Io Sono Leggenda non ha praticamente alcun punto di contatto con l'omonimo libro di
Richard Matheson. Non sono un fan della fedeltà assoluta al materiale originale: altri film tratti dallo stesso libro sono dei capolavori, pur non sempre fedeli; nel caso specifico mi chiedo però che senso abbia avuto comprare i diritti, per poco siano costati.
Robert Neville, militare e scienziato, tenta disperatamente di combattere un virus mutato in laboratorio che sta sterminando l'umanità.
Fallisce, ed in poche settimane si ritrova ad essere l'ultimo dei sopravvissuti (per quanto ne sa); il 90% delle persone sono morte lasciando l'1% immune in balia del restante 9%: violente iperattive creature assetate di sange che infestano la notte.
Nella
New York post-catastrofe vivrà la sua vita, ancora alla ricerca di una cura per quel 9% di popolazione ora trasformate in mostri.
Quasi tutto il film funziona egregiamente: fintanto Neville è solo, alla caccia di cibo o cavie per i suoi esperimenti, tutto fila in maniera fantastica.
Il giocattolo si incrina quando entrano in scena i mostri: fatti così-così e comunque poco interessanti, ma ci si potrebbe ancora convivere.
Capisci che si rischia la puttanata circa a 20 miniti dalla fine, ma un po' di speranza ancora ce l'hai.
Gli ultimi 5 minuti, sono uno dei più clamorosi casi di stupro cinematografico a cui abbia mai assistito: tutto il materiale di partenza viene tirato nel cesso, assieme alla speranza di vedere un finale fatto come si deve. Peccato davvero.
Ho già parlato in altre occasioni del buonismo imperante e dello scarso coraggio delle mega-produzioni, e questo ne è un caso lampante: 20 anni fa questo film sarebbe finito
come doveva finire.
Lo stesso significato del titolo -
"io sono leggenda" - viene ribaltato e stravolto, costruendo una spiegazione debole e di nessun interesse.
Comunque, bravo
Will Smith a reggere il film da solo, non dannosa la
regia, notevole la ricostruzione di New York post-catastrofe.
Oltre al raffronto col libro, questo film esce con le ossa rotte anche dal confronto con altre pellicole da esso tratte, come
The Omega Man (
1975: occhi bianchi sul pianeta Terra) con
Charlton Heston e l'
eccezionale L'Ultimo Uomo della Terra di
Ragona con
Vincent Price.
Sunto: è
obbligatorio leggersi il libro e vedersi
L'Ultimo Uomo della Terra del 64.
Voto: 5.5 - non certo una catastrofe, ma resta il fatto che qualunque alternativa è una spanna sopra.
Tags: fantascienza, horror, drammatico, azione, Richard Matheson, Will Smith, Io Sono Leggenda, romanzo, catastrofe, virus, cancro, mutazione, sterminio, esperimento, laboratorio, cattura, caccia, trappola, luce, zombie, notte, cane, immunità, isolamento, evacuazione, fucile, coltello, solitudine, cura, manichino, vaccino, messaggio, radio, colonia, sopravvissuti, morte.
Ragona, Ubaldo
Data di nascita: 1 December 1916
Ultimi lavori:
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Heston, Charlton
Nome di battesimo: Carter, John Charles
Data di nascita: 4 October 1924
Altezza: 6' 3" (1.91 m)
Coniuge: Lydia Clarke::(17 March 1944 - present) 2 children
Ultimi lavori: Biografia:With features chiseled in stone, who else but Charlton Heston could you picture as Michelangelo, as Ben-Hur, as Moses? Heston's movie career took off with The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) and reached light speed with Ben-Hur (1959). Although he has played a pantheon of larger-than-life roles, he usually prefers to talk about the day-to-day daily grind of the movie business, and especially credits the writers and directors he has worked for much of his success. Though aging gracefully, the venerated Heston has lately been more interested in promoting right-wing political issues than acting.
Trivia random: Along with Tony Curtis, Heston admitted to voting for Russell Crowe to win the Best Actor Oscar in 2001, saying before the ceremony, "I hope he gets it. He's very good."
Citazione random: "If you need a ceiling painted, a chariot race run, a city besieged, or the Red Sea parted, you think of me."
Salario massimo: $250,000, per The Buccaneer (1958)
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Am Legend, I (2007)
Io sono leggenda
Regista: Francis Lawrence Scrittore: Mark Protosevich,
Akiva Goldsman Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Drama
Valutazione: 7.4/10 (52779 voti)
Durata: USA:101 min
Paese: USA
Lingua: English
Cast:Trama:It is the year 2012. In the ruins of New York city. Robert Neville who is a military scientist who is the lone survivor of a biochemical disease which was supposed to cure cancer 3 years previous. With only blood thirsty zombies as his neighbors and his trusty dog, Samantha, Robert is trying to discover a cure for this disease and to find out any other people who might have also survived.
Trivia random: Warner Bros. Pictures has owned the rights to the book since the 1970s. The studio first attempted adapting it was as The Omega Man (1971) with director Boris Sagal, starring Charlton Heston. Then as 'I Am Legend' with director Ridley Scott, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which fell through when the production went over-budget. And then in 2002, Michael Bay was set to direct Will Smith, but they decided to make Bad Boys II (2003) instead.
Citazione random: Neville: I can provide food, I can provide shelter, and I can provide protection.
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Matheson, Richard
Data di nascita: 20 February 1926
Ultimi lavori: Biografia:Born in New Jersey and raised in Brooklyn, Richard Burton Matheson first became a published author while still a child, when his stories and poems ran in the "Brooklyn Eagle". A lifelong reader of fantasy tales, he made his professional writing bow in 1950 when his short story "Born of Man and Woman"? appeared in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction"; Matheson turned out a number of highly regarded horror, fantasy and mystery stories throughout that decade. He broke into films in 1956, adapting his novel "The Shrinking Man" for the big-screen "The Incredible Shrinking Man."
Trivia random: Originally wrote a screenplay for the sequel to The Incredible Shrinking Man called The Fantastic Shrinking Girl, of which the protagonist's wife in the first movie begins to shrink herself. The idea was abandoned.
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Omega Man, The (1971)
1975: occhi bianchi sul pianeta Terra
Regista: Boris Sagal Scrittore: Richard Matheson,
John William Corrington Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Drama
Valutazione: 6.8/10 (5884 voti)
Durata: 98 min
Paese: USA
Lingua: English
Cast:Trama:Robert Neville, a doctor,due to an experimental vaccine, is the only survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. The plague caused by the war has killed everyone else except for a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people calling themselves "The Family". The plague has caused them to become sensitive to light, as well as homicidally psychotic. They believe science and technology to be the cause of the war and their punishment, and Neville, as the last symbol of science, the old world, and a "user of the wheel", must die. Neville, using electricty, machinery, and science attempts to hold them at bay.
Trivia random: British studio Hammer had planned production of Matheson's own scripted version of "I am Legend" entitled "The Night Creatures". However, after being deemed too graphic by censors, the script was rejected and the project lingered, eventually dying.
Citazione random: Black Power Lisa: [Lisa is drawing blood from Neville for a vaccine] Will one bottle be enough?::Robert Neville: It's genuine 160-proof old Anglo-Saxon baby.
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Smith, Will (I)
Nome di battesimo: Jr., Willard Christopher Smith
Data di nascita: 25 September 1968
Altezza: 6' 2" (1.88 m)
Coniuge: Jada Pinkett Smith::(31 December 1997 - present) 2 children, Sheree Smith::(9 May 1992 - 1995) (divorced) 1 child
Ultimi lavori: Biografia:Will Smith was the second of four children of Caroline (school board employee) and Willard C Smith Sr. (owner of a refrigeration company). He grew up in middle class West Philadelphia. Will attended the Overbrook High School in Winfield, Pennsylvania, and got the nickname 'Prince' because of the way he could charm his way out of trouble. Bright student Will also signed up with the high-status Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia. Pursuing music, he met Jeff Townes at a party and they soon began performing together as DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. When the duo took off in popularity, Smith made and spent a lot of money on a house, cars and jewelry; leading to his near bankruptcy in his early twenties. Luckily, in 1989, he met Benny Medina, who had an idea for a sitcom based on his life in Beverly Hills. Smith loved the idea as did NBC which put on the "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1990). The plot was simple -Will basically played himself; a street-smart West Philly kid transplanted to Beverly Hills. The series lasted 6 years. During that time, he ventured into movies where the critics took note of him in Six Degrees of Separation (1993). With the success that came with the action picture Bad Boys (1995), Will's movie career was set. His had a huge hit with the Blockbuster Independence Day (1996) where he plays the alien-battling Marine Corps Captain Steven Hiller.
Trivia random: As a public role model, hosted the Presidential Inaugural Celebration for Youth, as part of the Gala for President Bill Clinton. [January 1993]
Citazione random: Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want to impress people they don't like.
Salario massimo: $28,000,000, per I, Robot (2004)
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Lawrence, Francis (II)
Ultimi lavori: Trivia random: Is a popular music video director, having directed videos for artists such as Britney Spears, Will Smith, Sarah McLachlan, and Aerosmith.
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Last Man on Earth, The (1964)
Ultimo uomo della terra, L'
Regista: Ubaldo Ragona Scrittore: Richard Matheson,
William F. Leicester Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi, Drama, Horror
Valutazione: 7.0/10 (2833 voti)
Durata: 86 min
Paese: USA, Italy
Lingua: English, Italian
Cast:Trama:Dr. Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) is the only survivor of a devastating world-wide plague due to a mysterious immunity he acquired to the bacterium while working in Central America years ago. He is all alone now...or so it seems. As night falls, plague victims begin to leave their graves, part of a hellish undead army that''s thirsting for blood...his!
Trivia random: This film was originally going to be produced by Hammer Films of Great Britain. They decided not to make it and passed the script over to their U.S. associate, Robert L. Lippert, who produced the film in Italy.
Citazione random: [first lines]::Robert Morgan: Another day to live through. Better get started.
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Price, Vincent (I)
Nome di battesimo: Jr., Vincent Leonard Price
Data di nascita: 27 May 1911
Data di morte: 25 October 1993
Altezza: 6' 4" (1.93 m)
Coniuge: Coral Browne::(24 October 1974 - 29 May 1991) (her death), Mary Grant::(25 August 1949 - 1973) (divorced) 1 child, Edith Barrett::(23 April 1938 - 4 June 1948) (divorced) 1 child
Ultimi lavori: Biografia:Actor, writer, and gourmet, Vincent Price was born in St Louis, Missouri. He traveled through Europe, studied at Yale and became an actor. He made his screen debut in 1938, and after many minor roles, he began to perform in low-budget horror movies such as House of Wax (1953), achieving his first major success with House of Usher (1960). Known for his distinctive, low-pitched, creaky, atmospheric voice and his quizzical, mock-serious facial expressions, he went on to star in a series of acclaimed Gothic horror movies, such as Pit and the Pendulum (1961) and The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971). He abandoned films in the mid-1970s, going on to present cooking programs for television - he wrote "A Treasury of Great Recipes" (1965) with his second wife, Mary Grant - but had two final roles in The Whales of August (1987) and Edward Scissorhands (1990). He also recorded many Gothic horror short stories for the spoken-word label Caedmon Records.
Trivia random: Charlton Heston starred in The Omega Man (1971) and Will Smith starred in _I Am Legend, the remakes of Price's The Last Man on Earth (1964). Prior to this, Heston and Price worked together in The Ten Commandments (1956).
Citazione random: A lot of the recent actresses look and act like my niece. Now, she's a good girl, but I wouldn't pay to see her.
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
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