Hidden I Am Legend Scene?

November 8, 2008 8:45 PM

Weird scene in I Am Legend [spoiler inside]?

While watching I Am Legend a few weeks back on HBO, during the scene where Will Smith is in his lab with the dog, there was a very short (1 second or so) cut so a shot of a bunch of people standing around in the dark in what looked to be red togas. I was watching on TiVo and managed to rewind to show the wife that I was not losing it.

It reminded me of the hidden scene the Apocalypto trailer.

Has anyone else seen this? What the hell is it? Is it on purpose, or just a fluke of HBO or TiVo? It managed to make an already disturbing scene even weirder.

posted by charlesv to media & arts (18 comments total)

Sounds to me like the time I was watching Y tu mamá también and it suddenly changed over to the Playboy bunnies in the helicopter scene of the extended edition of Apocalypse Now (Redux). It was such a good match in terms of art direction that it took me a couple of minutes to figure it out.

I'm pretty sure that was HBO.
posted by dhartung at 9:32 PM on November 8, 2008

It's true - Will Smith is actually Hare Krishna's plant in the church of Scientology. There can be only ooooooone!

Maybe it's an homage to Charlton Heston?

I don't recall noticing this when I rented the DVD. You could rent the DVD and go slow through the scene in question. Cutting in quick, disturbing images to create atmosphere in movies is certainly not an unusual technique (it was done in Psycho and The Exorcist, for example).
posted by nanojath at 10:34 PM on November 8, 2008

Don't remember this from seeing it in theaters. I think it was HBO flaking out.
posted by the latin mouse at 2:40 AM on November 9, 2008

I just watched it two weeks ago and I don't remember seeing it either.
posted by triggerfinger at 4:07 AM on November 9, 2008

I don't recall that scene, but it might be a part of the movie not cut out when they did the final edit. The ending of the movie was redone at the last minute, and the new ending totally changes the meaning of story. Its sad because the original story line (from the book) it far more compelling. See the new original ending here: http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/03/05/must-watch-i-am-legends-original-ending-this-is-amazing/.

A scene which shows the zombies acting 'human' fits this ending.
posted by Osmanthus at 4:29 AM on November 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

My son advises that HBO's series "Rome" has a lot of red toga scenes. BTW, thanks Osmanthus for the real ending of "Legend".
posted by JimN2TAW at 7:43 AM on November 9, 2008

Dude, if you still have it recorded on Tivo, can you do us a favor and take a screenshot of it...or even with a digicam? If not...can you tell us EXACTLY when that shot happened? Everyone on here is commenting, but nobody knows what you are talking about.

thanks in advance.
posted by hal_c_on at 8:46 AM on November 9, 2008

i just watched i am legend last night - nothing like that popped up. WEIRD!
posted by michpinkston at 9:04 AM on November 9, 2008

Im guessing its an homage to the The Omega Man which is another movie based on the I Am Legend short-story. In Omerga Man the 'zombies' wear dark monk's robes, some red.

The book is very short and worth reading if you liked either of the movies. The adaptations doesnt do it justice.
posted by damn dirty ape at 9:31 AM on November 9, 2008

HBO has a history of this happening. I'm rather surprised it's still happening now.
posted by kindall at 10:23 AM on November 9, 2008

There is a scene in the film where "a bunch of people stand around in the dark." It's the scene where the dog runs into the building and Will Smith runs in after him. After a bit of searching, Smith runs into a group of vampires huddled in one of the pitch black rooms.

Is that what you're talking about?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:59 PM on November 9, 2008

This is pretty clearly a shot of folks in costumes not really appropriate to I Am Legend. Definitely not from this movie. I should have noted in my post that it looks like the set they used for the Senate in Rome, but with the lights turned out and everyone wearing red instead of the normal white togas, and sort of milling about. I have seen all the episodes of Rome and am fairly confident that it is not an outtake from one of the scenes they aired. It could be, however, a shot of actors setting up for a take that someone took and tinted darker and redder.

To be more specific, it is right before / during the strangling of Sam.
posted by charlesv at 3:20 PM on November 9, 2008

And unfortunately I did not think to record it on TiVo when it came on. I am going to set it to record next time and see if it pops up again, then use digicam to get a shot of it.

It was fast enough that my wife blinked and did not see it. I only noticed it because I was a bit freaked out by the scene and leaned forward close to the TV.
posted by charlesv at 3:29 PM on November 9, 2008

Okay I found an Omega Man screencapture with a decent view of the zombies in their robes. Does this look famiilar?
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:53 AM on November 10, 2008

Osmanthus, I didn't see the film, , largely because I knew in advance what had been done to the ending and I didn't like it. That said, the link you posted to the alternate ending was most welcome. I found it riveting and unexpectedly moving. Thanks.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 10:05 AM on November 10, 2008

damn dirty ape:

Hard to say, but I think that's the best candidate so far. Robes, torches, check. Thanks. I will need to watch the upcoming taping this Saturday and MeFi mail you. Something about the color is off, though. I can't put my finger on it.

I also need to rent Omega Man, apparently.
posted by charlesv at 8:21 PM on November 10, 2008

Its a pretty terrible movie, perhaps the worst of the cheesy 1970s sci-fi movies, but you can watch the trailer at youtube. Starting around 2 minutes you'll see a few shots of zombies and eventually a shot showing a crowd holding torches.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:47 PM on November 10, 2008

damn dirty ape:

That is definitely it. I didn't see the exact shot in the trailer, but it's a shot from Charlton Heston's apartment looking down. It must have been cut in on purpose. Thanks so much for finding this. Now I can rest easy.
posted by charlesv at 1:26 PM on November 11, 2008