man on Earth
4.3.2The Omega Man
4.3.3I Am Legend
4.3.4I Am Omega

5See also
6References
7External links

Plot[edit]
Robert Neville is the apparent sole survivor of a pandemicwhose symptoms resemble vampirism. It is said that the pandemic was caused by a war, and that it was spread by dust storms in the cities and an explosion in the mosquitopopulation. The narrative details Neville's daily life in Los Angelesas he attempts to comprehend, research, and possibly cure the disease, to which he is immune. Neville's past is revealed through flashbacks: the disease claimed his wife and daughter, and he was forced to kill his wife after she seemingly rose from the dead as a vampire and attacked him.
Neville survives by barricading himself by sunset inside his house, further protected by garlic, mirrors, and crucifixes. Swarms of vampires, led by Neville's neighbor, Ben Cortman, regularly surround his house, trying to find ways to get inside. During the day, he scavenges for supplies and searches out the inactive vampires, driving stakes into their hearts to kill them. He finds brief solace in a stray dog that finds its way to his house. Desperate for company, Neville slowly earns the dog's trust with food and brings it into the house. Despite his efforts, the dog proves to be infected and dies a week later.
After bouts of depressionand alcoholism, Neville decides to find out the scientific cause of the pandemic. He obtains books and other research materials from a library, and through painstaking research discovers the root of the disease in a strain of bacteriacapable of infecting both deceased and living hosts. He also discovers that the vampires are affected by the garlic, mirrors, and crosses because of "hysterical blindness", the result of previous psychological conditioningof the infected. Driven insaneby the disease, the infected now react as they believe they should when confronted with these items. Even then, their reaction is constrained to the beliefs of the particular person; for example, a Christianvampire would fear the cross, but a Jewishvampire would not.
Neville also discovers more efficient means of killing the vampires, other than just driving a stake into their hearts. This includes exposing them to direct sunlight (which kills the bacteria) or inflicting deep wounds on their bodies so that the bacteria switch from being anaerobicsymbiontsto aerobicparasites, rapidly consuming their hosts when exposed to air. He is now killing such large numbers of vampires in his daily forays that his nightly visitors have diminished significantly.
After three years, Neville sees an apparently uninfected woman, Ruth, abroad in the daylight, and captures her. After some convincing, Ruth tells him her story of how she and her husband survived the pandemic (though her husband was killed two weeks earlier). Neville is puzzled by the fact that she is upset when he speaks of killing vampires; he thinks that if her story of survival was true, she would have become hardened to the act. He attempts to test whether she is a vampire by exposing her to garlic, which causes her to recoil violently. At night Neville is startled awake and finds Ruth fully clothed at the front door of the house. Suspicious, he questions her motives, but relates the trauma of his past, whereupon they comfort each other. Ruth reluctantly allows him to take a blood samplebut knocks him unconscious when the sample reveals that she is infected.
When he wakes, Neville discovers a note from Ruth confessing that she is actually infected and that Neville was responsible for her husband's death. Ruth admits that she was sent to spy on him. The infected have slowly overcome their disease until they can spend short periods of time in sunlight, and are attempting to build a new society. They have developed medication which helps them to overcome the most severe symptoms of the infection. Ruth warns Neville that her people will attempt to capture him, and that he should leave his house and escape to the mountains.
Neville cannot bring himself to leave his house, however, and assumes that he will be captured and treated fairly by the new society. Infected members of the new society eventually attack the house. During the attack, the members of the new society violently dispatch the other vampires outside the house, and Neville becomes alarmed at the grim enjoyment they appear to take from this task. Realising that the intention of the attackers may be to kill him rather than to capture him he tries to defend himself with a pistol, leading to one of the infected shooting and badly injuring him.
Neville wakes in a barred cell where he is visited by Ruth, who informs him that she is a ranking member of the new society but, unlike the others, does not resent him. Ruth attempts to present a facade of indifference to Neville, but is unable to maintain it during her discussion with him. After discussing the effects of Neville's vampire killing activities on the new society, she acknowledges the need for Neville's execution and gives him pills, claiming they will "make it easier". Badly injured, Neville accepts his fate and asks Ruth not to let this society become heartless. Ruth kisses him and leaves.
Neville goes to his prison window and sees the infected waiting for his execution. He now sees that the infected view him with the same hatred and fear that he once felt for the vampires; he realizes that he, a remnant of old humanity, is now a legend to the new race born of the infection. He recognises that their desire to kill him is not something he can condemn. As the pills take effect, he thinks: "[I am] a new superstition entering the unassailable fortress of forever. I am legend."
Critical reception[edit]
As related from In Search of Wonder(1956), Damon Knightwrote:[1]

The book is full of good ideas, every other one of which is immediately dropped and kicked out of sight. The characters are child's drawings, as blank-eyed and expressionless as the author himself in his back-cover photograph. The plot limps. All the same, the story could have been an admirable minor work in the tradition of Dracula, if only the author, or somebody, had not insisted on encumbering it with the year's most childish set of "scientific" rationalizations.
Galaxyreviewer Groff Conklindescribed Legendas "a weird [and] rather slow-moving first novel ... a horrid, violent, sometimes exciting but too often overdone tour de force."[2]Anthony Boucherpraised the novel, saying "Matheson has added a new variant on the Last Man theme ... and has given striking vigor to his invention by a forceful style of storytelling which derives from the best hard-boiled crime novels".[3]
Dan Schneiderfrom International Writers Magazine: Book Reviewwrote in 2005:[4]

...despite having vampires in it, [the novel] is not a novel on vampires, nor even a horror nor sci-fi novel at all, in the deepest sense. Instead, it is perhaps the greatest novel written on human loneliness. It far surpasses Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoein that regard. Its insights into what it is to be human go far beyond genre, and is all the more surprising because, having read his short stories - which range from competent but simplistic, to having classic Twilight Zonetwists (he was a major contributor to the original TV series) there is nothing within those short stories that suggests the supreme majesty of the existential masterpiece I Am Legendwas aborning.
In 2012, the Horror Writers Associationgave I Am Legendthe special Vampire Novel of the Century Award.[5]
Influence[edit]
Although Matheson calls the assailants in his novel "vampires", and though their condition is transmitted through blood and garlic is an apotropaic-like repellant, there is little similarity between them and vampires as developed by John William Polidoriand his successors, which come straight out of the gothic noveltradition. I Am Legendinfluenced the zombie genreand popularized the concept of a worldwide zombie apocalypse.[6]Although the idea has now become commonplace, a scientific origin for vampirism or zombies was fairly original when written.[7]According to Clasen:[8]

"I Am Legendis the product of an anxious artistic mind working in an anxious cultural climate. However, it is also a playful take on an old archetype, the vampire (the reader is even treated to Neville’s reading and put-down of Bram Stoker's Dracula). Matheson goes to great lengths to rationalize or naturalize the vampire myth, transplanting the monster from the otherworldly realms of folklore and Victorian supernaturalism to the test tube of medical inquiry and rational causation. With I Am Legend, Matheson instituted the germ theory of vampirism, a take on the old archetype which has since been tackled by other writers (notably, Dan Simmonsin Children of the Nightfrom 1992)."
Though referred to as "the first modern vampire novel",[9]it is as a novel of social theme that I Am Legendmade a lasting impression on the cinematic zombie genre, by way of directorGeorge A. Romero, who acknowledged its influence and that of its 1964 adaptation, The Last Man on Earth, upon his seminal film Night of the Living Dead(1968).[6][10][11][12]Discussing the creation of Night of the Living Dead, Romero remarked, "I had written a short story, which I basically had ripped off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend."[13]Moreover, film critics noted similarities between Night of the Living Dead(1968) and The Last Man on Earth(1964).[14][15]
Stephen Kingsaid, "Books like I Am Legendwere an inspiration to me".[16]Film critics noted that the British film28 Days Later(2002) and its sequel 28 Weeks Laterboth feature a rabies-type plagueravaging Great Britain, analogous to I Am Legend.[17]
Adaptations[edit]
Comics[edit]
The book has also been adapted into a comic bookmini-seriestitled Richard Matheson's I Am Legendby Steve Nilesand Elman Brown. It was published in 1991 by Eclipse Comicsand collected into a trade paperbackby IDW Publishing.[18][19][20]
An unrelated film tie in was released in 2007 as a one-shotI Am Legend: Awakeningpublished in a San Diego Comic Conspecial by Vertigo.[21]
Radio play[edit]
A nine-part abridged reading of the novel performed by Angus MacInneswas originally broadcast on BBC Radio 7in December 2007.[22]
Films[edit]
I Am Legendhas been adapted to a feature-length film four times (one of which does not credit Matheson as the source). Differing from the book each of them portrays the Neville character as an accomplished scientist. The first three adaptations show him finding a remedy and passing it on.
The Last Man on Earth[edit]
Main article: The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)
In 1964, Vincent Pricestarred as Dr. Robert Morgan (rather than "Neville") in The Last Man on Earth(the original title of this Italianproduction was L'ultimo uomo della Terra). Matheson wrote the original screenplay for this adaptation, but due to later rewrites did not wish his name to appear in the credits; as a result, Matheson is credited under the pseudonym "Logan Swanson."[23]
The Omega Man[edit]
Main article: The Omega Man
In 1971, a far different version was produced, entitled The Omega Man. It starred Charlton Heston(as Robert Neville) and Anthony Zerbe. Matheson had no influence on the screenplay for this film,[24]and although the general premise remains, it deviates from the novel in several ways, completely removing the infected's vampiric characteristics except for their sensitivity to light. In this version, the infected are portrayed as nocturnal, black-robed, albinomutants, collectively known as The Family. Though intelligent, they eschew all modern technology, believing it (and those who use it, such as Neville) to be evil and the cause of humanity's downfall.
I Am Legend[edit]
Main article: I Am Legend (film)
In 2007, a third adaptation of the novel was produced, this time titled I Am Legend. Directed by Francis Lawrenceand starring Will Smithas Robert Neville, this film uses both Matheson's novel and the 1971 Omega Manfilm as its source.[25]However, this adaptation also deviates significantly from the novel. In this version, the infection is caused by a virus originally intended to cure cancer. Some vampiric elements are retained, such as sensitivity to UV lightand attraction to blood. The infected are portrayed as nocturnal, feral creatures of limited intelligence but with superhuman strength who feed on the uninfected. Other creatures, such as dogs, are also infected by the virus. The ending of the film was also altered to portray Neville as sacrificing his life to save humanity, rather than being executed for crimes against the surviving vampiric humans.[6]The film takes place in New York City in the years 2009 and 2012 rather than Los Angeles in 1975-1977.
I Am Omega[edit]
Main article: I Am Omega
The Asylumproduction I Am Omegawas 2007 American feature length direct to videorelease, starring Mark Dacascos. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, which is overrun by savage, cannibalistichumans who have degenerated into a feral subspecies as the result of a genetic virus. Once again, the adaption deviates from the novel, and does not credit Matheson.
In this adaption, 'Renchard' has been forced to live in a daily struggle for survival against the mutants. Renchard is contacted via webcamby Brianna (Jennifer Lee Wiggins), another survivor who was stranded in Los Angeles while trying to find Antioch, a community of survivors. Renchard is forced to aid her and two others escape the city in which he has strategically placed time bombs, set to go off in 24 hours.
This film was rushed into production by The Asylumand released a month prior to the bigger budget Francis Lawrence project.
See also[edit]

Portal icon Novels portal
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fictionThe Last Man
Survivalism
Vampire literature
Zombie (fictional)
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^Knight, Damon (1967). In Search of Wonder. Chicago: Advent.
2.Jump up ^"Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1955, p.121
3.Jump up ^"Recommended Reading," F&SF, November 1954, p.99.
4.Jump up ^Schneider, Dan (1953-01-05). "I am Legend by Richard Matheson". hackwriters.com. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
5.Jump up ^2011 Bram Stoker Award™ winners and Vampire Novel of the Century Award winner
6.^ Jump up to: abcDeborah Christie, Sarah Juliet Lauro, ed. (2011). Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human. Fordham Univ Press. p. 169. ISBN 0-8232-3447-9, 9780823234479.
7.Jump up ^"Nashuatelegraph.com: Tale with long history has legendary opening"[dead link]
8.Jump up ^Clasen, Mathias (2010). "Vampire Apocalypse: A Biocultural Critique of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend". Philosophy and Literature.
9.Jump up ^David Carroll and Kyla Ward, "The Horror Timeline"Burnt Toast No. 13.
10.Jump up ^"House of Horrors Presents: The Night of the Living Dead"
11.Jump up ^"Steve Biodrowski, Retrospective: Night of the Living Dead (1968)"
12.Jump up ^Richard Matheson Interview, in Tom Weaver, Return of the B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: The Mutant Melding of Two Volumes of Classic Interviews(Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1999), p. 307, ISBN 0-7864-0755-7.
13.Jump up ^"One for the Fire: The Legacy of Night of the Living Dead" — Night of the Living DeadDVD, 2008, Region 1, Dimension Home Entertainment
14.Jump up ^"Thomas Scalzo, The Last Man on Earth(Film Review)"
15.Jump up ^"Danel Griffin The Last Man on Earth(Film Review)"
16.Jump up ^"The Legend that inspired me". The Times(London). 2006-07-22. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
17.Jump up ^"28 Days Later Movie Review (2002). Channel 4 Film. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
18.Jump up ^Nashuatelegraph.com: Tale with long history has legendary opening
19.Jump up ^I Am Legendat the Grand Comics Database
20.Jump up ^I Am Legendat the Comic Book DB
21.Jump up ^I Am Legend: Awakeningat the Comic Book DB
22.Jump up ^"BBC Radio 7 - I am Legend, Episode 1". Bbc.co.uk. 2011-01-18. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
23.Jump up ^Stan Wiater; Matthew R. Bradley; Paul Stuve (2009). The Twilight and Other Zones: The Dark Worlds of Richard Matheson. Kensington Publishing Corporation. pp. 177–. ISBN 978-0-8065-3113-7. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
24.Jump up ^"Omega Man, The". Sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
25.Jump up ^end credits: "Based on the screenplay by John & Joyce Corrington, and the novel by Richard Matheson"
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: I Am Legend (novel)
The I Am LegendBook Archive


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Categories: 1954 novels
American post-apocalyptic novels
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I Am Omega
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Jump to: navigation, search


I Am Omega
Iamomega.jpg
Directed by
Griff Furst
Produced by
David Michael Latt
David Rimawi
Paul Bales
Screenplay by
Geoff Meed
Based on
I Am Legend
 by Richard Matheson (uncredited)
Starring
Mark Dacascos
 Geoff Meed
 Jennifer Lee Wiggins
 Ryan Lloyd
Cinematography
Alexander Yellen
Distributed by
The Asylum
Release dates
November 18, 2007

Running time
90 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
I Am Omega, stylized as I Am Ωmega is a 2007 direct-to-DVD American doomsday film produced by The Asylum and starring Mark Dacascos. The film is an adaptation of the novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, the title being a combination of The Omega Man and 2007's I Am Legend with Will Smith, two other film adaptations of the same novel. The movie was intentionally released as a "Mockbuster" to capitalize on Smith's big-budget film.[1]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Controversy and critical response
3 Cast
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Plot[edit]
The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, which is overrun by savage, zombie-like, cannibalistic humans who have degenerated into a feral subspecies as the result of a genetic infection. The film does not make clear if the virus has infected the entire world, or just a small, isolated area, but it is suggested that it is global by the inability of the hero, Renchard (Mark Dacascos), to locate radio signals or contact anyone via the Internet.
Renchard has been forced to live in a daily struggle for survival against the mutants. One day, Renchard is contacted via webcam by Brianna (Jennifer Lee Wiggins), another survivor who was stranded in L.A. while trying to find Antioch, a community of survivors. She asks Renchard to help her, but Renchard, who has placed time bombs at strategic points around the city, refuses.
Two men (Geoff Meed and Ryan Lloyd) claiming to be from Antioch arrive at his home seeking his aid. Although initially unpersuaded by their argument that Brianna carries the cure to the virus in her blood, Renchard is forced to cooperate under gunpoint. With 24 hours before the bombs are set to detonate, he leads the men into the city. They must find and free Brianna before the mutants or the bombs can destroy them. After Renchard and Brianna flee the city and Mikey is killed in the sewers, Vincent (Geoff Meed) shoots Renchard and captures Brianna. He tells Renchard he did it because he liked the world the way it was and leaves him to die. After Renchard recovers his strength, he hotwires a car and chases after Vincent to save Brianna.
After finding them, Renchard kills Vincent, who was attempting to rape and kill Brianna. The bombs explode, and they both head to Antioch to make a cure. However, it is revealed that a single zombie has survived the explosion.
Controversy and critical response[edit]
This low-budget, direct-to-video film was hurried into production and released a month prior to the big budget Will Smith film I Am Legend in an attempt to cash in on the similar sounding titles and plots.[2][3]
This has led to some confusion among film fans, which is no doubt the intention of film distributor The Asylum, who have used this marketing strategy in the past with such other confusingly-titled films as 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Transmorphers, The Da Vinci Treasure and Snakes on a Train.[4]
Critics had few good things to say about the film. Matt Bradshaw said, "The film starts off with a modest amount of promise, but when the story veers away from the film it's aping things quickly go down hill."[5] The San Diego Union Tribune said that the film is "... what? The long-awaited prequel to Animal House, in which Bluto's secret pact with that reviled rival frat is finally revealed?"[6]
Film Critics United said that "As far as flicks from The Asylum go, I am Omega is their best one yet, at least of the ones I’ve seen. Admittedly this includes fare such as Snakes on a Train, Transmorphers and Super Croc, all surely among the worst films ever made, but for a little while at least I am Omega was more than just a 'good flick for Asylum standards' but just a plain old decent flick. For a little while at least."[7]
Cast[edit]
Mark Dacascos as Renchard
Geoff Meed as Vincent
Jennifer Lee Wiggins as Brianna
Ryan Lloyd as Mike
See also[edit]
The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price
World War Z by Max Brooks
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ I Am Legend by Todd McCarthy, Variety, Dec. 7, 2007.
2.Jump up ^ Movie 'Mockbusters' Put Snakes on Trains, National Public Radio, December 8, 2007.
3.Jump up ^ And if You Can't Catch 'Cloverfield'... by GRADY HENDRIX, The NY Sun, January 18, 2008.
4.Jump up ^ The New B Movie. The New York Times, 2007-OCT-7.
5.Jump up ^ Killer B's on DVD: I Am Omega by Matt Bradshaw, Cinematical, Dec. 17, 2007.
6.Jump up ^ A VIRAL IDEA: Legions of Legends by James Hebert, The San Diego Union Tribune, December 14, 2007, accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
7.Jump up ^ "I Am Omega by Christopher Armsted". Film Critics United. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
External links[edit]
I Am Omega at The Asylum
I Am Omega at the Internet Movie Database


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Categories: 2007 films
English-language films
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American films
2000s science fiction films
2000s thriller films
American science fiction films
The Asylum films
Films about viral outbreaks
Films based on works by Richard Matheson
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The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)
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The Last Man on Earth
Lastmanonearth1960s.jpg
Promotional film poster

Directed by
Ubaldo Ragona
Sidney Salkow
Produced by
Robert L. Lippert
Samuel Z. Arkoff
Harold E. Knox
Written by
Furio M. Monetti
Ubaldo Ragona
 William Leicester
 Richard Matheson (as Logan Swanson)
Based on
I Am Legend
 by Richard Matheson
Starring
Vincent Price
Franca Bettoia
Emma Danieli
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart
Music by
Paul Sawtell
Bert Shefter
Cinematography
Franco Delli Colli
Edited by
Gene Ruggiero
Franca Silvi
Distributed by
American International Pictures (US)
20th Century Fox (international)
Release dates
March 8, 1964

Running time
86 min
Country
United States
 Italy
Language
English
The Last Man on Earth (Italian: L'ultimo uomo della Terra) is a 1964 science fiction horror film based on the Richard Matheson 1954 novel I Am Legend. The film was directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow, and stars Vincent Price. The script was written in part by Matheson, but he was dissatisfied with the result and chose to be credited as "Logan Swanson". William Leicester, Furio M. Monetti, and Ubaldo Ragona were the other writers.
It was filmed in Rome, Italy, with some location shots taken at Esposizione Universale Roma. It was released theatrically in the United States by American International Pictures and the UK in 1966. In the 1980s the film fell into the public domain.[1][2] MGM Home Video, the current owners of the AIP film catalog, released a digitally remastered widescreen print on DVD in September 2005.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Release
5 Legacy
6 References
7 External links

Plot[edit]
In the year 1968, every day is the same for Dr. Robert Morgan (Price): he wakes up, gathers his weapons and then goes hunting for vampires. Morgan lives in a world where everyone else has been infected by a plague that has turned them into undead, vampiric creatures that cannot stand sunlight, fear mirrors, and are repelled by garlic. They would kill Morgan if they could, but fortunately, they are weak and unintelligent. At night, Morgan locks himself inside his house; during the day, he kills as many vampires as he can, burning the bodies.
A flashback sequence explains that, three years before, Morgan's wife and daughter had succumbed to the plague, before it was widely known by the public that the dead would return to life. Instead of taking his wife to the same public burn pit used to dispose of his daughter's corpse, Morgan buried her without the knowledge of the authorities. When his wife returned to his home and attacked him, Morgan became aware of the need to kill the plague victims with a wooden stake. Morgan hypothesizes that he is immune to the bacteria because he was bitten by an infected vampire bat when he was stationed in Panama, which introduced a diluted form of the plague into his blood.
One day, a dog appears in the neighborhood. Desperate for companionship, Morgan chases after the dog but does not catch it. Some time later, the dog appears, wounded, at Morgan's doorstep. He takes the dog into his home and treats its wounds, looking forward to having company for the first time in three years. He quickly discovers, however, that it too has become infected with the plague. Morgan is later seen burying the dog, which he has impaled with a wooden stake.
After burying the dog Morgan spots a woman in the distance. The woman, Ruth, is terrified of Morgan at first sight, and runs from him. Morgan convinces her to return to his home, but is suspicious of her true nature. Ruth becomes ill when Morgan waves garlic in her face, but claims that she has a weak stomach.
Morgan's suspicion that Ruth is infected is confirmed when he discovers her attempting to inject herself with a combination of blood and vaccine that holds the disease at bay. Ruth initially draws a gun on Morgan, but surrenders it to him. Ruth then tells him that she is part of a group of people like her — infected but under treatment — and was sent to spy on Morgan. The vaccine allows the people to function normally with the drug in the bloodstream, but once it wears off, the infection takes over the body again. Ruth explains that her people are planning to rebuild society as they destroy the remaining vampires, and that many of the vampires Morgan killed were technically still alive.
While Ruth is asleep, Morgan transfuses his own blood into her. She is immediately cured, and Morgan sees hope that, together, they can cure the rest of her people. Moments later, however, Ruth's people attack. Morgan takes the gun and flees his home while the attackers kill the vampires gathered around Morgan's home.
Ruth's people spot Morgan and chase him. He exchanges gunfire with them, and picks up tear gas grenades from a police station armory along the way. While the tear gas delays his pursuers somewhat, Morgan is wounded by gunfire and retreats into a church. Despite Ruth's protests to let Morgan live, his pursuers finally impale him on the altar with a spear. With his dying breaths, Morgan denounces his pursuers as "freaks," and declares that he is the last true man on earth.
Cast[edit]
Vincent Price as Dr. Robert Morgan (in others as Robert Neville)
Franca Bettoia as Ruth Collins
Emma Danieli as Virginia Morgan
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart as Ben Cortman
Umberto Raho as Dr. Mercer
Christi Courtland as Kathy Morgan
Antonio Corevi as the Governor
Ettore Ribotta as the TV Reporter
Rolando De Rossi
Carolyn De Fonseca dubbed for Ruth Collins' voice in the English release of the film. She was uncredited.
Giuseppe Mattei as the leader of the survivors. He was also uncredited.
Production[edit]
Producer Anthony Hinds purchased the rights to Matheson's novel for Hammer Productions. Matheson wrote a script but the British censors would not allow its production so Hinds sold the script to Robert Lippert. Lippert originally told Matheson that Fritz Lang was to direct but eventually Sidney Salkow was chosen. To save money the film was shot in Italy with a predominantly Italian cast and crew.[3]
There are differences between the film and the novel in which it is based. The protagonist of the novel is named Robert Neville, not Robert Morgan. The movie also changed the protagonist's profession from plant worker to scientist. The film's vampires are almost zombie-like, whereas in the book, they are fast, capable of running and climbing. The dog that shows up on Neville's doorstep is timid in the novel, and comes and goes as it pleases. The relationship with Ruth also slightly differs from the novel, and no transfusion takes place; a cure seems implausible, even as Neville hopes he will find one. Ruth escapes after Neville discovers that she is infected. He is not captured until many months later, and even then he barely fights. The book ends shortly before Neville is to be executed: Ruth returns to give him suicide pills, and finds it ironic that he has become as much of a legend to the new society as vampires once were to his (hence the title). The novel implies that the vampire plague resulted from a biological disease. The origin of the disease is not explained in The Last Man on Earth, and is altered in the subsequent adaptations.
Release[edit]
Although the film was not considered a success upon its release, the film later gained a more favorable reputation as a classic of the genre.[4] As of November 2011, The Last Man on Earth holds a 73% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[5] Phil Hall of Film Threat called The Last Man on Earth "the best Vincent Price movie ever made."[4] Awarding the film three and a half stars out of four, Danél Griffin of Film as Art said, "Directors Sidney Salkow and Ubaldo Ragona and star Vincent Price (giving a poignant, straightforward performance) are able to conjure up some genuine chills here, mainly in the use of stark, black-and-white images and the underlining mood of the piece."[6]
Among the less favorable reviews, Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique felt the film was "hampered by an obviously low budget and some poorly recorded post-production dubbing that creates an amateurish feel, undermining the power of its story",[7] while Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader remarked, "Some would consider this version better than the 1971 remake with Charlton Heston, The Omega Man, but that isn't much of an achievement."[8]
Among the film's creators, Price "had a certain fondness for the film" and felt it was better than the 1971 The Omega Man.[7] Richard Matheson co-wrote the film's screenplay, but was unhappy with the results. In order to keep receiving residual income from the film, though, he had to be credited, and so used the name "Logan Swanson" - a combination of his wife's mother's maiden name and his mother's maiden name.[9] Author Matheson remarked, "I was disappointed in the film, even though they more or less followed my story. I think Vincent Price, whom I love in every one of his pictures that I wrote, was miscast. I also felt the direction was kind of poor. I just didn’t care for it."[10]
Legacy[edit]
George A. Romero has acknowledged the source material of The Last Man on Earth as an influence on his film Night of the Living Dead, remarking that he "basically had ripped [it] off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend."[11] Numerous critics have suggested the film itself was also a source of inspiration for "Night of the Living Dead".[6][12]
The film was first remade in 1971 starring Charlton Heston and Anthony Zerbe, with Rosalind Cash under the title The Omega Man with Neville as an exiled immune U.S. Army bio-war scientist living on the top of his old Los Angeles townhouse with all his books, art and laboratories and weapons, fighting Zerbe's half-human black-cloaked creatures of the night. Then there is a 2007 remake, starring Will Smith, under the original book title, I Am Legend.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Jonathan Malcolm Lampley (2010). Women in the Horror Films of Vincent Price. McFarland. p. 98.
2.Jump up ^ "The Last Man on Earth (1964)". The Public Domain Review. 28 August 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
3.Jump up ^ Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures, McFarland, 1996 p207-208
4.^ Jump up to: a b THE BOOTLEG FILES: "THE LAST MAN ON EARTH" Phil Hall, Film Threat, April 21, 2006
5.Jump up ^ The Last Man on Earth reviews at Rotten Tomatoes
6.^ Jump up to: a b The Last Man on Earth review by Danél Griffin, Film as Art: Danél Griffin's Guide to Cinema
7.^ Jump up to: a b The Last Man on Earth (1964) - Film Review Steve Biodrowski, Cinefantastique, January 29, 2008
8.Jump up ^ The Last Man on Earth review by Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader, December 10, 2007
9.Jump up ^ "Richard Matheson Storyteller: The Last Man on Earth" — "Midnight Movies Double Feature: Panic in Year Zero / The Last Man on Earth" DVD, 2005, Region 1, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
10.Jump up ^ Reflections of a Storyteller: A Conversation with Richard Matheson by William P. Simmons, Cemetery Dance magazine
11.Jump up ^ "One for the Fire: The Legacy of "Night of the Living Dead" — "Night of the Living Dead" DVD, 2008, Region 1, Dimension Home Entertainment
12.Jump up ^ Thomas Scalzo, "The Last Man on Earth" (film review)
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)
The Last Man on Earth at the Internet Movie Database
The Last Man on Earth is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
The Last Man on Earth at AllMovie
Complete stereo soundtrack of the Paul Sawtell/Bert Shefter film score released by the "Monstrous Movie Music" label (sound samples available)
Audio transcription of the film (Part 1) (Part 2) at the Internet Archive.
Cine Fantastique Review
The Last Man on Earth on Livestream
The Last Man on Earth on YouTube


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The Omega Man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

For the coin counterfeiter, see The Omega Man (counterfeiter). For the manga and anime character, see Omegaman.

The Omega Man
The-Omega-Man-Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Boris Sagal
Produced by
Walter Seltzer
Screenplay by
John William Corrington
Joyce H. Corrington
Based on
I Am Legend
 by Richard Matheson
Starring
Charlton Heston
Anthony Zerbe
Rosalind Cash
Music by
Ron Grainer
Cinematography
Russell Metty
Distributed by
Warner Bros.
Release dates
August 1, 1971

Running time
98 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Box office
$4,000,000 (rentals)[1]
The Omega Man is a 1971 American science fiction film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston. It was written by John William Corrington and Joyce Corrington, based on the 1954 novel I Am Legend by the American writer Richard Matheson. The film's producer was Walter Seltzer, who went on to work with Heston again in the dystopian science fiction film Soylent Green in 1973.[2]
The Omega Man is the second adaptation of Matheson's novel, the first being The Last Man on Earth (1964) which starred Vincent Price. A third adaptation, I Am Legend starring Will Smith, was released in 2007.[3]
The film differs from the novel (and the previous film) in several ways.[4][5] In the novel the cause of the demise of humanity is a plague spread by bacteria, turning the population into vampire-like creatures, whereas in this film version biological warfare is the cause of the plague which kills most of the population and turns most of the rest into nocturnal albino-mutants. Screenwriter Joyce Corrington holds a doctorate in chemistry and felt that this was more suitable for an adaptation.[6][7]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Interracial kiss
4 Reception
5 Deleted scene
6 Emptying out Los Angeles
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Plot[edit]
In 1975, biological warfare kills most of the world's population due to a Sino-Soviet war. U.S. Army Col. Robert Neville, M.D. is a scientist based in Los Angeles. As he begins to succumb to the plague himself, he injects himself with an experimental vaccine, rendering himself immune.
By 1977, Neville is apparently the only healthy man left on Earth. Struggling to maintain his sanity, he spends his days patrolling the deserted city of Los Angeles, hunting and killing members of "The Family", a cult of crazed nocturnal albino mutants caused by the plague. The Family seeks to destroy all technology due to science causing humanity's downfall, as well as anyone who utilizes technology, which they term "Users of the Wheel". At night, living atop a fortified apartment building equipped with an arsenal of weaponry, Neville defends himself from Family attempts to extract him from his home. Neville has decorated his residence and lives much like the antebellum era, but he is a prisoner in his own home and without a woman.
One day, as Neville is in a department store helping himself to new clothing, he spots a woman who quickly runs away. He pursues her outside but chalks it up to another one of his hallucinations.
On another day, while exploring the wine cellar of a fine restaurant, Neville finally gets caught by the family. After a summary trial he is found guilty of heresy by Jonathan Matthias, a former news anchorman who is now leader of the Family. Neville is sentenced to death and nearly burned at the stake in Dodger Stadium. He is rescued by Lisa, the woman he had earlier dismissed as a hallucination, and Dutch, a former medical student. Lisa and Dutch are part of a group of survivors, most of whom are children. Although their youth has given them some resistance to the disease, they are still vulnerable to it and will eventually succumb to mutation. Neville realizes that even if it is possible to duplicate the original vaccine, it would take years to salvage humanity. However, he believes it may be possible to extend his immunity to others by creating a serum from his own body. With the immunized survivors, eventually civilization could rise again.
Neville, Lisa, and Lisa's teenage brother Richie return to Neville's apartment where they begin treating Richie who is succumbing to the disease. Neville and Lisa are about to have a romantic evening together just as the generator runs out of fuel and the lights go off. The Family then attacks, sending Brother Zachary to climb up the outside of Neville's building to the open balcony of his apartment. Neville leaves Lisa upstairs as he goes to the basement garage to restart the generator. Neville returns to the apartment to find Zachary right behind an unsuspecting Lisa. Neville shoots him and he falls off the balcony to his death, dropping his spear on the balcony as he goes.
If the serum works, Neville and Lisa plan to leave the ravaged city with the rest of the survivors and start a new life in the wilderness, and the Family will be soon be doomed to extinction. Neville is successful in creating the serum and administers it to Richie. Once cured, Richie reveals the location of The Family's headquarters to Neville, but insists that the Family are also human and that Neville's cure should be administered to them as well. Neville disagrees with him, so Richie goes to the Family by himself to try to convince them to take the serum. Matthias refuses to believe that Neville would try to help them, accuses Richie of being sent to spy on them and has him executed. Neville discovers Richie’s body and, enraged, he goes on a rampage against the Family.
Meanwhile, Lisa quickly and unexpectedly succumbs to the disease and becomes an albino. Returning home, Neville tells Lisa about Richie's death, but she already knows and has betrayed Neville by giving Matthias and his followers access to Neville's home. Matthias, who finally has the upper hand, forces Neville to watch as the Family sets his home and equipment on fire. Neville breaks free and, once outside with Lisa, he turns and raises his gun to shoot Matthias, who is looking down from the balcony. The gun jams, giving Matthias enough time to hurl Zachary's spear at Neville, mortally wounding him. The next morning, Dutch and the survivors discover Neville dying in a fountain. He hands Dutch a flask of the blood serum, and then dies. Dutch takes Lisa and the survivors away as they leave the city for good.
In Heston's autobiography, "In the Arena:An Autobiography", he made mention of the fact that the "crucifixion" scene with Neville was not in the original script. It was decided, as it turns out, that it fit quite well into the storyline and was subsequently left in.
Cast[edit]
Charlton Heston – Neville
Anthony Zerbe – Matthias
Paul Koslo – Dutch
Rosalind Cash – Lisa
Eric Laneuville – Richie
Interracial kiss[edit]



 Charlton Heston and Rosalind Cash about to kiss in a scene from The Omega Man
Whoopi Goldberg has remarked that the kiss between the characters played by Charlton Heston and Rosalind Cash was one of the first interracial kisses to appear in a movie.[8][9] In 1992 when Goldberg had her own network interview talk show, she invited Charlton Heston to be a guest and asked him about the kiss. After discussing whether Heston received any flak for it at the time, Goldberg expressed that she wished that society could get past it being an issue, at which point Heston leaned forward and demonstrated on the unsuspecting Goldberg.[10] The unscripted moment took everyone off guard, particularly Goldberg, who reverted to as if she were a "16 year old" since she had grown up watching Heston and viewed him as a screen legend.[11] (Heston's roles included playing Moses in 1956's The Ten Commandments and as the lead in 1959's Ben-Hur, among other prominent roles before entering into science fiction with 1968's Planet of the Apes).
Screenwriter Joyce H. Corrington stated that in developing the script for The Omega Man, the character of Lisa, played by Rosalind Cash, was created due to the rise of the Black Power movement, which was particularly prominent in American culture at the time that the film was made.[6] She goes on to remark that this created an effective and interesting dynamic between the characters of Lisa and Neville.
Heston wrote in his autobiography, In the Arena, that The Omega Man was the first leading role in a film for actress Rosalind Cash, and that she was understandably "a little edgy" about doing a love scene with him. Heston explained, "It was in the seventies that I realized a generation of actors had grown up who saw me in terms of the iconic roles they remembered from their childhoods. 'It's a spooky feeling,' she told me, 'to screw Moses.'"[12]
Reception[edit]
The film review website Rotten Tomatoes lists The Omega Man as having mixed reviews, with a score of 59%.[13] For example, Howard Thompson gave a mostly negative review in The New York Times, saying "the climax is as florid and phony as it can be,"[14] while the staff of Variety described the film as "an extremely literate science fiction drama."[15]
Director Tim Burton said in an interview for his 2009 MoMA exhibit that “If I was alone on a desert island I’d probably pick something that I could relate to – probably The Omega Man with Charlton Heston. I don’t know why that is one of my favorite movies, but it is.”[16] In another interview, with ACMI, Burton remarked that no matter how many times he has seen it, if it is on television he will stop to watch it. He said that when he originally saw The Omega Man, it was the first instance that he recalls seeing the use of certain types of "cheesy one-liners" in film. The film is full of irony-tinged one-liners that are spoken in a manner to elicit a comic response. Burton compares these to the famous one-liners in Arnold Schwarzenegger's film career, such as "I'll be back."[17] An example of this is a scene in which Neville visits a car dealership in order to get a car to replace the one that he had just wrecked. While speaking to the long-dead salesman sitting at his desk, Neville replies, "Uh-huh, alright, how much will you give me in trade for my Ford? Oh really? Thanks a lot, you cheating bastard!" At that point, Neville peels out, driving through what remains of the dealership front entrance.[18]
Deleted scene[edit]
The script for The Omega Man contains a scene where Lisa goes to visit her parents' grave. Unknown to Neville, Lisa is pregnant, and she goes to seek comfort from her deceased parents before they leave the city forever. While Lisa is talking to her parents' grave, she hears a sound and investigates a crypt. In it, she spots a female Family member depositing a dead newborn mutant. Lisa can see the mother's grief and empathizes with the woman's loss despite them being on different sides. Lisa believes that all children, including her unborn baby, will suffer the same fate. Later, Lisa returns to Neville and tells him of the woman in the crypt. Neville asks Lisa if she "took care" of things and Lisa responds that since she may be a grieving parent in a few months, she will not kill a grief-stricken mother. Neville is shocked at first but then embraces Lisa.
While the scene was cut from the final film, the screen credit for "Woman in Cemetery Crypt" remains.
Emptying out Los Angeles[edit]
The movie takes place in Los Angeles and as part of the plot the city is supposed to be void of human activity except for Neville. A number of tricks were used to make the city appear deserted. This objective was accomplished in part by simply filming on a Sunday morning in the center of L.A.'s business district, when pedestrian movement is limited.[19] Despite careful planning by the film crew, there are instances in which bystanders were captured on film in the distance and appear briefly in scenes.
See also[edit]
Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Updated All-time Film Champs", Variety, 9 January 1974 p 60.
2.Jump up ^ Nelson, Valerie J. (2011-02-20). "Walter Seltzer dies at 96; former Hollywood press agent made a successful leap to producing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
3.Jump up ^ The Asylum also released their low-budget straight-to-DVD version, I Am Omega, featuring Mark Dacascos, in 2007 (though neither Matheson's name or novel was credited as source material for this version).
4.Jump up ^ "The Science-Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review". Moria. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
5.Jump up ^ "Movie Review – Omega Man, The". eFilmCritic. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
6.^ Jump up to: a b The Omega Man Special Feature: ““Introduction by Joyce H. Corrington (Screenwriter), Paul Koslo (“Dutch”), and Eric Laneuville (“Richie”)” 2003. Warner Brothers Letterbox DVD 2007.
7.Jump up ^ "The Omega Man". The Terror Trap. 2008-04-05. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
8.Jump up ^ "Goldberg Discussing Interview with Heston". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
9.Jump up ^ "Whoopi Goldberg Remembers Charlton Heston; Plants One on Joy|". Huffington Post. 2008-04-07. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
10.Jump up ^ "Goldberg interview with Heston". YouTube producers: Whoopi Goldberg; Tom Leonardis; Edited by: James Jahrsdoerfer. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
11.Jump up ^ "Staying Cool at Whoopi's Talk Show". New York Times. 1992-11-29. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
12.Jump up ^ Charlton Heston. In the Arena. Simon and Schuster. p. 443. ISBN 0-684-80394-1.
13.Jump up ^ "The Omega Man". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
14.Jump up ^ Thompson, Howard (August 14, 1971). "The Omega Man (1971) Screen: All Alone in L.A.:Charlton Heston Stars in 'The Omega Man'". The New York Times.
15.Jump up ^ "Variety Reviews – The Omega Man – Film Reviews – Review by Variety Staff". Variety.com. 1970-12-31. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
16.Jump up ^ "See minute mark 4:33". Museum of Modern Art interview with director, Tim Burton. 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
17.Jump up ^ ACMI interviews Tim Burton, discusses The Omega Man on YouTube
18.Jump up ^ "Charlton Heston – Omega Man – Thanks a lot". YouTube. 2010-03-02. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
19.Jump up ^ Charlton Heston. In the Arena. Simon and Schuster. p. 441. ISBN 0-684-80394-1.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Omega Man
The Omega Man at the Internet Movie Database
The Omega Man at AllMovie


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Categories: 1971 films
English-language films
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1970s science fiction films
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Films based on works by Richard Matheson
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Films set in 1975
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I Am Legend (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


I Am Legend
A man wearing leather clothes and holding a rifle walks alongside a dog on an empty street. A destroyed bridge is seen in the background. Atop the image is "Will Smith" and the tagline "The last man on Earth is not alone". Below is the film's title and credits.
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Francis Lawrence
Produced by
Akiva Goldsman
James Lassiter
David Heyman
Neal H. Moritz
Screenplay by
Mark Protosevich
 Akiva Goldsman
Based on
I Am Legend
 by Richard Matheson
Starring
Will Smith
Alice Braga
Dash Mihok
Music by
James Newton Howard
Cinematography
Andrew Lesnie
Edited by
Wayne Wahrman
Production
 company
Village Roadshow Pictures
Weed Road Pictures
Overbrook Entertainment
Heyday Films
Original Film

Distributed by
Warner Bros. Pictures
Roadshow Entertainment (Australia & New Zealand)
Release dates
December 14, 2007

Running time
100 minutes
 104 minutes (Alternate ending)
Country
United States
 United Kingdom
Language
English
Budget
$150 million[1]
Box office
$585,349,010[2]
I Am Legend is a 2007 British-American post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. It is the third feature film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man.[3] Smith plays virologist Robert Neville, who is immune to a man-made virus originally created to cure cancer. He works to create a remedy while defending himself against mutants created by the virus.
Warner Bros. began developing I Am Legend in 1994, and various actors and directors were attached to the project, though production was delayed due to budgetary concerns related to the script. Production began in 2006 in New York City, filming mainly on location in the city, including a $5 million scene[4] at the Brooklyn Bridge.
I Am Legend was released on December 14, 2007 in the United States and Canada, and opened to the largest ever box office (not counting for inflation) for a non-Christmas film released in the U.S. in December. The film was the seventh-highest grossing film of 2007, earning $256 million domestically and $329 million internationally, for a total of $585 million.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Development
3.2 Casting
3.3 Filming
3.4 Effects
3.5 Alternate ending
4 Release 4.1 Marketing
4.2 Box office
4.3 Home media
4.4 Soundtrack
5 Reception 5.1 Critical response
5.2 Accolades
6 Possible sequel/prequel
7 Bibliography
8 References
9 External links

Plot[edit]
Opening in 2012, a series of flashbacks and recorded news programs reveal that in 2009 a genetically re-engineered measles virus, originally created as a cure for cancer, mutated into a lethal strain which rapidly infected humans and some species of animals. By the end of the year, over 90% of the planet's human population died. Over 9% were infected, but did not die. These survivors degenerated into a primal state of aggression and began to react painfully to UV radiation, forcing them to hide in buildings and other dark places during the day. Less than 1% remained completely immune to the virus, but were hunted and killed by the infected or committed suicide due to their isolation until, three years after the outbreak, US Army virologist Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville (Will Smith) is left in New York City as what he believes to be the last healthy human in the world.
Neville's daily routine includes experimentation on infected rats to find a cure for the virus and trips through a Manhattan devoid of humanity to hunt for food and supplies. He also waits each day for a response to his continuous recorded radio broadcasts, which instruct any uninfected survivors to meet him at midday at the South Street Seaport. Flashbacks reveal that his wife and daughter appear to have died in a helicopter accident during the chaotic evacuation of Manhattan, prior to the military-enforced quarantine of the island in 2009. Neville's isolation is broken only by the companionship of his dog Samantha ("Sam"), interaction with mannequins he has set up as patrons of a video store, and recordings of old news and entertainment broadcasts.
Neville seems to find a promising treatment derived from his own blood, so he sets a snare trap and captures an infected woman while an infected male watches from the shadows. Back in his laboratory, located in the basement of his heavily-fortified Washington Square Park home, Neville treats the infected woman without success. Shortly thereafter, he is ensnared in a trap similar to the one he used to capture the woman. By the time Neville escapes it is dark and he is attacked by infected dogs, one of which bites Sam (although dogs are unaffected by the airborne strain of the virus, they are still affected by the contact strain). Initially Neville brings Sam home and injects her with a strand of his serum, but when she shows signs of infection and tries to attack him, Neville is forced to strangle her. The next night he goes out and recklessly attacks a group of infected. He is nearly killed, but is rescued by a pair of immune survivors, Anna (Alice Braga) and a young boy named Ethan (Charlie Tahan), who have traveled from Maryland after hearing one of his broadcasts. They take the injured Neville back to his home where Anna explains that they survived the outbreak aboard a Red Cross evacuation ship from São Paulo and are making their way to a putative survivors' camp in Bethel, Vermont.
Neville once again attempts to administer a potential cure to the infected woman in his laboratory, but the next night a group of infected, who had followed Anna and Neville back the night before, attack the house and overrun its defenses. Neville, Anna, and Ethan retreat into the basement laboratory, sealing themselves in with the woman Neville has been treating. Discovering that the last treatment has been successful, Neville draws a vial of the woman's blood and gives it to Anna, before shutting her and Ethan inside a coal chute in the back of the lab. As one of the infected breaks into the laboratory, Robert detonates a grenade, killing the mutants and himself. Anna and Ethan emerge the next morning and make their way to the survivor colony. Once there, Anna hands over the blood containing the cure.
Cast[edit]
Will Smith as Dr. Robert Neville: A former U.S. Army medical doctor and scientist before the worldwide plague. He lost his wife and his child in a helicopter crash shortly after Manhattan was quarantined and has spent the last three years in his home in New York City, scavenging for supplies and hunting for wildlife in the city. He is immune to the virus and uses vials of his blood to try to create a cure.
Alice Braga as Anna Montez: A survivor from Brazil, who spent her days harbored on a Red Cross ship in Philadelphia; after the city was overrun, she stayed with Ethan and several other survivors on the ship, but eventually, only she and Ethan survived, since they were immune and the others were either infected or killed. She followed Neville's broadcasts to track him.
Charlie Tahan as Ethan: A boy from Philadelphia who spent days on the ship with Anna and accompanied her when the ship was overrun.
Dash Mihok as the Infected alpha male
Abbey & Kona as Samantha: Neville's dog and companion
Emma Thompson as Dr. Alice Krippin: The doctor who creates the cancer cure that inadvertently brings mankind to the brink of extinction; Neville dubs the virus "The Krippin Virus".
Salli Richardson as Zoe Neville: Robert's wife.
Willow Smith as Marley Neville: Robert's daughter (also Will Smith's real-life daughter).
Lauren Haley as Infected alpha female
Darrell Foster as Mike
Pat Fraley as Voice of the President of the United States
Mike Patton as Voices of the Darkseekers
Production[edit]
Development[edit]



 Washington Square on October 31, 2006: the area is being set up for an evening shooting. In the background is the house Will Smith's character lives in.
The late 1990s brought a reemergence of the science fiction horror genre.[5] In 1995, Warner Bros. began developing the film project, having owned the rights to Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend since 1970[6] and having already made the 1971 adaptation The Omega Man. Mark Protosevich was hired to write the script after the studio was impressed with his spec script of The Cell. Protosevich's first draft took place in the year 2000 in San Francisco, California, and contained many similarities with the finished film, though the Darkseekers (called 'Hemocytes') were civilized to the point of the creatures in The Omega Man and Anna was a lone morphine addict; as well as the fact that there was a Hemocyte character named Christopher who joined forces with Neville. Warner Bros. immediately put the film on the fast track, attaching Neal H. Moritz as producer.[5]
Actors Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas,[7] and Mel Gibson[5] had been considered to star in the film,[7] using a script by Protosevich and with Ridley Scott as director; however, by June 1997 the studio's preference was for actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In July, Scott and Schwarzenegger finalized negotiations,[8] with production slated to begin the coming September,[7] using Houston as a stand-in for the film's setting of Los Angeles.[9] Scott had Protosevich replaced by a screenwriter of his own choosing, John Logan, with whom he spent months of intensive work on a number of different drafts. The Scott/Logan version of I Am Legend was a mix of sci-fi and psychological thriller, without dialogue in the first hour and with a sombre ending.[5] The creatures in Logan's version were similar to the Darkseekers of the finished film in their animalistic, barbaric nature. The studio, fearing its lack of commercial appeal and merchandising potential, began to worry about the liberties they had given Scott – then on a negative streak of box office disappointments – and urged the production team to reconsider the lack of action in the screenplay. After an "esoteric" draft by writer Neal Jimenez, Warner Bros. reassigned Protosevich to the project, reluctantly working with Scott again.[5]
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.[10] Scott rewrote the script in an attempt to reduce the film's budget by $20 million,[11] but in March 1998, the studio canceled the project due to continued budgetary concerns,[12] and quite possibly to the box office disappointment of Scott's last three films, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, White Squall, and G.I. Jane.[5] Likewise, Schwarzenegger's recent films at the time (Eraser and Warner Bros. own Batman & Robin) also underperformed, and the studio's latest experiences with big budget sci-fi movies Sphere and The Postman were negative as well.[5] In August 1998, director Rob Bowman was attached to the project,[13] with Protosevich hired to write a third all-new draft, far more action-oriented than his previous versions,[5] but the director (who reportedly wished for Nicolas Cage to play the lead) moved on to direct Reign of Fire[14] and the project did not get off the ground.
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.[15] Bay and Smith were attracted to the project based on a redraft that would reduce its budget.[16] However, the project was shelved due to Warner Bros. president, Alan F. Horn's dislike of the script.[17] In 2004, Akiva Goldsman was asked by head of production Jeff Robinov to produce the film.[18] In September 2005, director Francis Lawrence signed on to helm the project, with production slated to begin in 2006. Guillermo del Toro was originally approached to direct by Smith but turned it down in order to direct Hellboy II: The Golden Army.[19] Lawrence, whose film Constantine was produced by Goldsman, was fascinated by empty urban environments. He said, "Something'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."[18]
Goldsman took on the project as he admired the second I Am Legend film adaptation, The Omega Man.[20] A rewrite was done to distance the project from the other zombie films inspired by the novel,[15] as well as from the recently released 28 Days Later, although Goldsman was inspired by the scenes of a deserted London in the British horror film to create the scenes of a deserted New York City.[20] A 40-page scene-by-scene outline of the film was developed by May 2006. When delays occurred on Smith's film Hancock, 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 green lit, using Goldsman's script and the outline.[18] Elements from Protosevich's script were introduced, while the crew consulted with experts on infectious diseases and solitary confinement.[20] Rewrites continued throughout filming, because of Smith's improvisational skills and Lawrence's preference to keep various scenes silent.[18] The director had watched Jane Campion’s film The Piano with a low volume so as to not disturb his newborn son, and realized that silence could be very effective cinema.[21]
Casting[edit]
Will Smith signed on to play Robert Neville in April 2006.[22] He said he took on I Am Legend because he felt it could be like "Gladiator [or] Forrest Gump—these are movies with wonderful, audience-pleasing elements but also uncompromised artistic value. [This] always felt like it had those possibilities to me."[20] The actor found Neville to be his toughest acting challenge since portraying Muhammad Ali in Ali (2001). He said that "when you're on your own, it is kind of hard to find conflict." The film's dark tone and exploration of whether Neville has gone insane during his isolation meant Smith had to restrain himself from falling into a humorous routine during takes.[23] To prepare for his role, Smith visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Georgia. He also met with a person who had been in solitary confinement and a former prisoner of war.[24] Smith compared Neville to Job, who lost his children, livelihood, and health. Like the Book of Job, I Am Legend studies the questions, "Can he find a reason to continue? Can he find the hope or desire to excel and advance in life? Or does the death of everything around him create imminent death for himself?"[15] He also cited an influence in Tom Hanks' performance in Cast Away (2000).[20]
Abbey and Kona, both three-year-old German Shepherd Dogs, played Neville's dog Sam.[25] The rest of the supporting cast consists of Salli Richardson as Zoe, Robert's wife,[26] and Alice Braga as a survivor named Anna.[26] Willow Smith, Will Smith's daughter, makes her film debut as Marley, Neville's daughter.[27] Emma Thompson has an uncredited role as Dr. Alice Krippin, who appears on television explaining her vaccine for cancer that mutates into the virus.[28] Singer Mike Patton provided the guttural screams of the infected "hemocytes," and Dash Mihok provided the character animation for the infected "alpha male". There were several filler characters with uncredited roles in old news broadcasts and flashbacks, such as the unnamed President's voice (Pat Fraley), and the cast of The Today Show.
Filming[edit]

A below view of a large suspension bridge over a river connecting to an area covered with tall buildings. Another bridge and other buildings can be seen in the background.

 The Brooklyn Bridge, where a $5 million scene was filmed


 Marcy Avenue Armory
Akiva Goldsman decided to move the story from Los Angeles to New York City to take advantage of locations that would more easily show emptiness.[6] Goldsman explained, "L.A. looks empty at three o'clock in the afternoon, [but] New York is never empty . . . it was a much more interesting way of showing the windswept emptiness of the world."[23] Warner Bros. initially rejected this idea because of the logistics,[18] but Francis Lawrence was determined to shoot on location, to give the film a natural feel that would benefit from not shooting on soundstages. Lawrence went to the city with a camcorder, and filmed areas filled with crowds. Then, a special effects test was conducted to remove all those people. The test had a powerful effect on studio executives.[21] Michael Tadross convinced authorities to close busy areas such as the Grand Central Terminal viaduct, several blocks of Fifth Avenue and Washington Square Park.[18] The film was shot primarily in the anamorphic format, with flashback scenes shot in Super 35.[29]
Filming began on September 23, 2006.[30] The Marcy Avenue Armory in Williamsburg was used for the interior of Neville's home,[23] while Greenwich Village was used for the exterior.[15] Other locations include the Tribeca section of Lower Manhattan, the aircraft carrier Intrepid, the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx and St. Patrick's Cathedral.[6] Weeds were imported from Florida and were strewn across locations to make the city look like it had overgrown with them.[18] The closure of major streets was controversial with New Yorkers. Will Smith said, "I don't think anyone's going to be able to do that in New York again anytime soon. People were not happy. That's the most middle fingers I've ever gotten in my career."[15]
A bridge scene was filmed for six consecutive nights in January on the Brooklyn Bridge to serve as a flashback scene in which New York's citizens evacuate the city. Shooting the scene consumed $5 million of the film's reported $150 million budget, which was likely the most expensive shot in the city to date. The scene, which had to meet requirements from 14 government agencies, involved 250 crew members and 1,000 extras, including 160 National Guard members.[31][32] Also present were several Humvees, three Strykers, a 110-foot (34 m) cutter, a 41-foot (12 m) utility boat, and two 25-foot (7.6 m) response boat small craft, as well as other vehicles including taxis, police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances.[33] Filming concluded on March 31, 2007.[30] CGI was used to depict the main spans of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge collapsing as missiles from over passing military jets blew them up to quarantine Manhattan island.
Reshoots were conducted around November 2007. Lawrence noted, "We weren't seeing fully rendered shots until about a month ago. The movie starts to take on a whole other life. It's not until later that you can judge a movie as a whole and go, 'Huh, maybe we should shoot this little piece in the middle, or tweak this a little bit.' It just so happened that our re-shoots revolved around the end of the movie."[34]
Effects[edit]
A week into filming, Francis felt the infected (referred to as "Dark Seekers" or "hemocytes" in the script), who were being portrayed by actors wearing prosthetics, were not convincing. His decision to use computer-generated imagery (CGI) resulted in an increased budget and extended post-production, although the end results were not always well received.[35][36] The concept behind the infected was that their adrenal glands were open all of the time and Lawrence explained, "They needed to have an abandon in their performance that you just can’t get out of people in the middle of the night when they’re barefoot. And their metabolisms are really spiked, so they’re constantly hyperventilating, which you can’t really get actors to do for a long time or they pass out."[18] The actors remained on set to provide motion capture.[23][37] "The film's producers and sound people wanted the creatures in the movie to sound somewhat human, but not the standard," so Mike Patton, lead singer of Faith No More, was engaged to provide the screams and howls of the infected.[38]
In addition, CGI was used for the lions and deer in the film, and to erase pedestrians in shots of New York. Workers visible in windows, spectators and moving cars in the distance were all removed. In his vision of an empty New York, Lawrence cited John Ford as his influence: "We didn't want to make an apocalyptic movie where the landscape felt apocalyptic. A lot of the movie takes place on a beautiful day. There's something magical about the empty city as opposed to dark and scary that was the ideal that the cast and crew wanted."[20]
Alternate ending[edit]
Several scenes were changed before the film's release, especially the stand-off between Neville and the infected in his laboratory. In the ending, the alpha male makes a butterfly-shaped smear on the glass. Neville realizes that the alpha male is identifying the woman he was experimenting on by a butterfly tattoo, and the alpha male wants her back. Neville puts his gun down and returns the infected woman. Neville and the alpha male both stare each other down; Neville apologizes to the Darkseekers; the alpha male accepts his apology, and the infected leave. Shocked by the ordeal, Neville sits down for a moment in his laboratory. Looking over the pictures of his numerous test subjects, the implications of his research methods begin to dawn on him. The final shot follows Neville, Anna, and Ethan as they drive away towards the survivor's camp in Vermont with the antidote.[39]
According to visual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs: "At that point, Neville's — and the audience's — assumptions about the nature of these creatures are shown to be incorrect. We see that they have actually retained some of their humanity. There is a very important moment between the alpha male and Neville."[citation needed]
Release[edit]
I Am Legend was originally slated for a November 21, 2007 release in the United States and Canada,[40] but was delayed to December 14, 2007.[41] The film opened on December 26, 2007 in the United Kingdom,[42] and Ireland having been originally scheduled for January 4, 2008.[23]
In December 2007, China banned the release of American films in the country,[43] which is believed to have delayed the release of I Am Legend. Will Smith spoke to the chairman of China Film Group about securing a release date, later explaining, "We struggled very, very hard to try to get it to work out, but there are only a certain amount of foreign films that are allowed in."[24]
Premieres were held in Tokyo, New York and London. At the London premiere in Leicester Square, British comedian and actor Neg Dupree was arrested after pushing his way onto the red carpet and running around shouting 'I am Legend!'.[citation needed] The stunt was part of his 'Neg's Urban Sports' section of comedy game show Balls of Steel.
Marketing[edit]
A tie-in comic from DC Comics and Vertigo Comics has been created, I Am Legend: Awakening.[44] The project draws upon collaboration from Bill Sienkiewicz, screenwriter Mark Protosevich, and author Orson Scott Card. The son of the original book's author, Richard Christian Matheson, also collaborated on the project. The project will advance from the comic to an online format in which animated featurettes (created by the team from Broken Saints) will be shown on the official website.[45]
In October 2007, Warner Bros. Pictures in conjunction with the Electric Sheep Company launched the online multiplayer game I Am Legend: Survival in the virtual world Second Life. The game is the largest launched in the virtual world in support of a film release, permitting people to play against each other as the infected or the uninfected across a replicated 60 acres (240,000 m2) of New York City.[46] The studio also hired the ad agency Crew Creative to develop a website that would be specifically viewable on the iPhone.[47]
Box office[edit]
I Am Legend grossed $77,211,321 on its opening weekend in 3,606 theaters, averaging $21,412 per venue, and placing it at the top of the box office. This set a record for highest grossing opening for a film for the month of December.[48] The film grossed $256,393,010 in North America and a total of $585,349,010 worldwide.[49] The film was the sixth highest grossing film of 2007 in North America, and as of April 2014 it still stands among the top 100 all-time highest grossing films both domestically and worldwide (unadjusted for ticket price inflation).[49]
Home media[edit]
The film was released on DVD on March 18, 2008 in two editions: a one-disc release, including the movie with four animated comics ("Death As a Gift," "Isolation," "Sacrificing the Few for the Many," and "Shelter"), and other DVD-ROM features; and a two-disc special edition that includes all these extras, an alternative theatrical version of the movie with an alternate ending,[50] and a digital copy of the film.[51] On the high-definition end, the movie has been released on the Blu-ray Disc format and HD DVD format along with the DVD release; with the HD-DVD version being released later on April 8, 2008.[52] Both HD releases include all the features available in the two-disc DVD edition.[52] A three-disk Ultimate Collector's Edition was also released on December 9, 2008.[53]
The film has sold 7.04 million DVDs and earned $126.2 million in revenue, making it the sixth best-selling DVD of 2008.[54] However, Warner Bros was reportedly "a little disappointed" with the film's performance on the DVD market.[55]
Soundtrack[edit]

I Am Legend

Film score by James Newton Howard

Released
January 15, 2008
Length
44:00
Label
Varèse Sarabande
Producer
James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard chronology

The Water Horse I Am Legend 

The soundtrack for I Am Legend was released on January 15, 2008, under the record label Varèse Sarabande. The music was composed by James Newton Howard.

I Am Legend Soundtrack

No.
Title
Length

1. "My Name Is Robert Neville"   2:50
2. "Deer Hunting"   1:16
3. "Evacuation"   4:26
4. "Scan Her Again"   1:41
5. "Darkseeker Dogs"   2:16
6. "Sam's Gone"   1:45
7. "Talk To Me"   0:55
8. "The Pier"   5:17
9. "Can They Do That?"   2:09
10. "I'm Listening"   2:09
11. "The Jagged Edge"   5:15
12. "Reunited"   7:49
13. "I'm Sorry"   2:21
14. "Epilogue"   4:13
Total length:
 44:00 
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Most critics were favorable towards the film.[56] The consensus among favorable reviews was that Will Smith's performance overcame questionable special effects.[57] Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 70%, based on 210 reviews.[58] At the similar website Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to each review, the film has received an average score of 65, based on 37 reviews.[59]
A. O. Scott wrote that Will Smith gave a "graceful and effortless performance" and also noted the "third-act collapse". He felt that the movie "does ponder some pretty deep questions about the collapse and persistence of human civilization".[60] Dana Stevens of Slate wrote that the movie lost its way around the hour mark, noting that "the Infected just aren't that scary."[28] NPR critic Bob Mondello noted the film's subtext concerning global terrorism and that this aspect made the film fit in perfectly with other, more direct cinematic explorations of the subject.[61] Richard Roeper gave the film a positive review on the television program At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, commending Will Smith as being in "prime form," also saying there are "some amazing sequences" and that there was "a pretty heavy screenplay for an action film."[62] The film has been criticized for diverging from Matheson's novel, especially in its portrayal of a specifically Christian theme.[63] Much of the negative criticism has concerned the film's third act,[35][36][64] some critics favoring the alternative ending in the DVD release.[50]
Popular Mechanics published an article on December 14, 2007[65] addressing some of the scientific issues raised by the film:
1.the rate of deterioration of urban structures, infrastructure, and survival of fauna and flora
2.the plausibility of a retrovirus spreading out of control as depicted in the film. (The measles virus depicted in the film, however, is not a retrovirus, but is in fact a part of the Paramyxovirus family.)
3.the mechanics of the Brooklyn Bridge's destruction
The magazine solicited reactions from Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us, virologist W. Ian Lipkin, M.D., and Michel Bruneau, PhD, comparing their predictions with the film's depictions. The article raised the most questions regarding the virus' mutation and the medical results, and pointed out that a suspension bridge like the Brooklyn Bridge would likely completely collapse rather than losing only its middle span. Neville's method of producing power using gasoline-powered generators seemed the most credible: "This part of the tale is possible, if not entirely likely," Popular Mechanics editor Roy Berendsohn says.
Philosopher Slavoj Zizek criticized the film politically as being the most regressive adaptation from the novel (others being The Last Man on Earth in 1964 and The Omega Man in 1971). He claimed that while the original novel had a progressive multicultural message where Neville became a "legend" to the new creatures and is subsequently killed by them (much like vampires were legends to humans); the 2007 film finds a cure for the Darkseekers and it is delivered by a survivor through apparent divine intervention. According to Zizek this misses the original message and "openly opt[s] for religious fundamentalism."[66]
Accolades[edit]
 I Am Legend earned four nominations for the Visual Effects Society Awards,[67] and was also nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards,[68] Outstanding Film and Actor at the Image Awards,[69] and Best Sound at the Satellite Awards. In June 2008, Will Smith won a Saturn Award for Best Actor.[70] Will Smith also won the MTV Movie Awards for Best Male Performance.[71]
Possible sequel/prequel[edit]
Francis Lawrence said in late 2008 that there would be a prequel and that Will Smith would be reprising his role. He stated that the film would reveal what happens to Neville before the infected take over New York. D. B. Weiss was recruited to write the script, while Lawrence would direct "if we figure out the story". Smith stated the film would have Neville and his team going from New York City to Washington, D.C. and back again, as they made their last stand.[72] The film would again explore the premise of what it's like to be alone, as Lawrence explained, "... the tough thing is, how do we do that again and in a different way?"[73]
On May 3, 2011, Francis Lawrence stated that, so far as it involved him, the prequel was dead, with Lawrence stating, "I don't think that's ever going to happen."[74]
In 2012, Warner Brothers announced that deals had been made to produce "another installment" (not necessarily the rumored prequel), with the intention of having Will Smith reprise his role.[75]
Bibliography[edit]
I Am Legend, Richard Matheson, Tor Books; Reissue edition (October 30, 2007), ISBN 0-7653-1874-1
References[edit]
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37.Jump up ^ Sony Pictures Imageworks - I Am Legend
38.Jump up ^ Harris, Chris (December 13, 2007). "Mike Patton Hits The Big Screen, Voicing 'I Am Legend' Baddies And Scoring 'Perfect' Indie Flick". Retrieved January 3, 2008.
39.Jump up ^ Billington, Alex (March 5, 2008). "Must Watch: I Am Legend's Original Ending". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
40.Jump up ^ "Shooting Dates for I Am Legend". ComingSoon.net. August 16, 2006. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
41.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
42.Jump up ^ "UK Film release schedule". Film Distributors' Association. Retrieved December 11, 2007.
43.Jump up ^ Patrick Frater (December 5, 2007). "China sets 3-month ban on U.S. films". Variety. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
44.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend: Awakening". Warner Bros. Retrieved January 23, 2008.[dead link]
45.Jump up ^ Erik Amaya (July 28, 2007). "CCI: This Book is Legend". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved July 30, 2007.
46.Jump up ^ Warner Bros. Pictures (October 12, 2007). "I Am Legend: Survival Launched in Second Life". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved October 12, 2007.
47.Jump up ^ Carly Mayberry (October 11, 2007). "Site a 'Legend' for iPhone". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
48.Jump up ^ "‘I Am Legend’ sets big box-office record". MSNBC. Retrieved December 16, 2007.
49.^ Jump up to: a b "I Am Legend (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
50.^ Jump up to: a b Todd Gilchrist and Christopher Monfette (March 11, 2008). "I Am Legend (Two-Disc Special Edition) DVD Review". IGN. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
51.Jump up ^ Ault, Susanne (February 29, 2008). "I Am Legend to carry digital file". Video Business. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
52.^ Jump up to: a b Charles Lyons. "I Am Legend on DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray". Retrieved February 3, 2008.
53.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend Ultimate Collector's Edition". WBShop.com. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
54.Jump up ^ "Top Selling DVDs of 2008". www.the-numbers.com. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
55.Jump up ^ 2008 Q1 about even with last year: Blu-ray helped offset drops in consumer spending. 2008-04-16, Video Business
56.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend reviews at Metacritic.com". Metacritic. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
57.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
58.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
59.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
60.Jump up ^ A. O. Scott (December 14, 2007). "Man About Town, and Very Alone". New York Times. Retrieved December 14, 2007.
61.Jump up ^ "'I Am Legend' a One-Man American Metaphor". December 14, 2007. Retrieved January 24, 2008.
62.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend review". Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2007.[dead link]
63.Jump up ^ Journal of Religion & Film: Film Review: I Am Legend reviewed by Christopher M. Moreman
64.Jump up ^ Corliss, Richard (December 14, 2007). "Will Smith Gets Lost in His Legend". TIME. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
65.Jump up ^ McCarthy, Erin (December 14, 2007). "I Am Legend's Junk Science: Hollywood Sci-Fi vs. Reality". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
66.Jump up ^ Zizek, Slavoj (2011). Living in the End Times. Verso Books. p. 64. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
67.Jump up ^ "6th Annual VES Awards Recipients". Visual Effects Society. Retrieved April 11, 2010.[dead link]
68.Jump up ^ "Nominations Announced for the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild. December 20, 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2010.[dead link]
69.Jump up ^ "Nominees for the 39th NAACP Image Awards Announced" (PDF). NAACP. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
70.Jump up ^ "2007 12th Annual Satellite Awards". International Press Academy. Archived from the original on January 22, 2008. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
71.Jump up ^ "Will Smith Profile: Biography, Filmography & Photos – Yahoo! Movies UK". uk.movies.yahoo.com. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
72.Jump up ^ Steve Weintraub (December 5, 2008). "Will Smith talks I AM LEGEND prequel". Collider.com. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
73.Jump up ^ "Director Talks "I Am Legend" Prequel". WorstPreviews.com. January 16, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
74.Jump up ^ "EXCLUSIVE: 'I Am Legend Prequel' Is Dead, Says Francis Lawrence". MoviesBlog.MTV.com. May 3, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
75.Jump up ^ Fleming, Mike. February 17, 2012, deadline.com, "Warner Bros Plans More ‘I Am Legend’ With Will Smith". Accessed February 19, 2012.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: I Am Legend (film)
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to I Am Legend (film).
I Am Legend at the Internet Movie Database
I Am Legend at AllMovie
I Am Legend at Rotten Tomatoes
I Am Legend at Metacritic
I Am Legend at Box Office Mojo


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Categories: 2007 films
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