Actually it looks like they are trying to solve two problems at once - budget and science.

I took it to be a miss typed “life”.

No not stupid.

This was the book I was thinking of. I reread them a couple of years ago and they still hold up fairly well.

I remember reading it in my backyard as an early teen and getting too scared to go back into the empty house. Stayed outside in the sun until my parents got home. Then got in trouble for having the most amazing…

IIRC he was supposed to be 101 in the film so you’re only off by a factor of about 2.

The coolest visualization of a Roman Legion was during the 2009 display of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. They took several thousand Lego minifigs and created a full legion with support troops. End to end it wound around the entire museum. Can’t find any pictures though. Sorry.

More for the Io9 crowd but you missed the best link on the page.