Jan
8
2008

I Am Legend

An article by Karen

Apparently, this movie is based on a book written in 1954 by Richard Matheson. I didn’t know that when I saw the movie, which obviously means I haven’t read the book. Actually, that’s not entirely true because I can now remember reading somewhere that a book existed, but it didn’t register.

Anyway, upon watching the movie I felt a lot of things were missing because it simply didn’t make sense. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie, but there were huge holes in the plot. Things happened in the movie that didn’t ring true, that were unbelievable and simply unrealistic. Those things bothered me a lot.

Today, I read a post on a message board which compared the movie and the book and I have to say the writer of that post – Alan Baxter – intrigued me. I want to read the book. I don’t mean the version that is in line with the movie, I’m talking about the original book written over fifty years ago. I believe I’ll enjoy it a lot.

It seems to me that those people who haven’t read the book might enjoy the movie, even with the holes. However, for those who have read the book, they might be a tad disappointed with the differences between the two.

Have you read the book and/or seen the movie? What did you think?

Tags: books, movies

About the Author: Karen

Karen is a writer of fantasy novels and short stories for children, young adults and adults. She also loves to read fantasy, thrillers and the occasional romance. When she's not writing or reading, she enjoys spending time on the PS3 or catching some fresh air whilst walking the dog.

2 Comments + Add Comment

Deborah 13 January 2008 at 2:27 am

I read the book and watched the movie right before Christmas. The book was great, if not bleak. What surprised me (and others) was that the publisher tacked a handful of short stories that had no relation to the novella.

As for the movie, I thought it was good. I liked Will Smith’s performance. But it was definitely produced by Hollywood and therefore had a Hollywood ending.

If I was forced to choose between seeing the movie and reading the book, I’d opt for the book because there was so much more emotion and suspense involved than the movie could ever portray.
James Gatz 21 September 2008 at 2:23 am

I have read the book and the movie. but i found that the movie was alot better.

This is odd for me because i can’t remember another time where that happeded. i usually love the book and rate the movie on if it lives up but in this case i thought the movie was better. i did however think the ending of the book was much better