I Am Legend (film)

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Movie
German title I am legend
Original title I am legend
I am legend.svg
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2007
length Original theatrical version: 100 minutes,
alternative cut version: 104 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
JMK 14
Rod
Director Francis Lawrence
script Mark Protosevich
Akiva Goldsman
production Akiva Goldsman
David Heyman
James Lassiter
Neal H. Moritz
music James Newton Howard
camera Andrew Lesnie
cut Wayne Wahrman
occupation

I Am Legend is a 2007 American science fiction film that starred Will Smith . The script is based on the novel Ich bin Legende by Richard Matheson . This topic was filmed in The Last Man on Earth , The Omega Man and later in I Am Omega .

action

Cinema version

In September 2012, the virologist Lt. Colonel Dr. Robert Neville to be the last person alive in New York City . Three years earlier, Dr. Alice Krippin a measles - virus modified and thus found a cure for cancer with a hundred percent success rate. However, the virus mutated and killed 5.4 billion people. Of the 600 million survivors, only 12 million were found to be immune. The remaining survivors initially develop symptoms that are similar to rabies , but soon degenerate into an animal-like state, driven by hunger and blind, boundless aggression against the uninfected. Their skin becomes hairless and lighter and they hide in buildings during the day because they are very sensitive to UV light . They develop a higher heart rate, faster breathing and metabolism, and an increased body temperature.

Robert, who lost his wife Zoe and daughter in a helicopter accident during the chaotic evacuation of Manhattan in December 2009, is also immune. He remained guilty at the place of origin of the catastrophe, the so-called Ground Zero , and tried to find a cure for the virus with experiments on infected rats. His daily routine consists of daily wanderings through empty, decaying Manhattan to gather supplies from abandoned houses and hunt deer that have migrated into the city. He makes sure to get to his house before sunset so as not to reveal its location. Every day he broadcasts a radio message in search of uninfected people with instructions to meet him at South Street Seaport at noon . His loneliness is only alleviated by his shepherd dog Samantha and by communicating with mannequins that he himself has set up in front of and in a video store.

When his dog Sam chases after a deer into a dark building while hunting, Robert follows her and discovers a group of infected people. Since he needs a human specimen for his promising experiments, he sets a trap for them. The leader of the infected, Alpha , observes the capture of his companion and furiously pursues Robert until the light of day. Back in the laboratory in the basement of his house, Robert begins attempts to heal the woman.

The next day, Robert falls into a trap that the creatures have modeled on his own trap used the day before and passes out. When he comes to and can free himself, it is already getting dark. He is attacked by infected dogs who are chased on him by Alpha . Before he can kill the dogs, one of them manages to bite Sam. Since dogs are immune to airborne transmission of the virus, but are not immune to contact, Robert brings Sam back to his lab and tries to cure them with the antidote, which doesn't work. When she tries to attack him, Robert is forced to kill her. After burying Sam, Robert, overwhelmed by grief and anger, traps the infected again at night and drives his car into the group. Although he manages to kill some of them, the infected can overwhelm him. At the last moment, a woman named Anna shows up with a little boy, Ethan, who overheard his radio message. Both manage to save the injured Robert from the infected with the help of glaring headlights.

Anna and Ethan bring Robert back to his house, where Anna explains that they are on their way to Vermont , where there is a camp with survivors. However, Robert does not believe in this colony, as all rescue camps have sooner or later been overrun by the infected. Anna tries to persuade him to go to Vermont with her anyway. In her opinion, it was God's plan that she heard his radio message and was therefore able to save him just in time. You are now determined to find that camp. Robert, however, has lost faith in God and wants to stay in order to continue researching for a cure for the infected, whom Anna calls the “night seeker”.

That night they are attacked by a group of infected people who had managed to follow Robert and Anna the night before. The three are forced to retreat to the laboratory, where they want to hide in a room with the infected woman. They discover that Robert’s experiment works and that the woman has regressed into a more human form. The infected enter the laboratory and Alpha begins to ram the safety glass behind which they are located. The cracks in the glass resemble a butterfly, and Robert remembers that his daughter spoke of a butterfly the night she died. He notices a butterfly tattoo on Anna's neck. Now he takes blood from the infected woman and hands Anna the sample with the words "the antidote is in her blood ... I think that's why you're here" . Robert sends Anna and Ethan to an old coal mine to keep them safe. When the glass breaks, he uses a hand grenade to kill the attackers and thus himself.

Anna and Ethan manage to drive to Vermont and discover the camp of the survivors. There they hand over the antidote. In a voice-over, Anna commemorates Robert's scientific achievement and self-sacrifice, and affirms that survivors are Robert's legacy by making his struggle for a cure legendary.

Alternative ending

The second DVD of the 2-disc version also contains the entire film, as is already included on the first DVD, but only the English-language original sound is available, optionally with German-language subtitles. Above all, the end of the film differs from the end of the cinema and television versions: Here, too, the infected storm the house as far as the part of the laboratory separated by safety glass and ram the pane of glass until it starts to splinter. Before the pane gives way completely, Robert realizes that the leader of the infected is only concerned with surrendering the test subject, who is apparently his companion, but has not yet been cured in this version. The symbol of the butterfly is also taken up here again. The leader of the infected "paints" a butterfly on the glass door with the dirt of his hands, whereupon Robert remembers the butterfly tattoo on the body of his companion and hands it over. The infected do not want to be rescued, as they now form their own society; rather they want to protect the leader's companion from being treated by Robert and turned back into a person. Robert realizes that in the face of this new civilization, he and the last people are only troublemakers. After he has released the test subject, the infected leave the laboratory peacefully. Robert, Anna and Ethan make their way to Vermont.

This original ending, which was replaced by the end of the theatrical version under pressure from the film studio, adheres more closely to the novel, in which the infected also do not want to be saved. Surprisingly, it also becomes clear there that they are not soulless monsters like zombies , but have built a new civilization. In the novel, they are even the only remaining society and thus the future of humanity, since, unlike in the film, there are no “camps of survivors” here.

background

Cars parked on the side of the road have been dusted to give the impression that they have been there for years
The exterior of Neville's apartment was filmed on Washington Square Arch
The set for the recordings of the cars blown up by Neville in front of his apartment

The original book I Am Legend , the first work by Richard Matheson , was first in 1964 as The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price in the lead role filmed, but the name of the main character of was Neville on Morgan changed.

Warner Bros. has owned the film rights to the book since the 1970s. The second cinematic implementation was under the title The Omega Man in 1971 with Charlton Heston in the title role.

Ridley Scott wanted to film the subject with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1997 . However, the project failed on a budget of at least $ 200 million. Michael Bay and Will Smith planned to film the theme in 2002, but decided to give preference to shooting Bad Boys II .

For the filming of 2006 in New York City , the Fifth Avenue , the Brooklyn Bridge , the Washington Square Park and the viaduct between Grand Central Terminal and Park Avenue from September 2006 to April 2007 at night and locked on weekends. At the same time, plants were brought in from Florida by truck to decorate the streets, creating the impression that they had been reclaimed by the vegetation . At the premiere in New York, Will Smith apologized to the residents of the city for the inconvenience caused by the shooting.

Smith's daughter, Willow Smith, plays the role of Robert Neville's daughter and does the same to her brother Jaden , who was already allowed to play alongside his father in The Pursuit of Happiness . In addition to Smith, Ted Levine , Tom Cruise and Nicolas Cage were also considered for the lead role .

The screams of the infected creatures come from Mike Patton , the singer of the band Faith No More .

The film celebrated its world premiere on December 5, 2007 in Tokyo , on December 11, 2007 it was shown in New York City for the first time in the USA. In Europe , the film was shown for the first time on December 19, 2007 in Belgium ; the German-language premiere took place on January 10, 2008 in Germany , Austria and Switzerland . The film was shown as a German-language free TV premiere on February 7, 2010 on ProSieben .

I Am Legend was filmed in New York City, New York , Los Angeles , California and West Amwell , New Jersey . In West Amwell, only the exterior shots of the autumn landscape were taken, as the trees on the original set had already lost their leaves.

reception

Reviews

The lexicon of international film sees a "successful variation of a template that has already been adapted several times" and a "main actor who is always present, who also convinces in quiet scenes." It comes to the conclusion that it is "[e] delightfully solid genre cinema."

For Roger Ebert the film contained "some memorable moments", he praised the special effects at the beginning of the film, which are not very effective in depicting the infected.

Tobias Kniebe , editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, praises: "This fundamental skepticism and the seriousness, [...], lift the film far beyond the genre - and the hectic stupidity of the usual Hollywood action material."

Andreas Müller from the Humanist Press Service saw “I am Legend” as a “confrontation with religion in its original, fundamentalist variant”. So “Christian motifs run through the film, [...] crucifixes, psalms and other allusions appear more and more frequently”. "In Christianity the butterfly is a symbol of resurrection", the voice of his deceased daughter points out to such a "butterfly tattoo by Anna". Thereupon [he] "sacrifices himself for Anna and the salvation serum" and has "redeemed humanity". In Müller's opinion, the film is “an apocalyptic doomsday scenario based on the biblical model”. His conclusion is: “End-time Christians secretly laugh into their sleeves that Hollywood is confirming their doom and annihilation fantasies with a million dollar blockbuster.”

In the review by Andreas Borcholte in Spiegel 2008 it was said: “I Am Legend” is a film with breathtaking pictures, a brilliant main actor and a grandiose story, which has not been adapted for the third time for the cinema. However, all these attributes only apply to half of the film. ”In the further course“ the film, which has been miraculously meditative to date, turns into a more conventional blockbuster with all the explosions, quick cuts and rushed tracking shots that are part of it. ”

Awards

Financial success

Opening weekend the film grossed 77.2 million dollars a what was until then the most successful theatrical release in December in the history of cinema and corresponded to an average intake of 21 411 US dollars per movie. He trumped the previous record holder The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King for $ 4.4 million. In December 2012, that record was beaten by The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey .

By January 10, 2008, I Am Legend had grossed around US $ 230 million at the box office in the United States and had a worldwide profit of US $ 400 million. As of January 17, 2008, it had grossed around US $ 241 million in its own country and grossed more than US $ 462 million worldwide. A week later, around $ 249 million was reached in the United States, while global box office income even reached around $ 583 million.

This significantly exceeded the budget of an estimated 150 million.

Film music

The film character Robert Neville is Bob Marley - Fan , which his daughter the name Marley was. His favorite album is Legend by Bob Marley. According to the 2002 Guinness Book of Records , it is the best-selling reggae album. It is a compilation of Marley's songs released in 1984 . The tracks Three Little Birds and Stir It Up are part of the score. The song Three Little Birds can be heard several times in the film, for example when Neville is driving. In the end credits the Redemption Song from the same album can be heard . Bob Marley is often referred to as The Legend , and this title is used in a biography of him and on posters.

successor

Francis Lawrence originally confirmed that there would be another movie and that Smith would slip back into the role of Robert Neville. He said it will be a prequel that will address pre-infection events. DB Weiss could be won for the script, while Lawrence should take over the direction again. Smith said the film will take Neville and his team from New York City to Washington, DC and back. The film will again shed light on the importance of loneliness, with Lawrence explaining the challenge is to tell the same story in a different way. The release of the film was planned for 2011. These plans were discarded, however, as it made more sense to produce a sequel in which Smith should still get the lead role.

The sequel was finally discarded in the first half of 2011 because the alternative ending was better suited for a sequel than the original theatrical version.

literature

  • Nils Hübinger: I am Legend - Richard Matheson's novel and Francis Lawrence's film adaptation from 2007. A comparison. GRIN Verlag, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-656-42141-2 .
  • Richard Matheson : I am a legend. Translated from the English by Lore Strassl and Ralf Schmitz. Heyne, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-453-50155-3 .

Web links

Commons : I Am Legend  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ FSK approval (PDF; 73 kB)
  2. ↑ Age rating for I Am Legend . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ a b c d e background information according to the Internet Movie Database
  4. ↑ Start dates  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. according to the Internet Movie Database@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.imdb.de  
  5. ↑ Locations  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. according to the Internet Movie Database@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.imdb.de  
  6. ^ I Am Legend. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 4, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  7. ^ Film review by Roger Ebert on December 14, 2007 , accessed on July 7, 2008
  8. ↑ New in the cinema: Will Smith in "I am Legend" - The worst of all nightmares sueddeutsche.de on January 9, 2008
  9. ^ Film review , Humanistischer Pressedienst, Andreas Müller, February 25, 2008, No. 3946
  10. ↑ End times vision I Am Legend: Shepherd hour with Will . In: Der Spiegel , January 8, 2008. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  11. ↑ Decision of the film evaluation board
  12. ^ "I Am Legend" sets big box-office record
  13. ^ IMDb: All-Time Worldwide Box office , accessed on March 13, 2009
  14. ↑ Budget and income  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. according to the Internet Movie Database@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.imdb.de  
  15. ↑ Legend (Deluxe Edition) Island 586 714-2
  16. ↑ James Henke: Marley Legend. The big album. = Bob Marley - the legend. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89602-681-X .
  17. ^ Steve Weintraub: Will Smith talks "I Am Legend" prequel . In: Collider , December 5th, 2008. Archived from the original on October 28th, 2009 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved December 6, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.collider.com 
  18. ^ Director Talks "I Am Legend" Prequel . WorstPreviews.com. January 16, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2000.
  19. ^ "I Am Legend" prequel confirmed . MovieFix. September 26, 2008. Archived from the original on October 25, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 7, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.yourmovies.com.au
  20. ^ "I Am Legend" prequel in the works . UPI. September 26, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  21. ↑ "I Am Legend 2: Sequel instead of prequel for the Will Smith film" ( Memento of the original from February 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Film releases November 25, 2008  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.filmstarts.de
  22. ↑ http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/05/03/i-am-legend-prequel-will-smith-francis-lawrence