"I Am Legend" Compared to "The Last Man on Earth" - a Movie Review
Two Looks at the End of the World Based Upon the Book "I Am Legend"
I Am Legend, released in 2007, is the third major movie adaptation of Matheson's novel following 1964's The Last Man on Earth (with Vincent Price) and 1971's The Omega Man (which starred Charlton Heston). This time Will Smith (Hitch) takes on the role of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville, the name Matheson originally used for the hero of his book, and the setting is New York City in the not-too-distant 2012.
In the I Am Legend, adaptation, a treatment to cure cancer using a re-engineered measles virus runs amuck. Once the new virus mutates and becomes airborne, it spreads worldwide and kills 5.4 billion people (90% of humanity). While 12 million people possess a natural immunity, the remaining 588 million are reduced to "Darkseekers." Unlike their predecessors in Last Man on Earth, "Darkseekers" exhibit superhuman speed, agility, strength, intelligence, and organization.
When the virus jumps, Neville sends wife and daughter away on helicopter before New York City is cut off from the rest of the world. It is unclear to me if the helicopter crashed or made it out as those scenes were shown in flashbacks which were sometimes cut off by his present situation. Like Doctor Morgan before him Neville also has a dog, this time his child's dog, left to him when the helicopter took his family away. In the movie's saddest scene, Sam is attacked by mutated dogs while trying to protect Neville and begins to turn, and Neville has to strangle his beloved last friend in this heart-wrenching scene.
Neville spends his days scavenging for supplies, much like Morgan in Last Man on Earth, but he uses radio broadcasts instead of the ham radio and invites anyone who hears his broadcast to meet him at the pier. In his darkest hour after Sam's death, he is rescued from the "Darkseekers" on the pier by a young immune woman (Anna) and a child (Ethan) who survived the outbreak aboard a Red Cross evacuation ship. Neville is injured, but one of the most false notes in the movie is their reaction to each other upon finding each other. Hers is acceptance and faith that God has a plan; his is anger at her faith. He believes in science, but not in God. But after that initial reaction, where was the "YAHOO! We are NOT ALONE" jumping up and down for joy scene? If I had been alone for months and found a nice human companion, there would have been some joy!
Neville is a virologist and has been testing various vaccines on "Darkseekers" he captures, and they all die, with the exception of the last one. This one appears to be dying, then starts to look human right as the plague victims attack Neville's home. He realizes his last vaccine works, and he gives Anna a sample of the recovering woman's blood before pushing her and Ethan into an old coal chute, telling her that she's right and God has a plan. He then detonates a hand grenade as the "Darkseekers" break through.
I Am Legend is much more exciting than The Last Man on Earth due to the incredible advancements in filmmaking since 1964. While Morgan wrestles with despair, Neville's internal struggle seems to be more with faith. He seems to think if he can protect himself and Sam long enough and discover a cure through science, a new vaccine can save the world, doubting the very existence of God. In the end, he finds his faith in God restored and gives up his own life to save Anna and Ethan, to give them a chance to find a rumored community of survivors in Vermont.
I Am Legend released in 2007
PG - 13
Color/100 minutes
The Last Man on Earth
The Last Man on Earth, an Italian horror/science fiction film released in 1964, is based upon the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend and is the predecessor of I Am Legend, the movie. Vincent Price stars in this black and white classic as Doctor Robert Morgan. The movie was set in the not-too-distant future of 1968, when a plague of probable ecological origin devastates the earth and reduces its victims to weak and lethargic zombie/vampires who cannot stand sunlight, and who fear mirrors and garlic. By day Morgan roams the city, scavenging for food and supplies, hoping against hope to find a survivor, and killing any vampires he finds sleeping by driving a stake through their hearts. As the sun sets, he must return home to hang fresh garlic and mirrors, play his records and broadcast on his ham radio in case anyone is out there.
Then the zombie/vampires of The Last Man on Earth come a-calling led by their leader, chanting in a monotonous and unterrifying drone, "Morgan, Morgan, come out Morgan." The vampires are not at all scary and seem to pose no real threat except in sheer numbers. Were they considered scary in 1964? I would guess so, but they are no match for today's bloodsuckers.
Morgan discovers a dog who appears healthy, but he is unable to catch it. Later, he finds the dog wounded and takes it home to care for it, but as he grows quickly attached to the animal, he tests the dog's blood and discovers it is sick with plague, and he must kill it with a stake through the heart. Morgan finally sees a live woman, chases her, and convinces her to come to his house where it is safe. However, he becomes suspicious of Ruth and confronts her with garlic, which makes her ill, but she explains she just has a weak stomach.
When Morgan later sees Ruth injecting herself with a serum and discovers she is also a plague victim, but part of a group which can keep the vampire/zombie symptoms at bay with the inoculations. Morgan injects Ruth with his own blood, which cures her. Ruth reveals her group is intent upon killing Morgan, who is a legend of fear among them because he has killed some of them thinking they were vampires. At the conclusion of The Last Man on Earth, Ruth's group appears and chases Morgan. Wounded by gunfire, he retreats into a church where despite Ruth's pleas to let Morgan live, he is finally symbolically impaled on the altar by a spear thrown by one Ruth's group.
The Last Man on Earth was released in 1964
Black & white/86 minutes
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An author, poet, publisher, publicist & skincare consultant, I have written for publications including CCM Magazine, The Tennessean, Barbie Bazaar Magazine, Christian Activities & several local newspapers.... View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentInteresting to have "I Am Legend" and "The Last Man on Earth" compared side to side, so to speak.
Good review. My first thought when I saw this movie was of the old Vincent Price flick. You made the historical connection quite well.
I preferred the last man on earth purely because the character was more rounded, and wasnt portrayed as the typical good buy will smith always plays.
very well review!
I do agree with you Barbara about the radio, and I meant to add more sort of similar to what you are saying, but it slipped my mind, and Jeremy, I am with you 100% on the woman and child being way too under-traumatized for what they must have gone through. However, as much as I like Vincent Price, I thought his acting was sort of Shakespearian, which I didn't like as much. In a horror flick, I don't want the "Out, out, brief candle" soliloquies or the "Freak! You're all freaks!" ending of the 1964 version. Too melodramatic for my tastes!
we really liked I am Legend...
;)
Though the advancement in film special effects may be significant, I didn't think the acting was as great. At least not for the woman and the child. They seemed a little bit too uppidy for surviving a long trek on foot, dodging CGI zombies. Plus, I didn't consider the special effects that great. It is clear that the zombies were animated, they almost looked cartoony. But I digress. I think I liked the older "The Last Man on Earth" because of the epic-like acting and the tragic ending. Seemed a bit more Shakespearan to me.
I saw this movie and your interpretation is right-on, though I concluded that his wife and daughter died in the helicopter wreck. I did not grasp the arrival of the woman to help Neville as being emotionless - good observation on your part. I think I was too scared to notice. What I found peculiar is that Neville is using a radio to attempt to get in touch with people, yet no one, not even the military whom we'd think survived in part, never checked in on him. And this is the guy in whose hands the future of the world lies as he works toward creating a cure.