all valid points- but the only thing that I think is truly important to people who loved the novel is that when they watch it, it makes them feel the same way.
No offense to those who get bent out of shape over the loss in translation, but c’mon- you have to realize (and i’m sure you already do, in a grudging way) that most of these changes HAVE to be made. They have to be made because you can’t make a movie for purist fans. you have to broaden the scope of the film’s appeal, or it won’t get made at all. You can’t put the Black Freighter in the main body of the film because it’s an editor’s nightmare- trying to flip from one to the other- no virgin audience would be able to follow what the hell was going on, and it’ll choke the censors even at the R rating
*(if it’s done properly, amirite? Correct me if im wrong, but I was under the impression they were filming an animatic and putting on the DVD?)*
These are the handicaps that the film industry has- editing for time, and audience appeal- without them money doesn’t get made, and without the promise of a return on investment, no studio would make it.
Some of us fans would even go so far as to say: “fine! good! whatever- i’d rather it didn’t happen than have it not be the way it should be”
But I, personally, think that this would be a tragedy- think how many new readers this movie will pull in for the original novel- I’d rather have a movie that missed the mark, buy it on DVD, look at whatever cool shit comes on the Features and then re-read the book- knowing that the odds of a random person being able to talk to me about this fantastic piece of literature have just jumped- AND if they haven’t read it yet, they’ll be much more inclined. I sure as hell had no need to read “I Am Legend” until I saw the movie.

tl;dr: movies have to make compromises in order to get made- and i’d rather we see it come close and miss than just say fuck it.