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June 2, 2011

The Last Man on Earth

Anyone who has seen the movie "I Am Legend" with Will Smith will be familiar with the story line of this classic movie starring Vincent Price.  "The Last Man on Earth" is the first adaption of several movies based upon the book I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.  It was even the inspiration behind the popular zombie flick, "Night of the Living Dead".

The book was written in 1954 and told the story of society being run over by a disease which brought the dead back to life.  Although the book refers to the disease as vampirism, the monsters in this book, to me at least, seem to act more like sentient zombies.  Despite being over run with this disease, the people retain their memories of their former life and even are able to speak.  The main character in the book is a man by the name of Robert Neville, who for some reason seems immune to the disease.

"The Last Man on Earth" came out in 1964, and although I have yet to see "Omega Man" I have a feeling that this is the best screen adaption from the original book.  I loved what they did with this movie and how they stayed true to the story.  The infected were true to their nature and they were exactly as I had imagined them from the book.  In the book Neville's best friend would show up every night to try to coax him out of his fortified house.  I loved that they put this into the movie.  I think that it really gives the characters a little more depth.  Each night Neville has to listen to the pounding on his door and hear his best friend calling out to him.  I absolutely love that they kept this part in.  That's a part of the book that always creeped me out.  You're alone and the only survivor, but each night you have to hear your best friend calling to you, knowing that you can't answer that call.  They also did an awesome job showing exactly what Robert Morgan (in this version) went through to try to find a cure for the infected.  There was so much that he had lost, including his wife and daughter.  This movie did an awesome job portraying how that experience haunted him every night.  All of the details they took from Matheson's story and put into this film really made the film what it was.  It didn't become another story entirely, which is what I felt happened with "I Am Legend"

"I Am Legend" came out in 2007 and I really enjoyed this movie as well, but it just didn't feel anything like the book.  You had the main character named Robert Neville, a dog and some disease that had swept over the world.  Those were pretty much the common points.  I loved the lions in the city.  Anyone who knows me is aware that I love animals, so the cats were a big draw for me.  Although one thing that always bugged me is where are all of the other animals?  If the lions escaped from the zoo (which was the only explanation I could think of for a lion to be in NYC) then why didn't any of the other animals escape?  Another thing I really loved in this movie was the dog.  Now in the book and in "The Last Man on Earth" Robert did have a dog, but he found him wandering around and he wasn't able to keep him very long.  In "I Am Legend" I really loved the idea of Robert having this dog since she was a puppy.  I think it gave them more of a bond and you really got to see how much Robert loved Sam, his dog.  I thought the vampires in this movie or Nightwalkers, as they called them were great.  Once again, I feel they didn't fit the story.  All in all I feel that "I Am Legend" took the main plot line from the book and then turned around and made it something completely different.  So if you're a book snob, and really love the book, then "I Am Legend" probably isn't for you.

I'm not going to talk about the ending of either of these movies, or the book, just because I'll let you go and experience that on your own.  Each ending is a little different (in the case of "I Am Legend" a lot different), so you can decide the one you liked the best.  "The Last Man on Earth" did a great job of keeping the ending similar to the book which I loved.  It gave a little bit of a twist at the end, and I love twists.  So go ahead and check these out.  I suggest starting with the book, but then I always suggest starting with the book.  But if you can't at least be sure to watch "The Last Man on Earth".  It's a great movie and I highly recommend it to anyone.


Jess the Geek Girl's Rating

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