- Despite being a Highly educated Scientist Dr. Neville would not have lasted 10 minutes in a post-apocalyptic world
You may be wondering why I am reviewing a 3 year old movie that has been discussed on just about every survival forum out there. Well, I have a couple reasons and the main one being about 99% of the people talking about this movie on survival forums were only criticizing it and not adding any explanations or “what I would do” to the many Urban Survival FAIL!’s in it.
And don’t get me wrong, their are a ton of things to complain about in this movie from an Urban Survivalist point of view. But what I want to do in this review is not only point out the FAIL!’s, but try to explain why those mistakes were in the movie and also what I would have done in the same situation.
A Quick Primer on I am Legend: This film is loosely based on the book of the same name written by Richard Matheson. It is basically a post-apocalyptic flick where the world’s population had been virtually wiped out by a virus that has only left behind vampire like humans called the “dark seekers”.
The only uninfected (he is immune) survivor in New York is Dr. Robert Neville, a famous and wealthy Army virologist. The movie revolves around him trying to discover a cure wile attempting to avoid the dark seekers at night, while at the same time his sanity is slowly slipping due to years of isolation.
- Dr. Neville Only Carries a Small Folding Knife
The Problem:
In the movie the only knife you see Dr. Neville use or carry is a benchmade automatic knife. Now pretty much anyone in either an Urban or Wilderness (Central Park is an overgrown forest in the movie) survival situation would carry a fixed blade knife.
The Explanation:
Dr. Neville may be an Army soldier but he is not a combat arms guy, he is a world famous Army scientist and a high ranking officer. It is doubtful if a famous pre-madonna Army officer had ever attended any Army wilderness survival training. He probably chose the benchmade folder because a folding pocket knife seems like a good blade choice to an untrained person.
What I would Do:
I would carry a good fixed blade knife that could do double duty as a combat knife and utility knife. My first choice would be a Marine Ka-Bar style knife with a leather sheath, not a kydex one (no more plastic factories so you have to choose stuff that lasts and is easy to repair). I may still carry a folding knife clipped to my poket for back-up, but I wouldn’t use it as my primary.
- Dr. Neville Doesn’t Carry Extra M-4 Mags, leaves his pistol in his car and pretty much doesn’t use any tactical gear at all
The Problem:
This one sort of perplexes me, even if he did spend his entire military career in an office he would have still received some basic weapons training. And if he gets stuck outdoors after sunset he would have to shoot his way through the Dark Seekers, even an idiot could figure that it would take some solid gear and more than 30 rounds to do that.
The Explanation:
After spending 3 years all alone and doing the same thing every day complacency has set in. That combined with the obvious fact that Dr. Neville is slowly loosing his damn mind – he now just leaves his extra magazines in his car or stuffs them in the bottom of his bag.
I have actually seen this before with guys that work in guard towers in the Middle East for years. They get in the tower and throw all of their magazines, body armor and gear on the floor because it is heavy and nothing had ever happened in the past where they needed it.
What I would Do:
Hell you guys already know the answer to this one; chest harness, 12 magazines, frags, pistol and FAK (first aid kit). Shit, I would probably keep a flamethrower and a few rocket launchers at arms reach just because I could.
I would not wear body armor because I wouldn’t have to worry about other humans shooting me and the Dark Seekers don’t carry guns or knives.
- Dr. Neville Drives a mustang sports car and civilian SUV when the city is filled with APC’s and armored cars
The Problem:
If he gets caught outside at night the Dark Seekers will tear a normal car or SUV apart (and that actually does happen to him). In New York City there are dozens of agency’s and private citizens that used armored SUV’s (Secret Service, DSS, NYPD, Gangster Rappers, and so on). And that’s not even counting all of the armored military hummers and APC’s abandoned around the city.
The Explanation:
Well, in the movie he only gets caught outside after dark twice, one time in a snare (something that has never happened before) and the other time he did it on purpose. He also keeps a religious like schedule when it comes to heading back home way before dark. So this is a combination of him never accidently being caught outside after dark and complacency again. He probably just felt it wasn’t necessary to drive an APC because he “always” gets home before dark.
What I would Do:
I would drive an armored hummer and have an APC or two maintained just in case. But I do understand why he drove the mustang, you have to admit it would be bad-ass to drive a brand new Shelby Cobra Mustang 80 miles an hour over New York City sidewalks, I know I couldn’t resist doing that.
Hell, I would be driving tanks through shopping malls and shooting mounds of gold Rolexes with an UZI wile barbecuing lion cubs over stacks of burning 100 dollar bills.
- Dr. Neville lives in a family townhouse in a city overrun by Dark seekers – and that is his only home
The Problem:
He lives in an unhardened relativity unsecure townhouse and he doesn’t have any secure safehouses in the city in case he gets caught outside after dark. Of all the places to live with thousands of monsters running around at night, a house probably isn’t the best choice. He did add some steel shutters, UV lights and IED’s to secure and defend his home. But it would have been better just to live somewhere that was already hardened and was easier to defend.
He also doesn’t have any safehouses in the city, so if he gets caught outside after dark he is basically screwed unless he can make it back to his house.
The Explanation:
This is an easy one, the townhouse he lives in is the home where he lived with his deceased wife and daughter. His mind is obviously starting to wander at this point so staying physically connected to the one thing from his life before the world ended comforts him.
What I would Do:
I would live in one of the city’s underground emergency management centers that were set up after 911. These are 5 foot thick bomb shelters with state of the art surveillance systems, food storage rooms, housing, bio-chem filtered air and fire suppression systems already set up.
I would also prepare all of the other centers so I could change living locations at will along with pre-positioning tanks and APC’s to use as mobile safehouses all around the city just incase I wasn’t able to make it back to my bunker before dark.
- Dr. Neville carries an M-4 despite the fact it isn’t combat effective against the dark seekers
The Problem:
Every time he shoots a Dark Seeker with his M-4 it doesn’t do shit, I don’t believe he kills a single one with his M-4 ever. In a city filled with guns he would have his choice of rifles so why would he continue to use an ineffective weapon?
The Explanation:
Like I said before Dr. Neville is a scientist and not a warrior, so the only weapon training he has had was with an Army issue M-4. He uses that weapon probably because it is the only rifle he knows how to use. It is also a pretty light and easy to walk around with rifle so he has also chosen it for convenience.
There is also nothing to indicate that he has been involved in any armed confrontations with the Dark Seekers before (a fact shown by how scared he is in the warehouse) so he may not even know the M-4 is a poor choice.
What I would Do:
I would carry a 12 gauge magazine fed shotgun, keep an M60 Mk 43 Mod 1 in my car and maybe an enclosed turret with a 50. cal browning on the roof. The reason I would choose a 12 gauge magazine fed shotgun is because every time Dr. Neville uses his M-4 on a Dark Seeker he is only a few feet away from one. It is hard to beat the massive amount of damage a shotgun can do at point blank range.
I would also keep a flamethrower close by because I love flamethrowers.
- Things in the movie that are so dumb they don’t have any explanation
-He uses a grenade and it explodes like a nuclear bomb
When a hand grenade goes off it does not make a massive fireball
-He runs generators inside his house
This would kill you in about 1 hour
-He runs his generators at night and the Dark Seekers do not hear it
I have no explanation for this
-He doesn’t have any porn in his house
No way he could hold out for 3 years all alone
-He isn’t an alcoholic
Your entire family is killed in front of your eyes and then every other person on the planet dies except for the cannibal vampires that own the night – so you now live in a city filled with booze and you are not drunk 24-7? Sorry, I call BS on that one. To be fair, in the original book he is an alcoholic.
Well folks, besides the complaints about this movie from an Urban Survivalists point of view I really like this movie. It is part of the permanent DVD collection to the DV Adventurers Library.
What would you guys have done in the same situations if you were in Dr. Neville’s shoes?
Read All URBAN SURVIVAL and BOOKS AND MOVIES Articles | Read All Articles by James G.
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~James G
James G is a Veteran Civilian Contractor who has worked in the Middle East and Southeast Asia for way too long. He spends his off time in his homes in Indonesia and Virginia getting drunk, shooting guns and writing poorly written articles.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I wondered about him wearing a Belstaff Trailmaster waxed-cotton motorcycle jacket rather than real technical gear (hello Gore-Tex?) in a city in a temperate climate with no lack of sporting good shops.
Does he think the Dark Seekers are going to admire his fashion sense?
He may be immune to the virus but hypothermia will still kill him — oh right, he always gets home before dark.
Which makes me wonder how he moved around in winter without the vampires being able to track his movements to and from his house in the snow.
Carlos(Quote This Comment)
For the Motorcycle Jacket:
He probably owned that jacket from before everything went to hell – people are creatures of habits. Also it was another “it worked for me when I worked in an office before the outbreak” thing. Remember that the Doc was not a combat arms guy; he was a very wealthy and soft scientist.
I actually wore a leather bomber jacket in Iraq for 3 years (until some asshole stole it)
P.S. Thanks for telling me the name of the jacket he wore, I was wondering what brand it was
For Moving Around in Winter:
Well, it looks to me that the majority of the dark seekers don’t have the brain capacity much above a pack of wolves. So they probably lack the cognitive ability to track footprints in the snow.
Thanks for the comment – Would you do anything differently than what I said I would do?
~James G
James G(Quote This Comment)
My concern with the emergency management centers is whether they would be nests of Dark Seekers hiding from the Sun (you’d have to have secured them before they could get in). Aside from that I think you’ve got it covered, assuming one wants to stay in the city rather than getting the hell out of dodge. Of course the Seekers might be even harder to evade in other contexts, hard to say.
Carlos(Quote This Comment)
That’s what flamethrowers are for – lol
Or (more realistically) you could just gas em out
And he would never leave the city, he stayed when his wife and daughter were leaving despite it being a hopeless situation in the city and he has stayed there for 3 years all alone.
Not sure about the other people who watched this, but it was pretty obvious to me that Dr. Neville had lost touch with reality completely and was probably quite insane.
That no doubt was the reason for many of his irrational decisions
~James G
James G(Quote This Comment)
lol, that or a few of his evidently thermobaric grenades should do the job
Carlos(Quote This Comment)
.
That works also – I still like the flamethrower idea = lol
~James G
James G(Quote This Comment)
How about a review of the original movie with Charlton Heston, The Omega Man. I would like to see you take on it.
I was very disappointed in I am legend, just that fact that a virus can mutate a person into a super human type being was too much of a stretch for me, let alone carrying a M4 with Lions and Tigers and Bears around with no fear of humans.
Great website
Tim Ellwood(Quote This Comment)
I’d try and have the Aliens bullet/grenade/shotgun/flamethrower super crazy awesome pulse rifle.
Juan(Quote This Comment)
You know one of the other writers suggested that to me a few days ago, I have it here on my laptop so I’ll try and see if I can’t throw something together
Glad you like the site
I am a huge proponent of bringing back the flamethrower as an infantry weapon
~James G
James G(Quote This Comment)
The problem I have with the movie is where are all of the dead bodies? It’s not like they buried themselves before succumbing to the virus. As a virologist he should know that all of those dead bodies in such close proximity will make for an extremely unpleasant smell and greatly increase his chances of catching a nasty case of dysentery among unpleasant bugs and viruses.
Toga(Quote This Comment)
I am guessing that the “dark seekers” ate em’
~James G
James G(Quote This Comment)
Or you could review the real original “Last Man on Earth” with Vincent Price. Or hell do both.
Dave M(Quote This Comment)
OK. First, your comments stating that he was incorrect in driving an SUV around are not right. He was smart going halfway between protection and gas consumption. Your idea of driving an armored car around is very idiotic as gas would be very very scarce. It can not be store for more than a year and a half (shelf-life). and all the cars on the streets would probably be bone dry.
Also, your ideas of driving tanks around are ridiculous as the jet fuel you would need would be even more scarce than regular gasoline. Most modern tanks run on JP-8 (a jet fuel) and I’m sure this would not be readily available.
And lastly, the thing you wrote about him having no porn in his house. How do you know? Did you physically search his house for porn? It may have been there, you don’t know.
Stop pretending that you know what you would do, because the way you talked about him being an alcoholic makes me think you would panic and drink yourself to death.
Thank you.
Robby(Quote This Comment)