Dec 18, 2007 05:17 PM
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Director – Francis Lawrence
Screenplay – John Corrington, Joyce Corrington, Mark Protosevich, Akiva Goldsman and Richard Matheson.
Plot
In
2012, Dr Robert Neville(Will Smith) is a brilliant virologist and is
probably the last human being on earth. A deadly virus has eliminated
almost the entire world’s population but Dr Neville has, somehow, been
immune to the virus. Along with his female dog, Sam, he has been
sending radio messages every day for the last 3 years across AM station
pleading anyone who is listening to come and meet him in New York . He has very limited time because the last man on earth, is not alone. He is surrounded by Zombies who are actually
humans who have got infected by the virus and have become cannibalistic and are out to kill any living human being alive.
Critic’s Comments
To call this movie a brilliant cinematic experience would be perfect. Will Smith
has grown leaps and bounds as an actor and he really needs scripts like
these to show his true talents. Its high time, he stops acting in
movies like Hitch or Bad Boys or even Independence Day. His last movie, The Pursuit of Happyness
and even Ali are the kind of movies he should be acting in. Hats off to give a first rate performance on the grounds of Tom Hanks in Cast Away. I pray, he atleast gets nominated for the best actor Award at the Oscars
to be held next year. The script, direction, and production design are
first rate. The movie is extremely intense and some of the scenes do
give you an electric shock kind of feeling. Hats off to the team of 11
sound engineers who have given some real award winning sound effects.
All in all, this is a must see movie and please watch it in a movie
screen theatre to enjoy the film.
Psst - *
1) Co-writer Mark Protosevich had written several drafts of the movie since 1996. Ridley Scott was to direct the movie starring Arnold Schwarzenneger way back in 1991 but the production never went ahead.
2) The original book was written way back in 1954 and was even made as a movie in 1971, The Omega man.
3) The
movie was shot during all odd hours to give the authentic look of being
without a single person on the street. This alone took nearly 3 months
of shooting time and durinbg the Christmas season, all decorations had
to be pulled down during the shooting and then arranged back again.
Shooting time took nearly 6 months and post production took nearly 8
months. A long time for a Hollywood movie. The movie was released world wide on 14th December 2007. Most of the outdoor shooting was on-location.*
4) *The weeds and the grass shown on the streets of new york were artificially planted and truckloads of that
were bought from Florida .
5) The
shooting of the exodus of new Yorkers near the Brooklyn bridge took
nearly 6 days with over 1000 extras and real military equipment and 150
real military men. That alone budgeted for$5 million,
6) Will Smith
had to loose almost 20 pounds of weight for the role. Amongst the
training required was running at high altitudes for oxygen deprivation
and even adverse heat. His calorie intake was also drastically reduced
for his look.
7) Production Designer Naomi Sohan did an extensive research on how New York City
would look if a disaster, as shown in the movie would strike for real.
According to her the ruptures from the water supply would eventually
flood the streets and there would have been a sure shot huge fire from
the unmanned electricity and gas lines.8) There were over 200 people hired just for visual effects.
Quotes
1) “My name is Robert Neville. I am a survivor living in New York City . I will be at the South Street Seaport
everyday, at midday, when the sun is highest in the sky. I am
broadcasting across all AM radio networks. I can provide food. I can
provide shelter. I can provide security. If there is anybody out there.
Anybody. Please. You are not alone."
2) “And
make no mistake, My Fellow Americans, we are at war for our very
survival. And so it is with great sadness but greater resolve that
tonight I have signed an executive order quarantining New York City.God be with us.”
3) “There were 6 billion people on earth when the virus hit. It had a 90% elimination ratio.”
4)
“Nothing
happened the way it was supposed to happen. We are seeing mutations.
Cannabalistic hunger. Typical human behavior is now entirely absent."
5) “Day one thousand and one. I am still
unable to transfer my immunity to infected hosts” *
Oops-
1) The
one goof, which can be debated, would be, how come some of the
electricity still runs despite the elimination of the entire city?
Uninterrupted electricity would be generated only if its manned by
people at the power station. In an apocalyptic situation like the one
shown in this movie, its likely that there would be no electricity or
even eatable vegetation after a period of time in the city*
