Question: How is it that the disease could infect dogs too, and turn them into the same thing as infected humans? At the beginning of the movie, it is stated that the virus that killed everyone arose from a specially bioengineered treatment for cancer, which mutated into the deadly virus. But dogs can't get a lot of the diseases that infect humans. Did the disease really mutate far enough so that it affected dogs that way too, or did people want their pets cured of cancer, or what? Even if the disease was able to infect the dogs, it seems strange that it would affect them the same way as it does humans.
Question: When Robert was talking to Anna and he got angry and smashed the plate, was it because he really was saving the bacon (which is what he told Anna) or I think it was because he had been broadcasting for survivors for YEARS and had come to believe he was the last being on earth and he had just killed his only companion, then this woman just shows up and is talking about an entire community of survivors. What is the reason for his anger?
Answer: He was angry because he kept feeding Sam vegetables not the bacon. Now some stranger cooked the bacon after Sam's death.
Answer: It's all of those things basically, but mostly the loss of Sam. He has been alone for very long and couldn't handle the sudden changes, all of them, the biggest one losing his companion.
Question: How did they manage to film the deserted New York city scenes? Was it a mixture of studio/CGI work?
Answer: They actually shut down and cleared the streets in New York to film some of these scenes. in an interview with an Australian Magazine Will Smith admits he was not very popular after doing this and recieved "a lot of middle fingers".
Question: When his dog got infected, why didn't the doc use the same cure that worked on the mouse/rat to cure her, or at least try? Did I just miss him doing it? I would think he'd try anything to cure his dog before killing her to keep her from suffering. I know the cure didn't work on humans in the first trial, but it did work on an animal. So...?
Answer: He gave the dog the cure and it seemed to work at first but quickly the dog began to turn. Neville was forced to euthanize the dog as a result. The cure wasn't perfected until later in the movie.
Question: Why did the military decide to blow the bridges instead of simply blocking them? Did they think it was simpler than to put armed soldiers at all the bridges and risk them being overrun by the panicked (and possibly turning) crowds of people trying to flee?
Answer: Yes, it was a desperate measure to prevent the spread of a disease which was horrendous, even though it was done too late to contain the outbreak. I'm sure it was a difficult decision for the military commanders, and given the civilian and economic consequences, probably had to be sanctioned by the National Command Authority or President.
Question: Was Anna telling the truth when she said she was a survivor, or had she been sent from the refugee colony for Neville's blood sample, because when he gave it to her he told her "I know this is what you came for"?
Answer: Anna said that she and Ethan were survivors of a plague outbreak aboard a Red Cross ship, and that they were on their way to a survivor camp in Vermont. There's no reason to doubt her story. At the end, Neville gave Anna a vial of blood that he had just drawn from the female Darkseeker (who was starting to recover from the plague). However, Neville didn't know he had developed a cure until near the end, so there's no way Anna or anybody else could have known that in advance. Anna was drawn to the city by Neville's recorded radio broadcasts, which had given her hope. When he says, "I know this is what you came for," he's talking about hope for the future.
Answer: Sorry for the late response, but I also don't know. She is a survivor, everyone from the refugee camps are survivors. I think you're asking if she came from the camp or not. I think she didn't, as far as I remember, she lived in the abandoned city too, and never went to the refugee area. I mean, at the end of the movie, they drove like a long time to get to the city. Theres no way that the refugees would have known that Neville was in that specific area and he had the cure.
Question: During the scene when his family is leaving, why does Robert Neville insist on staying on the island? Wouldn't he have knowledge of a better site or safer lab area since he is of military background? Even when the girl asks him to come to the colony, he insists that ground zero is his site. Is he just staying there because he's familiar with his own lab? Couldn't he have brought equipment with him to the colony?
Answer: Two possibilities. One: Because he IS a military scientist, they may be planning to evacuate him to a different site than the refugees. Two: he may still be working with others in New York to find a cure, but getting his family out while he can is still a priority.
Answer: He is determined to "fix" it. As he is the most qualified to find a cure, he feels it's his responsibility.
Question: I don't know New York's geography, so I'll not post this as a mistake. But is it possible that after 3 years there are deers and tigers and lions roaming around the city? Where could these animals come from?
Answer: New York has a number of zoos from which these animals could have escaped.
Question: Who moved the mannequin to the snare trap? Was it Will Smith's character who did it, but couldn't remember because of his fragile mental state or was it someone else?
Answer: The creatures, or at least the creature that seemed to be in charge, and copied what Will Smith did earlier, did it. This showed that his theory of them being mindless was wrong.
Question: How did Anna save Robert on the night he tried to kill himself by fighting the zombies in his car? It was seen that the zombies knocked his car over and suddenly there was a blinding white light. The next scene shows Anna driving a half conscious Robert back.
Answer: The obvious assumption is that she used a UV light to kill or drive off the darkseekers, then pulled Neville from the SUV.
Answer: OR - the other possible scenario based on Matheson's source novel: Ruth. She is a ranking officer in the "new society" of living vampires and can tolerate light. Anna could be a parallel figure to Ruth whose only purpose is to get the cure which she does.
Question: Is the scene where Will smith recites all the movie dialogue while it is playing in the original Richard Matheson novel, or was it just a homage to The Omega man (where Charlton Heston does something similar)?
Chosen answer: It's an homage to the Omega Man.
Question: I know someone else asked something like this, but how did deer get there? I've never seen a zoo with any and New York City is on an island.
Answer: Just because you've never seen one at a zoo doesn't mean they don't exist there. But petting zoos are known to have young deer... They grow quickly. Or perhaps the deer came from an animal testing facility. Or perhaps they were just being transported through the island when the crisis struck. Or perhaps it's because deer repopulate at above average rates. (Manhattan did have deer back in the day... They got there somehow).
Question: Why were people hanging off the helicopter?
Answer: They were desperately trying to escape the city.
Answer: No people would not try to get on a helicopter... it was infected trying to kill the innocent pilot.
Question: Near the end of the film, what was the "zombie" who was on the roof trying to do? was he trying to get out? Make a bigger hole for others to come in? I didn't get this part.
Answer: He was making a hole big enough for the others to get in. When the final "assault" happens, you see all of the zombie/mutants climbing up the building, presumably to get into that hole.
Question: Apart from the chaotic evacuation at the pier, why does everyone in the city seem to be walking and driving like nothing is happening when they are in the middle of Ground Zero of a catastrophic viral outbreak?
Answer: Not everyone understands that the infection is airborne yet. People are mostly not fully aware of the dangers just yet, it seems. Even the dark seekers are uncommon at this time.
Question: What was the liquid that Will Smith pours onto the steps after he goes up the steps to his home? What is the idea of pouring the liquid on the steps?
Answer: Most likely bleach or some other solvent. He does this to remove his scent, to prevent any of the creatures from detecting which house he's in.
Question: While Will Smith was burying his deceased dog, I remember him taking some pills. Were the pills intended to decrease his sadness for his loss/keep him from going insane of him now being totally alone?
Answer: I think it was opiate pain pills. I'd imagine he would stock up on them. And hurt his leg. He chewed them up like they were that for sure.
Answer: I'd say they are just painkillers, seeing how he just casually chucks a whole bunch down like skittles. If you do that with antidepressant or something like Ritalin (to keep you awake) your heart will stop. He probably has a headache.
Question: If the monsters are smart enough to move "Fred" from the store and set up a trap, then how have they been unable to find Neville's SUV which is parked outside his house? They saw that SUV when he first captured a monster and also he got in it after escaping the trap. They can communicate to one another and in their numbers it wouldn't have taken long for them to find the SUV and thus where he lives. Plus, it seems to be the only vehicle (short of the Mustang which we never see again) that has clean windows and no plants growing around it, it should stick out like a sore thumb.
Answer: It's possible only 1 of them was able to set up the trap, doing this after its mate was taken by Neville. Before that they weren't tracking him in the shadows during the day. It became very personal for that one and thus was focused on getting revenge. This focus gave it back some of its intelligence so it followed him in the shadows during the day and discover ways to lay a trap. He also appears to be some kind of leader figure.
Question: This pertains to the special 2-disk dvd that has the alternate ending. In the alternate ending, Neville and Anna are driving on a bridge in his SUV. Didn't all the bridges get destroyed 3 years ago? Seems like a mistake to me.
Answer: Since the scene was deleted from the film, it can't be considered a mistake. It's an extra feature on the DVD, not part of the film itself.
Question: How did Anna get into Neville's house after she rescued him? I understand how she got to the house, but if he was unconscious or delirious how was she able to enter the premises with the locks and traps all set up?
Answer: The easy answer is that it's a plot hole. We can, however, speculate that Robert Neville himself guided Anna and Ethan inside the fortified home; but Neville just doesn't remember it because he was, as you mentioned, injured and delirious. The progression of the film from his rescue until he regains consciousness is solely from Neville's point of view, and he obviously had a memory lapse.
Answer: As mentioned previously Anna parallels the Ruth character in the source novel. These plot holes left for us by sceenwriter Protosevich are ingenious...I am truly surprised that so few people have noticed these parallels. Anna gets in because she is a vampire herself albeit she has changed and is part of a new society - perhaps the one in Vermont.
Answer: When the woman who created the cancer treatment is being interviewed at the beginning of the movie, she states that the original virus used to create the cure was the measles. Human Measles are in a family of virus called paramyxovirus. This same family contains the canine virus distemper. So they are very closely related to one another. The virus was then modified in a way that was not stated so that it could deliver cancer therapy. After that, since the patients in the clinical trial were initially cured of cancer (stated in the same interview), the virus must have mutated in order to turn humans into night seekers. Then, in order for the virus to become airborne it must have mutated yet again. So, it is not hard to believe that it would be able to infect both species after a virus coming from a family that is already known to infect both species has been changed 3 or more times. This might also explain why the virus is slightly different in dogs, e.g. Dogs can't catch the airborne strain, and dogs can come out at dusk while night seekers must wait for full dark.