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Topic: I Am Legend (2007)

Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 01-11-2008 08:57 PM

quote: John Koutsoumis
Does anyone know if ["I Am Legend"] was shot in anamorphic or Super 35?

Anamorphic (with one sequence in super-35).

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Phil Blake
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 558
From: esperance western australia
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 01-12-2008 02:23 AM

Technical specs on this (from IMDB)

Film negative format (mm/video inches)
35 mm (Kodak and Fuji)

Cinematographic process
Digital Intermediate (master format)
Super 35 (source format)

Printed film format
35 mm (anamorphic)
70 mm (IMAX blow-up)

as for the film I thought the beginning was erratic the middle was OK and the end , well it looked like the money ran out so they just wrapped it up fast.

The DTS sound was great and I did get disks for this one.

2.5 out of 5 from me.

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Brian Michael Weidemann
Expert cat molester

Posts: 944
From: Costa Mesa, CA United States
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 01-12-2008 04:04 AM

quote: Mike Blakesley
I wonder why these movie directors keep picking on New York to have the shit blasted out of it? Why not L.A. or Chicago? I guess Cloverfield will be the next movie to destroy NYC.

I've detected that lots of movies throw in these "familiar" settings in different circumstances because it's neat to see places we know in new ways. I'm sure seeing these streets in NY all deserted are really cool for people who can say, "Hey, I know that corner!" Unfortunately, for me, never having been to NY (and not really caring to go), this aspect is completely lost on me.

There are a couple movies with LA being blown up or otherwise dealt with. I think Day After Tomorrow had a sequence of places I've actually been. No, wait, I think that was NY, too. The Core? I don't even remember.

But unless someone really gets down to blowing up or having aliens destroy Disneyland, the Orange Crush, or Huntington Pier, I'm not going to be invested too heavily in watching cinematic urban/suburban destruction and caring. And just think of how many filmgoers live nowhere near any "populated" popular cities depicted in these disaster films? Like they care that we get squashed, shaken, burned, blown around, frozen, infected, etc. They ain't never been here! They'll never see their favorite coffee-shop in a quick blink-and-you-miss-it explosion. [Cool]

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Carol May
Film Handler

Posts: 48
From: los angeles, ca, usa
Registered: Nov 2006

posted 01-12-2008 05:50 PM

I don't care what city they place the action in, but I do like a movie that has some ACTION. This movie just stood there. Every now and then they'd flash back to the evacuation, and that was a little exciting, but then everything in the present was dull. There was no build up to keep you hanging on to the end. Yawn.

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Jim Perry
Film Handler

Posts: 7
From: Las Vegas, Nv. USA
Registered: Jan 2008

posted 01-13-2008 05:57 PM

Hi - new member here. Saw the "IMAX Experience" version at the Regal Red Rock multiplex on X-mas Eve. In a nutshell: Will Smith was good. But with that said, "The Omega Man", the 1971 version of the story with Charlton Heston, WAS WAY WAY BETTER (and sorry Will - the "Reciting 'Shrek'/home-theatre" scene DOESN'T COME CLOSE to the "Chuck watching/reciting 'Woodstock' in a REAL MOVIE THEATRE" one (snicker-snicker)! As for the so-called IMAX "experience" (which cost $28.50 - or $14.25 for myself & a friend), can we say MAJOR RIP-OFF here??!!!

It's now Jan. 13th, '08, so in conclusion, for those of you who might still be interested in seeing "I Am Legend", either go to a bargain matinee at a theatre that's showing it in digital projection (I bet 2-to-1 most of the 35mm prints out there ARE THRASHED by now!), or perhaps wait for the DVD (which will probably be out within a couple of months - give or take!).

My rating: 2.5 (out of 5) stars.

[ 01-27-2008, 12:57 PM: Message edited by: Jim Perry ]

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Kurt Zupin
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 989
From: Maricopa, Arizona
Registered: Oct 2004

posted 01-14-2008 06:27 AM

Sorry to go off topic here, I will take that bet Jim. You can come take a look at my print of Legend and tell me if its Trashed. I think everyone on these boards will take that bet. You realize you are on a board with a bunch of Film Nuts, right? People who take their profession seriously!

EDITED FOR Michael Coate [Roll Eyes]

[ 01-14-2008, 03:22 PM: Message edited by: Kurt Zupin ]

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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 01-14-2008 06:38 AM

quote: Kurt Zupin
You realize your [you're OR you are] on a board with a bunch of Film Nuts [missing comma] right? People who take there [their] profession seriously!

People may take their profession seriously, but many of them sure don't take their communication skills seriously!

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-14-2008 02:44 PM

quote:
(I bet 2-to-1 most, if not all, of the 35mm prints out there ARE THRASHED by now!),

Jim: You're fulla crap. We are playing this movie right now, it's been in 2 theatres before ours, and the print is as clean as a whistle, not a mark on it. And it will leave here that way and go to the Centre Cinema in Hardin Montana, where they won't trash it either.

My review:
I liked it fairly well. As mentioned above, some implausible stuff. I will admit the dog is probably really dead.

Pretty impressive CG work, showing the dilapidated NYC.

I agree with others that the girl and kid were introduced far too late in the movie. The dumbest thing about that scene (this happens in many many movies) is that the characters just stare at each other and make cryptic comments for four or five minutes, when a simple "what are you doing here and where did you come from?" would have sped things up. And, I never did understand why Will didn't believe there was a survivors colony.

As for "what would really happen in 3 years:" A few months ago the magazine "The Week" ran an article about that exact subject. According to some scientific dudes, it would be a surprisingly short time before "nature" took the land over again if humans were somehow wiped out of there.

Good sound mix, and a good looking film.

3 1/2 out of five for me. One-half extra star awarded for not using any "rap" music in the soundtrack.

[ 01-14-2008, 03:49 PM: Message edited by: Mike Blakesley ]

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Kurt Zupin
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 989
From: Maricopa, Arizona
Registered: Oct 2004

posted 01-14-2008 03:24 PM

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a horrible speller, and I usually don't put the right punctuation in a sentence. That still dosn't change the point I was trying to make!

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Lyle Romer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1400
From: Davie, FL, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 01-14-2008 06:01 PM

quote: Mike Blakesley
As for "what would really happen in 3 years:" A few months ago the magazine "The Week" ran an article about that exact subject. According to some scientific dudes, it would be a surprisingly short time before "nature" took the land over again if humans were somehow wiped out of there.

Just based on what happens to cracks in the driveway or patio if I get behind on roundup I'd think it is definitely possible for that type of growth to happen in 3 years.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-15-2008 08:44 PM

Did anyone else notice that during the opening headline crawl at the bottom of the screen, the word "SECRATARY" appears -- then when the word is about 1/3 of the way across the screen, the spelling corrects itself.

What's up with that? I wonder if it was done on purpose.

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Jim Perry
Film Handler

Posts: 7
From: Las Vegas, Nv. USA
Registered: Jan 2008

posted 01-27-2008 03:20 PM

I see I ruffled a few feathers here (Kurt & Mike B.). Ok, my apologies to you both, as well as anyone else who works in a projection booth..... THAT TAKES THE JOB SERIOUSLY!!! It's nice to know there's still SOME of you out there who do.

For the record, I did a slight re-edit on my personal comment/opinion above ("I'll bet 2-to-1...") - the "if not all" was removed. HOWEVER (and this is NOT directed towards those of you who, again, take the job of film projection SERIOUSLY!), I still stand by my statement that MOST (let's say 75%, or 3 out of 5) prints ARE THRASHED by now. Let's not kid ourselves folks - for every theatre that has responsible people up in the booth, it's a no-brainer there's several out there with those WHO SHOULDN'T RUN BE IN ONE, PERIOD
(A.K.A. "Button-pushers")! And that's just my opinion.

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Mike Schindler
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1039
From: Oak Park, IL, USA
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 03-06-2008 01:31 AM

Just the other day, I was thinking about how this movie could have potentially been one of the year's best if they had stuck to the book's ending. Now it's been revealed that the home video release will have an alternate cut with a new ending. [thumbsup]

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Kurt Zupin
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 989
From: Maricopa, Arizona
Registered: Oct 2004

posted 03-06-2008 04:13 PM

I actually caught this new ending over at Aintitcool.com last night before I went to bed, (it has been taken down now) they really should have stuck with this ending for the movie. It was so much better, its not like the book. But it is so much better, explained what the "creatures" were really like.

I amend my original score of 3/5 [thumbsup]

to 4/5

with the new ending.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 03-20-2008 12:07 AM

Rented the Blu-ray version of I Am Legend. Watched the "alternate" version of it first and then watched the "theatrical" cut ending.

I think the alternate version plays better. It seems to underline the idea that Robert Neville (Smith's character) hasn't drawn the right conclusions and that those years of isolation has caused him to really start losing his marbles.

Still, that doesn't really explain some of the implausibilities in the movie.

If the infected zombie like people are so aggressive and mindless, why don't they kill (and eat) each other? What makes healthy humans so special? Quite a few living things will kill others of the same species, with people being the most notable for it. Why aren't the infected ones starving for lack of healthy people to eat? Guess they must be taking care of themselves somehow. Why is a scientist like Neville so stupid he can't ask those same questions? So it seems really silly when he gets caught in a trap.

The audio mix gets pretty good and loud in various parts. Bass out the wazoo on the opening title and when Neville locks up his doors for the night. Picture quality looks great in some places and a little soft in others.

The disc has some decent extras (in high definition as well). The semi-animated comics are worth a look, but I wouldn't watch them more than a couple times. Overall, the disc is worth a rental, but I'm not sure I'd recommend buying it.

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