I Am Legend 2 (film) - Will "slappy" Smith returns...

[Neil]

[beat_truck]

Didn't he die at the end of the first one? Not that that ever stops the lazy ass writers in Pedowood..... Doesn't really matter to me, though. The first one was a major let down, so I won't be wasting my time on this one. The CGI alone was enough to make me . It's far from perfect, but I'll gladly stick with Vincent Price in "The Last Man On Earth".

[EvilNed]

I thought this was the best adaption so far. Omega man a solid 2nd. Last Man on Earth I didn't care for.

[beat_truck]

I haven't seen The Omega Man since I was a kid ~25 years ago. I didn't care for it then. I picked up the DVD from the thrift store a while back, so maybe it's time to revisit it.

[EvilNed]

I haven't seen The Omega Man since I was a kid ~25 years ago. I didn't care for it then. I picked up the DVD from the thrift store a while back, so maybe it's time to revisit it. I've noticed myself using the term "I don't care for it" more and more lately. I think it's got to do with this interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcXBCgsghAM

[MinionZombie]

I thought this was the best adaption so far. I Am Legend???

[shootemindehead]

I've noticed myself using the term "I don't care for it" more and more lately. I think it's got to do with this interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcXBCgsghAM I think Close Encounters is a good film, but I understand Carpenter's criticism of it here. However I think he's being a little harsh too. I agree with him on some of Altman's work and that includes 'Nashville', which is a boring load of codswallop leading up to an underwhelming conclusion. A hideously well regarded film that doesn't deserve the praise it got/gets. But Altman has made some good pictures too, like 'Short Cuts' or 'The Player'. Although these came after Carpenter did that Frost interview in 1979. On Carpenter's choices, he has always referenced John Ford, who I think is one of the most incredibly overrated directors to have ever worked in the business. His movies are continuously lauded by many, but outside of a few selections like 'The Grapes of Wrath', 'How Green Was My Valley' or 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance', I've always found his material to be largely mediocre (to be kind) and it's often interrupted by the most awful of "comedy" sequences. Howard Hawks, too, another of Carpenter's favourites can often leave me shrugging my shoulders and wondering what the fuss is supposed to be about. His best effort is probably 'The Big Sleep'. Although in later years, he seemed to reevaluate his opinion on Ford to more coincide with my own. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yOAMKuBxOc

[EvilNed]

I Am Legend??? Yeah. I mean the competition isn't great.

[MinionZombie]

Yeah. I mean the competition isn't great. As an adapatation of the book it's hideous. The previous two versions, while also wide of the mark, are relatively closer IMHO.

[Neil]

I looooooove The Omega Man... One of my fond childhood memories stumbling across it.

[EvilNed]

As an adapatation of the book it's hideous. The previous two versions, while also wide of the mark, are relatively closer IMHO. I think The Omega Man is the one farthest from the book. I Am Legend is closer (and better, I think). But yeah, the original Last Man on Earth is the closest. But also - not very good.

[MinionZombie]

I remember reading the part in the book where he's desperately trying to get back home and he's struggling to battle off the vampires in his garage and get locked up for the night, and I was gripping the book with clammy hands and just racing through the text. Always stuck with me. One of my numerous problems with the Will Smith film is, well, Will Smith - there's a whole hell of a lot of Will Smith hanging around the film's neck in a distracting way. He's just Will Smith: Apocalypse Edition, rather than the character. Plus there's the hideously bad CGI monsters, the trouncing of the entire point of the title of the book, etc ... about the only thing it had going for it was the budget and some of the big scale shots of post-apoc NYC, but sheesh... The Omega Man was at least a heck of a lot of fun. TLMOE was a bit too campy and cheap, unfortunately, but tried to be faithful.

[JDP]

TLMOE was a bit too campy and cheap, unfortunately, but tried to be faithful. It also has another advantage: Mr. Vincent Price. Will Smith? Seriously?? Against Vincent-FRIGGIN'-Price??? PFFFF... At least The Omega Man had Charlton-FUCKING-Heston in it, so the two films are on more equal grounds in respect of quality veteran actors in the lead role.

[EvilNed]

I like Will Smith (as an actor). I think he can carry a film. Charlton Heston too, I just find both Omega Man and especially TLMOE to be a bit....... Lifeless. I watched Omega Man about a year ago and after about the midway mark it just kinda died on me.

[MinionZombie]

I like Will Smith (as an actor). I think he can carry a film. Charlton Heston too, I just find both Omega Man and especially TLMOE to be a bit....... Lifeless. I watched Omega Man about a year ago and after about the midway mark it just kinda died on me. Will Smith can indeed be very good as an actor (e.g. Ali), but just as often he's just playing a version of Will Smith, or swaggering about like Will Smith, and other times he's making an effort to be the part but Will Smith is such a big personality that he kinda can't get out of his own way as a result ... if that makes sense? IAL just kinda felt like 'sad Will Smith in the post apocalypse', you know?