No! not at all im fed up of people saying this! There is more to a book than the principal storyline, that being the THEMES and IDEAS. The point to I am Legend is that since Neville is the ONLY human alive, and can walk around in the daylight killing Vampires, he is to them what Dracula is to us- a monster, a
legend
!
The rest of the story is entirely different. It only borrows the concept of fast zombies/vampires but it's not as if Matheson even invented that idea! The more zombie novels/films that get created, the more heavily influenced the next one will be. If anything, 28 Days is more like the George A. Romero films! As for the I am Legend comparison, you mean, there is one man against this outbreak? Well for one thing, 28 Days has LOTS of survivors, including the military!
Anyway there are many more differences in the two stories but basically the similiarites stretch only as far as any zombie film does. You may as well say "have you realised Platoon is similar to Full Metal Jacket?" you get the point.

nope sure haven't since the way you described makes it sound like every single movie about a disease changing people into something and then someone else stands up to th1ebcem is the exact same movie
way to go guy

I don't think they are anything alike. I am Legend is a lot deeper.

over 60% of movies are based on optioned material: books, comics, articles, video games, etc. 28 Days Later is an excellent film and there are similarities between the first act and that of stories like Omega Man, I Am Legend, etc. Waking up from a coma is a great story device for dropping a person into a new world where things are different from what they know. It works because it is a great story device, and I have no complaints about that. To say something is plagiarized is pretty serious. I ask anyone who criticizes storylines to look into writing a movie themselves. Movies are a business, people. If you think it is art, try and watch an art movie. They can be beautiful, but they dont make money. If you want to change the way the movie business is run, go support indie and art movie makers, prove that they are economically viable.

. that 28 days later is almost exactly the same as a book by richard matheson called "i am legend"? read it and then look at 28 days later and youll see garland pretty much plagiarised the whole thing. disease changing humans into vampires (matheson) or zombies (garland) and then a human or two standing up to them? the endings are different but the premises are the same. garlands lost his creative spark methinks.
havent read his coma story yet but from what i hear that ones a stinker too. a downwards path for him since the tesseract? duh duh duuuuh..
Look at the similarities you present: That a diesase changes humans into vampires/zombies, and that a few survivors fought to resist them.
The first similari2000ty isn't even a common trait (the fact that Matheson had vampires and Garland changed it to zombies is enought to make them different), and the second similarity is an extremely common dramtic structure (is this really the only film you've ever seen that features a few survivors resisting something bigger than them?)
Richard Matheson's 'I Am Legend' is a brilliant book that was extremely influential over the entire Zombie genre. I think you'd do well to remember that I Am Legend was published in 1954 and has been cited as one of the biggest influences on George A Romero's 1968 film 'Night Of The Living Dead' which in turn heralded a new dawn of modern horror filmmaking. Films such as Halloween, Friday the 13th and Nightmare On Elm Street all acknowledge their debt to NOTLD, and Romero's classic film helped establish the splatter and slasher sub-genres.
To fit into the zombie genre, you need to included a few common tropes from other work. That doesn't mean you;re plagarising those older works, that's just how creativity works.
-No beep beep lady, do I sound like I'm ordering a pizza??

ummmthat was the same plot as every zombie movie ever, since all zombies are ripped off of I am Legend anyway.
said the shotgun to the head
-Saul Williams

garland wrote 28 days as a homage to stories like i am legend and day of the triffids. if you pick up a copy of the screenplay, there is a forward by the author explaining this.

but in mathesons Short Story the vampires have become a new dominant species and aren't at all mindless like the rage infected victims of 28 days latergranted they do gather at his house and treat him like frankenstein, but that's the point of the story and the title.
plagerism is a pretty harsh wordand to use it on a movie or story based on zombies seemswell, redundant.
anyway, i haven't read the tesseract yet but Coma is as good as any other gen x novel out there right nowmaybe not the new coupland but i havent read it yet so i can't say.
i will make a rude assumption about the new 'I am Legend" movie based only on the casting though, i dont think anyone would cast will smith based on his ability in a psychological thriller so im thinking its just going to turn into another shoot-em'up vampire movie that they really should be calling Return of The Omega Man instead of using the name of the book.

None of those films are similar
The Beach and 28 Days later are obviously similar in style as they are both Garland scripts directed by Danny Boyle, but Apocalypse now is a vietnam epic (more psychological than historical) and has very little in common with the aformentioned films.
The bit where leonardo goes mental could be referred to the Apocolypse Now climax, but honestly that's nothing special

Agreed. Besides, it is possible for more than one person to have the same idea anyway. And yes, if you wanted to you could relate every movie to just about every m5b4ovie, book, or idea. The writers are just writing. Let them entertain.

well, at least my name isnt cheese windmills-1. i mean, that's pretty much as dork as it gets man.

This message has been deleted.

Haha, I was thinking the same thing Sloucho. This thread is rediculous. Every thread turns into a fight. Believe it or not but the key to creativity is hiding your sources. Nothing is original, every1354thing is inspired by something, let it go and enjoy the fact that not only one guy made zombie stories and then nobody else ever made more, because without people stealing ideas, we wouldn't have much of a selection on things. Thats my 2 cents.

I'm sorry, but isn't every zombie movie about an infection taht turns people into zombies and ruin society and then a few people have to fight them?
www.thecinemasource.com
Free DVD giveaways, movie reviews, and advance screenings.

This message has been deleted.

Yeah the ideas are very similar but why has no one mentioned the similaraties between THE BEACH , 28 DAYS LATER and APOCALYPSE NOW ?
I`m sorry to say this but despite enjoying 28 DAYS LATER all the flaws of that film lie in the screenplay

Oh please, if you want to take this approach, then you should say that pretty much everyone who has ever made a zombie movie ripped off Matheson. I am Legend was about Vampires not zombies and it has been the inspiration behind tons of horror books (Steven King openly admits to Matheson's influence) to films. It's not a big deal.

i agree, i love both stories, along with anything by alex garland, though there may be a few similarities they are nothing alike. you could make a better case in that the 28 days story is much more like Earth Abides by George R. Stewert. Same type of thing happens minus the zombies. and it focus' alot more on the rebuilding of society.

Wow, dude. I'm actually a big fan of both I Am Legend and 28 Days Later, and they really are nothing alike. You want to see what a movie version of I Am Legend looks like go watch The Omega Man. But really, did you actually read or watch either of them, respectively? They aren't even close to being similar, so much so that I honestly feel I don't have to back up my statement.

The Coma was a masterpiece.

holy christ The Stand is an amazing novel. just thought id say that.

This message has been deleted.

The "Human Lemming" story is pretty basic and pretty classic. As is the "Zombie Apocolypse" story.

This message has been deleted.