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The film I, Robot originally had no connections with Isaac Asimov's Robot series. It started with an original screenplay written in 1995 by Jeff Vintar, entitle

The film I, Robot originally had no connections with Isaac Asimov's Robot series. It started with an original screenplay written in 1995 by Jeff Vintar, entitled Hardwired. [1] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(film)

SwellJoe 9y ago
Gods, reading that was depressing. So many reviews called it some variant of "smart", which is not on the list of adjectives I would use. I likely would have enjoyed it more had I not been expecting an Asimov story on film. I like Will Smith a lot, but somehow he's been in multiple films that ruined favorite books from my youth (I Am Legend is another book that I love and that had an abysmal film adaptation...I don't blame Smith, though, as he did a great job even in a very cheesy film). I, Robot was also pretty cheesy even without the weight of trying to live up to Asimov's legacy.
- jacobush 9y ago
  Also I am Legend is a decent movie if you have no "great book expectations".
  - SwellJoe 9y ago
    It was fantastic up until the vampires/zombies turned into cartoons. One of the scariest scenes I've ever seen was the bit where he goes in after the dog and the vamps are all huddled in a circle shivering in the dark. That was some top notch creepy. And it was brilliant acting by Smith (so much of the scariness of that scene was just because the character was scared). But, then we got a closer look at them a bit later and they were flying through the air, bouncing off the walls, and just all around looking like cartoon monsters. I'm just not frightened by cartoons. And, it really killed the slow, calm, horror of the book for me. The things that made the book unique and scary in a way that sticks with you are just fundamentally different from the jump scares of the film. The Vincent Price adaptation (The Last Man On Earth) remains the most faithful film version of I Am Legend, in spirit if not in specific detail. I don't really mind when a movie script changes some plot points or some character details to make it work on screen, I just dislike it when the spirit of the thing is thrown away and replaced with blockbuster tropes (which is my primary complaint about I, Robot, as well). But, again, I thought Will Smith was excellent in the role. I just really hate what they did with the vamps.
    - jacobush 9y ago
      Yes... I had forgotten about the super-fast zombies... now I remember why I never watched it twice.
swiley 9y ago
I felt like it was closer to his "Caves of Steel" story.
- Wiles_7 9y ago
  Closer to Eando Inder's I, Robot than Asimov's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(short_story) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(short_story)
dsr_ 9y ago
Pity they didn't film Walter Jon Williams' 1986 novel Hardwired; it's one of the major cyberpunk works.

SwellJoe 9y ago

Gods, reading that was depressing. So many reviews called it some variant of "smart", which is not on the list of adjectives I would use. I likely would have enjoyed it more had I not been expecting an Asimov story on film. I like Will Smith a lot, but somehow he's been in multiple films that ruined favorite books from my youth (I Am Legend is another book that I love and that had an abysmal film adaptation...I don't blame Smith, though, as he did a great job even in a very cheesy film). I, Robot was also pretty cheesy even without the weight of trying to live up to Asimov's legacy.

jacobush 9y ago
Also I am Legend is a decent movie if you have no "great book expectations".
- SwellJoe 9y ago
  It was fantastic up until the vampires/zombies turned into cartoons. One of the scariest scenes I've ever seen was the bit where he goes in after the dog and the vamps are all huddled in a circle shivering in the dark. That was some top notch creepy. And it was brilliant acting by Smith (so much of the scariness of that scene was just because the character was scared). But, then we got a closer look at them a bit later and they were flying through the air, bouncing off the walls, and just all around looking like cartoon monsters. I'm just not frightened by cartoons. And, it really killed the slow, calm, horror of the book for me. The things that made the book unique and scary in a way that sticks with you are just fundamentally different from the jump scares of the film. The Vincent Price adaptation (The Last Man On Earth) remains the most faithful film version of I Am Legend, in spirit if not in specific detail. I don't really mind when a movie script changes some plot points or some character details to make it work on screen, I just dislike it when the spirit of the thing is thrown away and replaced with blockbuster tropes (which is my primary complaint about I, Robot, as well). But, again, I thought Will Smith was excellent in the role. I just really hate what they did with the vamps.
  - jacobush 9y ago
    Yes... I had forgotten about the super-fast zombies... now I remember why I never watched it twice.

swiley 9y ago

I felt like it was closer to his "Caves of Steel" story.

Wiles_7 9y ago
Closer to Eando Inder's I, Robot than Asimov's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(short_story) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(short_story)

dsr_ 9y ago

Pity they didn't film Walter Jon Williams' 1986 novel Hardwired; it's one of the major cyberpunk works.