I Am Legend (US - BD)
Our reviewer Marcus checks just how controversial I Am Legend is on Blu-ray
Feature
“The last man on earth is not alone”…He’s got his dog.
Will Smith leads an all star cast of just himself, in a future where everything’s gone to hell. A miracle cure for cancer has disastrous consequences, leaving military virologist Robert Neville (Will Smith) the sole survivor in New York City. Living his days and surviving his nights, Neville tries to find a cure for whatever’s turned the human race into primal, blood-thirsty, nocturnal CGI beasties, with only his trusty dog to talk to.

I am Legend is a movie that I initially had a lot of respect for. The director, Francis Lawrence paints the picture of a deserted Manhattan with a steady hand. It all feels very genuine and literally like everyone just up and left, especially with the use of flashbacks showing you a very much alive city. The first two acts of the movie are incredibly well put together. It all looks fantastically well realised, with an atmosphere that pulls you in and has you right in the palm of its hands. The scene involving Sam, Neville's Dog, chasing a deer into a pitch black ‘Hive’ is a prime example of what this movie does well: perfectly paced, creepy, and one hell of an introduction to the movie's baddies.
This is a fine vehicle for Will Smith. There are few big name actors who could hold an audience and keep them entertained like the Fresh Prince seems to. This is no mean feat considering that he’s alone on screen for a vast chunk of the movie's running time, bouncing his dialogue off of his dog, Sam, and the mannequins dotted about his local video store (actual mannequins, I’m not taking a pop at the other cast members). Big Willy sells the character’s world, the isolation and the determination of getting the job done and for the most part you join him for the ride.

The movie drip-feeds you information at a steady pace. From the very effective opening news reels where the cure for cancer is revealed, the total chaos of a diseased New York on the brink of collapse, through to the slow break down of Neville’s mental state. You know what’s happened and you know why, but this is all just build up to revealing the real nightmare in Neville’s life—the infected. The leftovers of New York’s current movie disaster. The Dark Seekers.
Now here is where the movie starts falling apart for me. On a base level, the Dark Seekers don't work. The CGI effects are pretty close to the worst in recent blockbuster memory. They look little better than a Playstation zombie from the Resident Evil series and the SFX team do very little to try and sell their realism to the audience. The only highlights being their introduction where they're huddled together in the darkness, which is incredibly effective. That said, even some of the worst SFX can be forgiven if you back it up with character or a killer pay off, but frankly, I Am Legend fails on both. The movie essentially abandons an entire thread that seemed to be developing the Dark Seekers into something more and opting instead for the full-on attack, just undermines all the nods to cleverer things that were peppered in the events that got us to the final act.

Why even bother to hint at the Dark Seekers’ intelligence if you’re not going to do anything with it? Was that main one the leader? Was he ordering the infected around like an army? Did he set the trap for Neville or was Neville just having a breakdown? None of this is acknowledged. All of this is swept aside for a big explosive blockbuster ending that really lets the movie down.
So what of the alternative ‘controversial’ ending? The ending does, sort of, acknowledge the possibility of the Dark Seekers’ intelligence. The alternative ending shows that they have emotion and maybe even love for their own and all of this was merely a rescue mission for the leader Dark Seeker’s wife. It's actually okay. Sort of an M Night Shyamalan twist in the tale. I'm not sure what's so controversial about it though. At least this version gives some form of payoff to the glimpses throughout, that tried to convince us the Dark Seekers were more than just about screeching Gollums. Either way, both endings are stacked with their fair share of problems, the biggest being that neither version does the movie justice.

Video
I Am Legend is a bit of a mixed bag of a an HD transfer. Of course it’s stunning for the most part—it’s HD. Natural light looks fantastic—the sunrise, the brightness of the midday sun, the vibrant blue sky, the shiny red of that typically brand new car in the opening scenes—it’s all pretty glorious. But when the darkness begins to set in, so does its issues.
Some of the edges are a little soft, especially on skin tones. A lot of the darker tones have that bluish tint to them. The blacks in the darker scenes never quite feel black, and after Big Willie sets off the bombs and the dust fills the air, everything begins to get a little muddy.
Of course, none of this is terrible. The transfer is still way more impressive than a standard DVD could ever be, but with big new Warner Brothers titles like this you sometimes picture in your mind that there will be no issues. So, when these tiny issues sneak into your ever-critical eye, it sometimes needs the mention. Don’t get me wrong, this is a fine HD transfer, it’s just not the finest you’re ever gonna see.

Audio
I watched this in Dolby Digital 5.1 and it was quite an atmospheric experience. This isn’t really one that plays on dynamic speaker movements, but it pretty perfectly captures that feeling of being drawn into the situations and locations.
The multi-layered sound elements of an empty city are all around you: leaves brushing, birds tweeting, and the sound of big open spaces. This really works well for this type of movie, because as soon as the unnatural sounds of the Dark Seekers enter into the mix you are affected that much more.
One particular element I did enjoy was the sound of the muscle-car hammering it through the New York streets in the deer chase. The louder elements build up as the movie progresses towards its explosive closing events and while there’s not one particular scene I would say is a ‘show off moment’ it’s a solid sound mix overall. This worked very well when I saw I Am Legend in the cinema and I’m pleased to report that the same can be said here.

Extras
There’s not a great deal here really. The fact that the alternative cut is put on both the Blu-ray and standard definition versions as a whole feature, as opposed to using a branching system, seems a little strange. There are literally just a few extra scenes and a different ending.
As for the other features, the twenty minute look at ‘The Science of I Am Legend’ is brief at best. It gives you a very broad overview of how viruses work and have worked throughout history. The feature is essentially a lot of virus-admiring science folk telling you how some of the famous viruses have evolved. This is inter-spliced with some photos of their effects on humans and some CGI shots of cells being attacked. Every five minutes or so the feature also throws in Will Smith or Francis Lawrence in an obvious attempt to tie together real science with their research for the movie. Strangely, some of the most unbelievably random shots from Outbreak are thrown in as well.

As for the main body of the features, there’s the ‘Creating I Am Legend’ mini documentary gallery, all presented in HD. This is basically twenty-one chapters of web doc style featurettes, which all amount to a little over fifty minutes. As expected, these focus on the small elements of the making of the movie, including, shutting down the New York Streets, the stunt guys’ work, the SFX people and even some snippets from the writer of the original novel Richard Matheson. There’s nothing really to report here. It’s all pretty standard short and sweet stuff and what we’ve all come to expect from these little mini-documentaries over the years.
The one thing that I really took away from these features was that there was a very different movie being made that didn’t reach our screens. There seemed to be a bigger religious arc that they played down. There also looked to be more of a play on Neville’s sanity via the use of the mannequins and I’m more than certain that there were a lot of different takes on what the Dark Seekers were going to be and how much we were meant to find out about them.
Last up, there’re the four Animated Comics. Yep, that’s right, no commentary from the director or the Fresh Prince. The comics are those weird computer assisted still images that glide around the screen. Some have voiceovers, some don’t, but they are all stories around the tale of I Am Legend. They’re quite good, and have some fine comic book artwork, but they’re very much a watch once out of interest sort of affair really.

Overall
When I saw I Am Legend theatrically on Boxing Day, I felt as if I didn’t need to rush to see it again, but watching this Blu-ray release, I’m glad that I did. I still think the last act is one big mess that feels like a compromise over a mixture of different idea’s, rather than a definitive choice or clear vision, but there’s no denying that I Am Legend is a solid take on the zombie/post-apocalyptic genre. It feels lived in, like 28 Weeks Later did so well. In fact, the events are portrayed so genuinely, that you get a real sense of how this would play out if the real world fell apart in this way.
It would have been nice to have a commentary included here, ideally from Will or the director, if only for a little insight on how they felt the Dark Seekers should have been perceived. With that inclusion it may have elevated this pretty bog standard set of features to something a little more interesting.
I Am Legend is a solid piece of entertainment, which, despite its flaws, is still a pretty impressive. It shows a more mature Will Smith, who has ditched the over use of the ‘Hell Nahh’s’ for a more subtle performance. What with this and his stellar performance in The Pursuit of Happyness, it seems Will Smith is becoming a megastar who’s not just going to sit back and play the same ole' tune.
As a side note, in the mid-nineties Ridley Scott planned on directing Arnold Schwarzenegger in I Am Legend. Now that is a version of this movie I would have loved to see!
* Note: The images on this page are not representative of the Blu-ray release.
Review by Marcus Doidge
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Existing Posts
I thought the real message was that the "zombies" were in reality the newest species on earth, having evolved past the intitial phases of the viral mutation and representing the evolved human race so to speak, stronger and resistant to infections and who were actually more capable of compassion than humans were in that Dr. Neville was allowed to live in spite of his own sins but after he reverted the female to her infected form. Dr. Neville on the other hand, having never even considered them to be capable of any feelings or logical thought was confronted by them and in their own way humiliated for his own brutality and inhumanity, with the background of the wall covered in poloroids of his dead test subjects. Only the "controversial" alternate ending states this though, the original ending sends no valuable message other than humans need to stop messing with things they have no business messing with at this stage, such as viral manipulation of DNA.
Why does the movie show him sleeping in his bathtub only to wake up in the morning in his bed? At first I thought he might be sleeping in the bathtub to protect himself from his booby traps but that went out the window when he awoke in his own bed. Clearly many important threads were broken and the movie was edited after a certain point to get past the time alotment without any regard whatsoever for a story that could have been very good.
Why does the movie show him sleeping in his bathtub only to wake up in the morning in his bed? At first I thought he might be sleeping in the bathtub to protect himself from his booby traps but that went out the window when he awoke in his own bed. Clearly many important threads were broken and the movie was edited after a certain point to get past the time alotment without any regard whatsoever for a story that could have been very good.
I personally hated the alternate ending. I felt it was too much of a happy ending. It was disappointing since I heard "controversial ending" and was expecting the ending from the book.
I agree with others that the alternate ending was better and the alternate cut should have been seemlessly branched.
gridbug wrote: The "alternate" ending with the mutants coming to rescue their own from the "hero" is about as close as moviedom has come to realizing the brilliant theme of the original story.
Yes, exactly.
Yes, exactly.
The "alternate" ending with the mutants coming to rescue their own from the "hero" is about as close as moviedom has come to realizing the brilliant theme of the original story.
And I cried for Sam. What a heartbreak.
And I cried for Sam. What a heartbreak.
Will Smith doesn't have the charisma to carry any movie, his performance is as hollow as the effects. This one is definately at the bottom of the pile compared to the other two films.
J Linc wrote: I'm sorry, but there is more to the novella's actual ending than what the so-called "controversial" alternate ending of "I Am Legend" portrays... much more. I suppose we'll just have to overall agree to disagree on whether or not there has been a truly successful adaptation of the source material yet.
It won't be THAT long (true, it won't be soon but I doubt it will take as long as it did between "The Omega Man" and this "I Am Legend" ) before a consideration for a fourth try might seem like a fair business proposition.
Side Note: It appears Warner Bros. is already going to double dip this one for the actual fans (see below link)...
http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_12130.html
...
Yes, I know there's more in the ending of the book than that of any of the film adaptations... Did I say that there wasn't? I actually have read it, and "gotten it", you're not the only one.
All I'm saying is that the "controversial" ending touches more on the book than the theatrical ending (which touched nothing, except that Spoiler he dies), where everything works out all hunky dory. He's not a Legend for the reason that he's supposed to be.
I don't think we'll have to agree to disagree, because I think we're essentially saying the same thing (even if I might not have specifically said so earlier), there hasn't been a straight straight adaptation of the book (and there never will be) but the first time was the closest but couldn't quite get there, and the third one tried to mix both action and the book (with many liberties taken) but ultimately failed.
IF there is a fourth adaptation, it will probably not be the idyllic movie you hope it to be. But I doubt we'll have to worry about it for a long time (or until Will Smith is like 60 or 70.)
As for the box, I think it's completely unnecessary. There are so many other movies worthy of that treatment it's not even funny. This was just an average blockbuster... Does it really need a huge set?
It won't be THAT long (true, it won't be soon but I doubt it will take as long as it did between "The Omega Man" and this "I Am Legend" ) before a consideration for a fourth try might seem like a fair business proposition.
Side Note: It appears Warner Bros. is already going to double dip this one for the actual fans (see below link)...
http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_12130.html
...
Yes, I know there's more in the ending of the book than that of any of the film adaptations... Did I say that there wasn't? I actually have read it, and "gotten it", you're not the only one.
All I'm saying is that the "controversial" ending touches more on the book than the theatrical ending (which touched nothing, except that Spoiler he dies), where everything works out all hunky dory. He's not a Legend for the reason that he's supposed to be.
I don't think we'll have to agree to disagree, because I think we're essentially saying the same thing (even if I might not have specifically said so earlier), there hasn't been a straight straight adaptation of the book (and there never will be) but the first time was the closest but couldn't quite get there, and the third one tried to mix both action and the book (with many liberties taken) but ultimately failed.
IF there is a fourth adaptation, it will probably not be the idyllic movie you hope it to be. But I doubt we'll have to worry about it for a long time (or until Will Smith is like 60 or 70.)
As for the box, I think it's completely unnecessary. There are so many other movies worthy of that treatment it's not even funny. This was just an average blockbuster... Does it really need a huge set?
J S wrote: Every movie adaptation of the original story by Richard Matheson has missed the point thus far... especially this one. Robert Neville represents the past, a violent past that nearly destroyed the world. Robert Neville IS THE BAD GUY! He is the scary story (or rather, "legend"
that the "monsters" tell to one another. Do yourself a favor and read the book.
Couldn't agree more. The book is a personal favorite and it still astounds me that no one has got it right when translating into a movie. The closest in my opinion is "Last Man On Earth", but even that is flawed compared to the source material.
I did enjoy the movie for what it was...basically a big budget b-movie. I'm also partial to the end-of-the-world" gig, so that probably also has something to do with it as well.

Couldn't agree more. The book is a personal favorite and it still astounds me that no one has got it right when translating into a movie. The closest in my opinion is "Last Man On Earth", but even that is flawed compared to the source material.
I did enjoy the movie for what it was...basically a big budget b-movie. I'm also partial to the end-of-the-world" gig, so that probably also has something to do with it as well.
This is very true. The theatrical cut has absolutly no back up to what "I am Legend" means outside of Will's character liking Bob Marley and this being another refrence to add to that pile of refrences strewn about the movie.
I don't think the alternative ending was controversial, however it was a much better ending. I think its controversial tag was given to it as it turns the movie around (as in the original book). In this ending Will Smith has become the monster. Knowing that they have intelligence and can love, etc, he realises when looking at all the photographs of his experiments that died that he in fact "murdered" them, as these were a new intelligent lifeform, not merely animals. In the original book the Dr is known by the infected as the "boogeyman" that will come and get you when you sleep (during the day for them)and he was "legend". In the theatrical ending of the film the whole concept of him being a legend to the infected is completely missed, strange as that is what the film's called and the point.....
F.
F.
Blue-Kal-El wrote: The "alternate" ending is PURE C**P...no imagination...dull...stupid...
Tut, tut!
Tut, tut!
upto half way the film was ok - then it turned into hollywood garbage.
about boxset - I hope it includes good scenes that were cut because there were non-commerical, and could have turned the movie darker etc. branching could have been nice. I hope also director tells what he really felt about this project and not the usual praising (if its his commentary). but why box set and not normal dvd, maybe from anohther regions then, I`m not getting a a box of this film...
(i just watched this a week ago (as it was released here in Finland in dvd) and I feld a lot was cut, just like our reviewer, and another release is due in the future, how right I was)
about boxset - I hope it includes good scenes that were cut because there were non-commerical, and could have turned the movie darker etc. branching could have been nice. I hope also director tells what he really felt about this project and not the usual praising (if its his commentary). but why box set and not normal dvd, maybe from anohther regions then, I`m not getting a a box of this film...
(i just watched this a week ago (as it was released here in Finland in dvd) and I feld a lot was cut, just like our reviewer, and another release is due in the future, how right I was)
I'm sorry, but there is more to the novella's actual ending than what the so-called "controversial" alternate ending of "I Am Legend" portrays... much more. I suppose we'll just have to overall agree to disagree on whether or not there has been a truly successful adaptation of the source material yet.
It won't be THAT long (true, it won't be soon but I doubt it will take as long as it did between "The Omega Man" and this "I Am Legend" ) before a consideration for a fourth try might seem like a fair business proposition.
Side Note: It appears Warner Bros. is already going to double dip this one for the actual fans (see below link)...
http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_12130.html
It won't be THAT long (true, it won't be soon but I doubt it will take as long as it did between "The Omega Man" and this "I Am Legend" ) before a consideration for a fourth try might seem like a fair business proposition.
Side Note: It appears Warner Bros. is already going to double dip this one for the actual fans (see below link)...
http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_12130.html
...Well like I said, I think they got it right the first time. It followed the book all the way through except for a slight, slight change at the end, which didn't really do it any harm, the message is still there. He still realises what he's done after reading Ruth's letter.
The Omega Man was an excuse to have good ol' Chuck go around shooting at mutants, with the book as a loose guideline. It served its purpose as a cheesy action movie.
I am Legend is merely a remake of The Omega Man, but trying to get a few more vampiric characteristics to the creatures. And since the original ending is the "controversial" ending, which yes, touches on the whole "I'm a monster/Legend" theme, I would say that it was a strange hybrid of The Omega Man and I am Legend/The Last Man on Earth (which changed into a strange hybrid of The Omega Man and I dunno, typical Hollywood survival fare, after the test audiences didn't like the "controversial" ending.)
I find that they each work for what they set out to do. None of them are masterpieces per se, but they are what they are.
And there won't be any consideration for another adaptation for a long, long time. So I wouldn't get my hopes too high up if I were you.
The Omega Man was an excuse to have good ol' Chuck go around shooting at mutants, with the book as a loose guideline. It served its purpose as a cheesy action movie.
I am Legend is merely a remake of The Omega Man, but trying to get a few more vampiric characteristics to the creatures. And since the original ending is the "controversial" ending, which yes, touches on the whole "I'm a monster/Legend" theme, I would say that it was a strange hybrid of The Omega Man and I am Legend/The Last Man on Earth (which changed into a strange hybrid of The Omega Man and I dunno, typical Hollywood survival fare, after the test audiences didn't like the "controversial" ending.)
I find that they each work for what they set out to do. None of them are masterpieces per se, but they are what they are.
And there won't be any consideration for another adaptation for a long, long time. So I wouldn't get my hopes too high up if I were you.
Hopefully, down the road somewhere a fourth try at an adaptation will be brought to life and finally do the novella justice.
The Last Man on Earth is a pretty real adaptation, Matheson wrote the screenplay for that one too (although a rewrite of the ending led him to remove his name), and I'd argue that all three are good in their own way. I rank them best to worst in the order of their release.
After three attempts now, there has still yet to be a real (or, more importantly, good) adaptation of Richard Matheson's novella... quite a disappointment.
Blue-Kal-El wrote: The "alternate" ending is PURE C**P...no imagination...dull...stupid...
You're kidding... Right?
You're kidding... Right?
The "alternate" ending is PURE C**P...no imagination...dull...stupid...
Thank You Marcus!
Finally, I read a review on this board that I can agree with and stand with.
This movie missed on so many points and levels that I can only think of The Sixth Sense that comes to mind as a movie that was so hyped and so hailed by so many.
Maybe I'm just not blown away by the obvious but I Am Legend just seemed fall apart from the very beginning for me. I've said it before and I'll say it again. With the great Richard Matheson book aside because this movie has very little to do with the book. The whole unrealistic realistic situations just scarred this movie for me. First of all, if Neville is a leading researcher why wouldn't the government have wisked him away to safe and secure lab for him to work instead of leaving him in NYC? He's only a colonel and had to follow orders, you'd think someone of higher authority would have made this happen. Even so, if you were the "only" scientist capable of curing this disease why would you stay in the most densely populated dangerous area in the world. Sorry, I don't buy the excuse he gives his wife in the movie. Pure stupidity. Sure, without it you don't have a movie and that's why I can't get behind this movie. With all that aside, not delving into the lives of the Dark Seekers is a major miss since they are the only other character in the movie. At least we got so see some of that in Omega Man.
In sum, someday somebody will make a Matheson I Am Legend that pays respect and homage to his great work.
Finally, I read a review on this board that I can agree with and stand with.
This movie missed on so many points and levels that I can only think of The Sixth Sense that comes to mind as a movie that was so hyped and so hailed by so many.
Maybe I'm just not blown away by the obvious but I Am Legend just seemed fall apart from the very beginning for me. I've said it before and I'll say it again. With the great Richard Matheson book aside because this movie has very little to do with the book. The whole unrealistic realistic situations just scarred this movie for me. First of all, if Neville is a leading researcher why wouldn't the government have wisked him away to safe and secure lab for him to work instead of leaving him in NYC? He's only a colonel and had to follow orders, you'd think someone of higher authority would have made this happen. Even so, if you were the "only" scientist capable of curing this disease why would you stay in the most densely populated dangerous area in the world. Sorry, I don't buy the excuse he gives his wife in the movie. Pure stupidity. Sure, without it you don't have a movie and that's why I can't get behind this movie. With all that aside, not delving into the lives of the Dark Seekers is a major miss since they are the only other character in the movie. At least we got so see some of that in Omega Man.
In sum, someday somebody will make a Matheson I Am Legend that pays respect and homage to his great work.
Every movie adaptation of the original story by Richard Matheson has missed the point thus far... especially this one. Robert Neville represents the past, a violent past that nearly destroyed the world. Robert Neville IS THE BAD GUY! He is the scary story (or rather, "legend"
that the "monsters" tell to one another. Do yourself a favor and read the book.

The 2 disc edition has the alternate cut on the 2nd disc. Pretty cheeky way of selling a two disc edition. For the sake of one tiny extra scene and a diffrent ending, surely they should have just done scene branching?!
I liked the "controversial" alternate ending of I Am Legend better than the theatrical ending. I didn't see anything "controversial" about the alternate ending, I only saw what should've been the theatrical ending right there!
I've only seen the 1 disc rental version (DVD, Region 1), which has no extras, so does anyone know if the alternate ending is presented as an extra or presented as an entire film on disc 2 on the region 1 release?
An upcoming second version of the BluRay and DVD release (Region 1 so far), "I Am Legend: Ultimate Collector's Edition", due later this year, is described as presenting both versions of the film, according to TheDigitalBits.com.
An upcoming second version of the BluRay and DVD release (Region 1 so far), "I Am Legend: Ultimate Collector's Edition", due later this year, is described as presenting both versions of the film, according to TheDigitalBits.com.


Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13
Disc Details
Release Date:
18th March 2008
Discs:
1
Disc Type:
Blu-ray Disc
RCE:
No
Video:
1080p
Aspect:
2.40:1
Anamorphic:
No
Colour:
Yes
Audio:
Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, Dolby Digital 5.1 English, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English, French, Spanish
Extras:
Alternative Version (104 Mins), Cautionary Tale: The Science of I Am Legend, Creating I Am Legend, 4 X Animated Comics
Easter Egg:
No
Feature Details
Director:
Francis Lawrence
Cast:
WIll Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson
Genre:
Drama, Sci-Fi and Thriller
Length:
100 minutes
Ratings
Amazon.com
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