I Am Legend [Blu-ray] Reviews

• "Don't worry about a thing...."

  
  By A3AAK33K3BUUTM on 2007-12-16
  "I Am Legend" is not a film that sticks closely to it's source material. While that is it's biggest flaw, it is also where it shines. If you ha told me two years ago that I'd get misty-eyed watching Will Smith sing "Three Little Birds" in a big budget motion picture I'd have laughed myself silly, but this adaptation of Richard Mathson's untouchable novel that -while itself being a vampire story- inspired the entire zombie film genre as we know it takes the story we all know whether we've read the book or not and turns it into an exceptionally personal affair for all of us. One man. One dog. A familiar metropolis deserted by day, but crawling with death by nightfall. This is our setting and it's one that never gets old for me.
  
  The plague that wipes out Robert Neville's world is never fully explained, simply inferred to be the result of some sort of failed cure for cancer. Gone from the novel and the original Vincent Price classic, The Last Man on Earth, is the long struggle of Neville to save his ill daughter, his wife's tranformation, and the shocking actions of the US government to contain the plague. What it left is simply one man, alone trying to maintain his sanity and hopelessly searching for a cure to a disease that has already wiped humanity off the face of the earth and left the "survivors" as rabid vampiric horrors. It's sad, it's pathetic, and it's perfectly human. Will Smith has a penchant for picking terrible, schmaltzy films to star in, but no one can deny his talent and charisma as a leading man. Naturally, this is a film he must carry single-handedly and he does an awesome job of it; he's dramatic, he's relateable, and at times, he is funny. The humor is that of the dark and inappropriate kind, but in a world like his, that is all there is left.
  
  The vampires/zombies/infected in this are all CG and more than a bit reminiscent of Gollum from The Lord of the Rings. I'm not a fan of these kind of effects when practical would have been more effective and was acutely aware of the fact that I watching computer-generated monsters, but they worked nonetheless. The infected prove to be terrifying foes for Neville to face, combining suprising cunning, inhuman strength, and impossible agility (hence the CG). Their only weakness is that sunlight kills them almost instantly. Neville plays a game of cat-and-mouse with them, gathering supplies, researching cure, and searching for survivors by day while making sure to get back to his fortified apartment before nightfall when the creatures come out to hunt for his hiding place. More than a few shades of 28 Days Later are present in this film, which is funny considering the book and it's film offspring are largely what provided the elements of that film. So I guess the genre has officially come full circle now.
  
  Ultimately, it's the personal touches that make "I Am Legend" such a treat. Bob Marley provides both the soundtrack to Robert Neville's day and the inspiration for his work, which is both ironic and uplifting at times. This may sound strange for a horror flick, but if you are a fan of Marley (himself a Legend) it makes all the sense in the world as you watch. Watching Neville attempt to interact with mannequins he's set up as he returns the movies he rents (in alphabetical order, one at a time) and seeing him snap when one of the figures is moved is both amusing and, at times, intensely disturbing. When relief finally comes, Neville finds he has lost the ability to interact with other humans at all and is relegated to performing lines from "Shrek", which is playing on his television at the time. The ending is a complete 180 from the book which is disappointing, but not as corny as it could have been. The novel I Am Legend has one of the most brilliant and darkly ironic endings ever put on paper, but director Francis Lawrence didn't ruin it by go for the happy ending either. The result is a compromise between the pitch blackness of the book and the cloying cheese that many Will Smith fans love. It turns out a bittersweet and hopeful conclsion that should satisfy both while not thrilling either. But I left the theater with "Redemption Song" still ringing in my ears and a satisfied feeling. If only every movie could do that for me.
  
  "I Am Legend" fails to adapt the book of the same name to the big screen, but succeeds in so many other ways. I can't give it a perfect score, but I will give it a very hearty recommendation to fans of Will Smith, zombies, vampires, and Bob Marley. Enjoy.
  
  

• [3.5] A good film, but well below expectations.

  
  By AZCDCO6KK2T81 on 2008-01-16
  This third incarnation of Richard Matheson's masterpiece is superior to its predecessors in every way, but in spite of that achievement the film is still lacking and comes across as a disappointment in too many ways.
  
  I can't bear to rehash the plot as nearly everyone knows this story by now, and if you are one of the few unfamiliar with this story, then please read Amazon's well-written synopsis or Trashcanman's excellent review in the Spotlight review section. I just plan to hit what I enjoyed about this film and what was so disappointing.
  
  The Hits:
  
  (1) Another top-notch, winning performance by the ever reliable and likable Will Smith.
  (2) Outstanding set designs combined with CGI effects of a desolate and abandoned New York City make this film seem more important than it is.
  (3) Best adaptation of Matheson's highly influential novel (even if it isn't the most faithful to the story in a literal sense --it captures the spirit of his work extremely well).
  
  The Misses:
  
  (1) The most glaring problem with this film, in my view, is the CGI effects for the vampire-like survivors of the plague. They are too cartoonish for me and appear far too much like video game villains. A good example of this for me is the early scene where Smith's character enters a building to get his dog and finds some zombies hiding in a corner. They are real people, not CGI, and they are frightening; however, later, when he's attacked by CGI zombies, it is unintentionally humorous as they appear like Gollum from LOTR on acid. The CGI effects are either not believable or just too over-the-top, thus, the scenes with them lose their punch.
  
  (2) Uneven pacing of the story is a problem here. The opening segments give the impression that we are going to see a masterpiece here, but the second half of the film never matches the first half and it feels very rushed. It has that "hey, guys, we just ran out of money, so we have to wrap up this film up this week" feel to it. In a film with a deliberate and nearly dignified opening to fall into a shoddy rushed finale severely hurts this film and leaves a bad taste in one's mouth.
  
  The film is still solid entertainment in spite of its obvious and significant flaws. It is probably one I will even buy when it becomes available on DVD later, but it is rather disappointing for a film that seemed to have so much going for it. Its box office receipts may reinforce that perception as it set opening weekend records with a take of about $77 million, but by its third weekend it only grossed about $15 million and that is a severe drop off. For a film that reportedly cost $150 to make it has grossed a disappointing $228 after a month at the box-office. That doesn't even qualify it has a hit with a mere $78 million dollar profit at this point. I do think it will be a hit after it's been released world-wide.
  
  BTW: Some may ask, "What is a hit by today's standards?" That's a good question with really no one set answer, however, Hollywood traditionally likes to see a film generate double what it cost to make in order to classify a film as a hit. This film with a cost of $150 million to make is expected to earn $300 million to be considered a hit, but certain stars, like Will Smith, are expected to bring in better than double the cost of the film (hence, why this may end up being considered a "disappointment" at the box-office even if it hits the magic $300M mark).
  
  

• I Am Legend 28 Weeks Later When The Mummy Returns

  
  By A35NBGDTL6F2XJ on 2008-03-22
  "I Am Legend" could have been a very good movie had it followed Richard Matheson's book of the same name. Instead, we are treated with CGI vampire-like creatures that resemble the mummies from Brendan Frasier's "The Mummy" movies. Instead of the thinking creatures from Matheson's book, we have mindless adrenalin-fueled eating machines, much like those in the "28 Days/Weeks Later" movies.
  
  Once I realized I wasn't watching a faithful adaptation, I figured I'd let the movie stand on its own and see how it turned out. What it actually reminded me of was "28 Weeks Later." As a matter of fact, if this been the third movie in that series, it would have fit perfectly; although it would be the weakest link in that series.
  
  If you are a fan of the book, you will probably be sorely disappointed with this movie. Had the powers that be behind this film stayed faithful to the original story, they'd have had a really good film on their hands. Instead, we got a typical serving of style over substance.
  
  

• Forgive them, Matheson, For Knowing Not What To Do!

  
  By AEQJ2SXV9LKA7 on 2008-03-17
  Sighhhhhhh. Here we go again.
  
  Superb, classic source material once more bastardized, replaced with typical Star-Vehicle lameness by the hacks of Hollyweird.
  
  Will Smith's Neville is ok, but could have been truly memorable had the story some real juice.
  New York City looks terrific - except...so, where's all the signs of terrible chaos, and all those (non PG-13) corpses that should still be littering the place!?
  
  Instead of offering us a nicely thought out story where the (genius) Neville supplied himself with intelligent options and a backup plan to escape to secondary hideouts (imagine a highrise where he could have fended off stairwells full of attackers ) - thus prolonging the suspense and action - we are given...Shrek from a basketcase.
  Instead of exciting scenes in which the superb survivor and rationalist Neville investigates what would have been portentous signs that the infecteds were becoming increasingly aware and manipulative (the mannequins!) - and thereby stuggles to more quickly obliterate their lairs - we are offered...an utterly lame and unbelievable night rescue.
  
  Opportunity after opportunity cluelessly squandered, lost, thrown away.
  End result: I Am Languid.
  
  On second thought, Grandmaster Matheson, forgive them not!
  
  

• OMG...Did Matheson see THIS adaptation of his novel? I AM NOT A LEGEND?

  
  By ATXL536YX71TR on 2008-01-13
  YIKES!...This was really bad and totally unbelievable.If I had not read the book by Richard Matheson I would have never even remotely had a clue as to ANYTHING that script writer Akiva Goldman and his new darling Will Smith were trying to present in this latest version of I AM LEGEND.( NOTICE: in the opening credits it shows that THIS current script is based upon ANOTHER script which is based out of the novel!)Talk about not giving the audience much to go on in order to make sense of this film? This screenplay actually has you pointing to all of it's obvious holes! The whole purpose for WHY Robert Neville was "a legend" is totally blurred to gone in this CGI monstrosity (which frankly looked CGI!)....and the ending???? Did they run out of money to all of a sudden have Anna and Ethan show up in beautiful Church-bell-ringing Vermont with a simple voiceover explanation as to what happened to make Neville a legend? The Bob Marley bit and the Shrek scenes are so heavy-handed that we simply laughed.There is no way that I could begin to take this film seriously.I almost expected a Spaulding soccer ball to appear and Will Smith call it "Wilson".PO'd to no end on this one!!! The Dog, Samantha,was really good....Canine Oscar material there!
  
  
• Why Was Neville A Legend? Hint: They Changed The Reason.
  By A1RITIN7NE4P2 on 2007-12-31
  Boy was this a huge disappoinment. I am a big fan of the two previous versions of the novelette by Richard Matheson but I don't think that even Jerry Bruckheimer could have made a bigger of a mess out of this storyline.
  
  Why was Neville a legend and to whom was he a legend? He was a legend among the still-half-humans (the ones who hadn't gone full-blown vampire yet) as the daystalker who goes around and kills them in their sleep. He wasn't a legend because he found 'the cure' as this movie states at the end. In the two previous films, the Neville character spent the daytime hours hunting and killing the vampires totally unaware that there was a small population of infected humans who weren't eating people yet. In this latest remake they even show a scene of Neville marking off on a map the buildings that he had checked but this is NEVER explained in the film. They completely removed the vampire hunting aspect from the story which makes the 'marking-off-buildings-checked' scene totally nonsensical.
  
  This movie is yet another example of Hollywood signing a big star and casting him in an expensive CGI spectacular where he can run around doing amazing things before ultimately saving the day. Well, they should have tried to save this story first. It stinks.
  
  
• Color me surprised
  By A268EEWUXYCA8Q on 2008-02-25
  I Am Legend can't get a fair shake. This Will Smith-led production is the third attempt Hollywood has made to adapt the brilliant novel. None of the adaptions have truly done the novel justice (which is a shame), but this version has come the closest.
  
  Here we have a brilliant beginning; footage of a scientist (played beautifully by Emma Thompson) saying humbly that she's discovered a way to cure cancer. Fast forward a few years, and New York is utterly devoid of human life, save for Robert Neville (Will Smith). As the first half of the film progresses, we learn about his meager living, spending the day harvesting and trying to discover a cure, even now, while spending the night huddled in his protected home as creatures prowl.
  
  His only companion, a wonderful dog named Sam, protects Neville as Neville protects him. They have a friendship based on loneliness and the human need for someone or something to hold onto. Sam is Neville's only connection to the past and the only way to represent what little humanity is left, either in the world or Neville himself. This period in the movie is pitch perfect, puncuated by one or two terrifying sequences that instill genuine horror.
  
  Unfortunately, the last half of the film deteriorates into an action movie that completely changes the meaning of the words "I Am Legend." Don't get me wrong, it's mostly done really well. Constantine director Francis Lawrence has a good handle on the action and delivers some good scenes. But, it becomes muddled and veers off completely from the novel. My biggest complaint, though, is the use of CGI. Instead of using real flesh and blood actors, all of the creatures are created with CG and they look incredibly fake when lined up next to real people. In the beginning, it's not a problem but as you see more of them (and you will) it's glaringly obvious. And annoying.
  
  All of this I was expecting going in, though. Considering that the film was co-written by Akiva Goldsman who also wrote I, Robot, I knew this version would stray from the source material just as I, Robot did. As a movie, it's genuinely thrilling and creates the perfect balance of tension and action through most of its entirety. And, surprisingly, Will Smith shows that he's a really good actor as he has to not only tackle many conflicting emotions during the two hour run time but he also has to do so without having much of anyone to react to. Spending a good hour or so without another single actor for Will Smith to work with was a gamble and it paid off.
  
  Your enjoyment of the film is entirely based on what you bring to the table. If you're coming to this film expecting to see the book come to life you'll be sorely disappointed. However, if you're looking for a good action movie that actually has a good story and a human aspect, you'll be hard-pressed to find one as thrilling recently.
  
  
• Hollywood Bastardization...
  By A126TGV8C8DVRW on 2008-03-19
  Don't get me wrong, the movie was pretty good but it totally missed the point of the original story. If this was an original IP it wouldn't have gotten 1 star.
  
  Because Hollywood thinks that American movie-goers are simple, and will settle for the same crappy mix of self-sacrifice and sadness that has been the theme of too many movies (mixed with some cool CG) they decided to completely dumped the original meaning of the title "I Am Legend"; which I might add, if I think about it in its original context is chilling and genius. The alternate ending somewhat makes up for what was shown in theaters but, they really screwed up by cutting it just to appeal to more consumers. That's all this film was, it took a mildly popular and ingenious story and twisted the ideal into something more "lowest common denominator" for profit.
  
  
  
• Robinson and girl Friday
  By A3NH7PYU4AD5GA on 2007-12-30
  I notice I was in a mellow mood when I watched this movie in a Singapore cinema. I focus entirely on the good sides of this entertaining movie and ignore other aspects.
  The good sides:
  Girls get to watch Will Smith a lot (which made my daughters happy, hence me).
  The variation on Robinson Crusoe is fascinating, even if Friday doesn't make it as long as Crusoe.
  Optimal use is made of Bob Marley's music.
  Suspense is very strong in some scenes, mainly the hunt into the dark building (a variation on Silence of the Lambs, with different, though similar monsters).
  An interesting variation on the 'apocalypse caused by science' theme.
  A marvellous opening scene with Thompson, happily and modestly admitting that she conquered cancer. One does not need to be anti-science to appreciate this gem.
  The monsters, well, they were also there, as was the future, in the person of the girl from Sao Paolo who never heard of Bob Marley.
  
  
  
• Worst screen adaptation of Matheson's novella yet !
  By A1P4APIZD79ZQC on 2008-03-21
  I saw this movie the first day it opened and due to the fact that it had the same name of Matheson's book , I expected something closer to what the author intended than previous film versions . Instead it was the worst of all three movies based on the book . Plot holes galore , CGI effects among the worst I've ever seen in a film , an ending that looked tacked on and rushed , and a heavy religious theme , where none at all existed in the book made this movie a huge disappointment . It was so bad it would've flopped horribly had it not been for the superstar drawing power of Will Smith . If you must see it - rent don't buy !
  
  
• REMAKE OF "OMEGA MAN" NOT MATHESON'S NOVEL "I AM LEGEND"
  By A3H9JSM1SUTE4O on 2007-12-15
  Awesome visuals do not a movie make.
  
  This great looking movie is a meaningless remake of "Omega Man" and light years away from Richard Matheson's haunting and weirdly relevant novel "I Am Legend."
  
  See it for the amazing views of deserted New York City. And yes, Will Smith is very good. For about 45 minutes this movie teases with huge potential and then it descends into below average jolts of blood-thirsty mutants jumping out of the dark with their mouths open.
  
  SPOILER ALERT:
  
  In the end, super-hero-with-abs Will Smith (certainly not the relatable, ordinary man of the novel) sacrifices himself for no reason and then there's a hastily tacked on ending of survivors entering a walled-in compound somewhere in Vermont. Is there unintentional irony here? Have they traded freedom for the illusion of security?
  
  No legend. No myth. And finally, not much of a story.
  
  I was hoping for a movie that tickled my brain as well as my eyeballs -- like "Blade Runner."
  
  
• Going to the dogs: Hollywood and the lost art of the screenplay
  By A1EEA5ZW5FRY6X on 2007-12-23
  
  I was hopeful when I went to see "I am Legend." I liked the Charleton Heston version. And to be fair, there was some good stuff in this movie -- here and there: the numerous shots of NYC devoid of people are impressive and while one soon feels the profusion of such shots is unnecessary (only the dimmest would have failed to have gotten the point very early), it was understandable that the producers were eager to share their accomplishment. The movie must have cost a bundle. Better use it all.
  
  Moreover, Will Smith has a few effective scenes, and it was not his fault that he was upstaged by his canine co-star, who deserves some kind of animal Oscar (there actually is such a thing, but I forget its name). Finally, the myth of "I Am Legend" is a powerful one. It's a strong story, the kind of story it would take considerable effort to mess up. Who has not felt at times that he is among the last of humanity, struggling to survive while surrounded by vampires (figuratively speaking) -- perhaps at a family gathering or company picnic?
  
  Yet the movie can be barely said to work. It is one of those films in which any given scene is either good, but we've seen it before, many times before, or bad, and we really don't want to see it now at all. A film in which drama is repeatedly sacrificed to special effects and big scenes. One leaves the film not so much hating it, but wondering what was the point?
  
  To the screen writers of this travesty here is a clue: without drama, there can be no point. This is terribly lazy screen writing. For example, the credits reference the work of both prior screenplays. Did the currently screen writers somehow find the original source material weak and insufficient? If so, why even make the movie? This is what we call a bad sign.
  
  Here is an example of how bad it is, one of many. Since nothing substantive follows from the scene, I think I can describe it without spoiling anything.
  
  The scene is a flashback. It shows a huge, panicking crowd trying to escape. People are being given eye scans to see if they have contracted the virus. [What the virus turns the infected into will be noted shortly.] A soldier who is doing the scanning, first gets a bad (positive) reading on the hero's wife. Now remember, Smith's character is a medical doctor. One of the Army's highest ranking in fact. Here's what happens. Smith starts yelling at the soldier, screaming out his rank and demanding the man scan his wife again. The soldier complies (why would he be reluctant to give a second scan?). This time the reading is negative. End of scene.
  
  What is wrong here? For one thing, a real doctor would know at once that either the instrument is defective or the soldier does not know how to use it. Since the procedure is quite simple, the latter possibility can be ignored. There's not much time. The first, however, cannot. There is a grave risk that the instrument is defective. Which means infected people have likely been allowed through. His wife may be now become of them. Remember, Smith is a top ranking military doctor. He must be aware of that risk. He must be aware of his responsibilities. What to do? What a real doctor would do is stop everything, use another detector, and perform the scan again.
  
  The situation now is quite tense. If his wife passes this scan, at least we can be confident that she is free of the disease. But if she fails... He tests her again. Either way, the danger of infected people having gotten through is considerable. The terror on Smith's face should show the decisions he has to make and at once.
  
  This alternative scene would also, btw, tie directly with a later scene, the best in the film, so the audience would be prepared for it.
  
  But the variant scene, the one with that thing we call drama, is not in the movie. Instead we get explosions, helicopters spinning out of control, and a chance for Smith to bawl out a white guy for no reason whatever. The whole screen play is like that.
  
  It gets worse. Smith talks along with an entire sequence in Shrek (I) to tell us how much he loves that movie? Why? What does this add? He gives us a lecture on how much he likes Bob Marley's music. I like it too, but why are these scenes here? What is the point? (I suspect, cynically no doubt, the company that made "I Am Legend" has financial interests in both).
  
  There is also something vaguely racist about the whole business. If you imagine a movie about a white doctor being besieged... Well, this film piles it on. New York is perhaps the most diverse city on earth. Why, when the plague hits does it turn the victims into incredibly buff, twenty-something, white people (who would be killers on a basketball court)? Smith really hates them. One long action scene demonstrates the full degree of that hatred -- but they are his patients, for god's sake! Why in that scene would he risk throwing his life away for the sheer joy of killing them?
  
  And wouldn't you think that Smith, who is himself is immune to the plague, as a doctor would find that fact an incredibly important clue? Nope. He does nothing with it.
  
  Ebert has written about the offensive stranger on the bus. The smelly, boring, crude, and obnoxious individual, always too close for comfort and who is impossible to ignore. Now imagine a two hour bus ride with that individual. That is what this movie and its screen play is like.
  
  For shame on all concerned.
  
  Except, Sam the dog.
  
  
  
• Don't waste your time
  By A1I49NILWLE6G on 2007-12-24
  I'm a Will Smith fan, and this movie really sucked. Most of the movie is just him and his dog, no other people except for flashbacks. I was bored most of the time. It's got some good suspense and in some points is pretty scary. I think I will remember the part about Bob Marley, forget the rest.
  
  
• Alone at the bottom of the food chain
  By AIIR8E34EDKCQ on 2008-04-28
  
  Usually I will read the book first but in this case seeing the trailer being played over and over stimulated my curiosity to the point of no return. Being a New Yorker made the whole experience really fun and interesting; recognizing sights I pass on my way to work every day with an eerie feeling of abandonment was something totally different. I would often think in my head about how crowded it gets and how I wish people would just go away but seeing it all empty and overgrowing with grass like a wild safari was worse than I could have imagined. I guess its better the way it is than suffering eternity alone the same way Robert Neville has.
  
  Alone except for the companionship of Samantha, the loyal German Shepherd, Neville is hunting wild deer and gathering food growing amok through the city while punctually seeking shelter as soon as the day light ends. When darkness approaches so do the mutated bodies that were once human but now reduced to vampire like creatures who savagely will hunt and devour any living creature. His only mission left is finding the cure than can turn the beasts back into the living before he goes mad form being alone. Things start going wrong when Neville stops being the hunter and starts becoming the hunted, the dark alleys that look ominous contain something that is keen ob bringing him down. His daily routing gets disturbed and he can no longer live peacefully with the hopes of one day saving everyone, he needs to find the cure fast or he too will succumb to the dire fate that all others have met.
  
  Visually stunning the movies makes you care for Neville, who was very well portrayed by Smith. He was alone but not overly distressed or crazed, he exercised, rented videos, cooked, watched Shrek and tried to stay as close to being sane as possible. The scary parts made me jump and yell at the TV the same way guys do when they watch sports but overall it was a fun and wild experience and it really made me want to read the book to see what the original idea for this story was. I wish there was less CG effects these days but so many movies are full of them that one can't not see them for just this one reason. Other than that this was a real blast and I will want to see it again soon.
  
  
  - Kasia S.
  
  
  
• Great first half. That's all
  By A3AP65X8PLJZ89 on 2007-12-23
  This is the third remake of Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend" The first half of the movie is visually stunning, and Will Smith does a magnificent job of portraying a man alone surrounded by evil, slowly coming unglued. The second half degenerates into smaltz.
  The whole point of Matheson's story is that the title is a play on words. In our time, adults have frightened their children, and themselves, with stories of goulies, ghosties, and things that go bump in the night. Probably the most terrifying of these is the vampire, an almost perfect amalgam of sex, blood-lust, and death. In Matheson's reversal, there is only one human left in a world of vampires, and the human spends the daylight hours hunting and killing the sleeping vampires. He himself has become the thing of legend; the monster that rules the day instead of the night and the terrifying creature the vampires use to frighten THEIR children.
  I still think the best rendition was the first one, a black and white film called "The Last Man on Earth", with Vincent Price. You can actually get it and 49 other movies in the 50 Horror classics movie pack on amazon for about $16. I won't even mention the Omega Man with Charlton Heston, except to say "BLeech!!"
  
  
• I Am Legend - Great Visual Effects, Great Acting, A New Take
  By A17BUUBOU0598B on 2007-12-30
  Will Smith survives a mutant virus that has him running for his life from most of the other "survivors." So begins "I Am Legend."
  
  The "I Am Legend" film is different from all previous versions of this story. Many of the new plot and story elements will appeal more to today's audience. Some of the esoteric and philosophical messages of the original story are lost, but this film stands on it's own.
  
  First of all, the burning questions: Is this film worth seeing in the theatre, or should I wait for the DVD to release?
  
  Answer: GO SEE THIS IN THE THEATRE!!! Also, films like this will make their HD DVD counterparts more attractive as well. But I digress.
  
  The visual elements of this movie are worth the price of admission alone. Everything is done well together - special effects, lighting, sound, aspect. The in-movie songs used could have been more diverse, but the score more than makes up for it. Bottom line, I would pay to see this in the theatre again, and I can't wait to see what it looks like in HD with 7.1 surround sound at home.
  
  Now, how about the acting? Will Smith is really great in this movie. Women will no doubt drool at the work-out scene that was put in every trailer. He gives a very real portrayal that's more than just eye candy.
  
  Now, some of the story elements go backwards in the second half of the movie. But I think that was done intentionally, agree or disagree. They really wanted to show him fighting to keep it together, and breaking down at times, and the plot suffers as a result.
  
  As for the plot, there's no need to re-hash that or give spoiler details. We all know the basics from the trailer. See the movie and be surprised.
  
  One thing I am very interested in the future DVD is potential alternate endings. Since this story deviated from the original, I wonder if there was any waffling on that. We'll all have to wait and see.
  
  Overall, this is a very good movie for SCI-FI fans and special effects lovers. The story stands on it's own and is a very good production despite some minor technical blips.
  
  Enjoy!!!
  
  
• What is wrong with you people?
  By ACSMIC0VD979T on 2008-03-21
  One of the worst movies (Big Budget) I have seen! Can we say BORING?? This movie is so slow with mummy like monsters and bad C.G.. Why this movie made money I don't know but I will tell you one thing... I will never see another Will Smith movie. EVER..
  
  
• Almost A Sci-Fi Classic : Just Off the Mark
  By A2ULSA0IRUE09E on 2008-02-20
  There are a few sublime moments in "I Am Legend" that make you realize just how amazing a science fiction film can be. The genre has long been my favorite, and even though this isn't a sci-fi film in the strictest sense of the term, it has shades of the genre all through it.
  
  Prime moments include Will Smith entering a dark building in search of his dog, and then battling with monsters he never knew existed (literally). There is one particularly effective scene, where Will Smith knows that his dog has been 'infected', watches his dog turn into a monster before his eyes, and then kills it with his bare hands. The entire sequence plays out like a subdued exercise in human tolerance and reaction - and it was carried out superbly by Will Smith.
  
  In fact, it is Smiths' amazing screen presence and top-notch acting ability that makes this film as good as it is. However, he is let down by a very weak script, a nonsensical ending, and is paired opposite a tepid actress in the second half who reduces the film to a parody of itself. My primary problem with the second half is that it entirely undid all the solemn promise the first half did. The climax is a huge group of monsters (very poor CGI here) trying to attack Smith, who in turn destroys himself and the facility so that the monsters perish as well. This 'Save the World' sentiment has been overdone in way too many Hollywood films, and it just didnt work here.
  
  The best parts of 'I Am Legend' are when it slows down to a quiet, sombre pace. The first hour, with its languid passages of just Will Smith walking and bonding with his dog are the most poignant, and the most real. This is a one-man movie, and its a pity that when it moves away from that, it doesn't work. By no means a classic, or even a 'very good film', but this is one movie well worth watching - it could have been much, much worse.
  
  Three Stars.
  
  
• Why wont they make a 0 star button?
  By AV30RYVPJJJ34 on 2008-03-20
  Plot line good, acting good, effects sucked very badly. Everything was looking good until I saw the hairless rats that were so overly the top cgi generated it looked like a pixar movie. Then it got worse from there, the villans were all cgi and you could tell they were all computer generated because nothing looked even remotely realistic about them. I have concluded that WB studios are lazy and do not care a thing about how the audience feels. When it boils down to WB movies I've noticed where they are relying too much on CGI and none of it looks real. I made the mistake of buying this movie, and am stuck with it and the loss of $20.00. So in conclusion, if there is another movie that is horror that is produced by WB I will break down and get a blockbuster card and rent it before I blow my cash on a piece of junk like this again.
  
  
• Last Man Standing
  By A18G7GG53G2X8A on 2007-12-14
  We've seen a lot of films that take place in a post apocalyptic future, and of those films, many open by telling us that government, civilization, and humanity in general collapsed because of a viral outbreak. This plot device is used once again in "I Am Legend," a science fiction thriller that would be far less impressive if an epidemic was all that the plot had to go on. In all honesty, the plot isn't all that interesting or original; this is the fourth film adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel, the first three being 1964's "The Last Man on Earth," 1971's "The Omega Man," and 2007's direct to video "I Am Omega." For this newest adaptation, the casting of Will Smith is what made it work, especially since he had to act by himself for most of the film. He plays an intelligent, driven, and desperate character, a man whose isolating circumstances have driven him to emotional extremes. Some extremes almost come off as funny, in a pathetic sort of way.
  
  Yes, I can praise Smith a great deal for this role. The story, on the other hand, is generally entertaining but not entirely successful, especially as it nears the end; at that point, it relies too much on the clichés of hope, loss, and redemption in the midst of frightening special effects. This isn't to say that the film doesn't work altogether--the first three-quarters of "I Am Legend" are surprisingly strong, not only because of Smith's performance, but also because of the way it builds tension. The story functions under the premise of a cure for cancer that was introduced in 2009, only to mutate into an infection. By the year 2012, ninety percent of the planet's population is dead. Of the remaining ten percent, less than one percent is immune to the virus--everyone else has been transformed into a vampire-like flesh eater. Nothing is ever mentioned about garlic or wooden stakes, but it is known that exposure to sunlight is fatal for these things.
  
  This is the horrible future in which we find Robert Neville (Smith), a sole-surviving military scientist who struggles to exist in an empty, decimated New York City. When he's not gathering basic supplies, hunting loose herds of deer with his beloved dog, Sam, or protecting himself from hordes of mutant vampires, he's trying to discover a cure in a makeshift lab in his basement. Because he's immune, his blood serves as a possible way to produce a cure. The ironic implications of that are too clever to overlook: Blood may in fact be the key to ridding the infected of their thirst for blood. But irony is not what this film is about; at its heart, "I Am Legend" is about loneliness, guilt, and paranoia, all of which come into perspective during flashback sequences involving Neville and his family. Piece by piece, the fates of his wife, Zoe (Salli Richardson), and daughter, Marley (Willow Smith), are revealed, as are the facts of how Manhattan Island was quarantined.
  
  Neville's memories are second only to his emotional well-being, which is barely hanging on by a thread. He tries to maintain his sanity by (1) keeping a video diary of his scientific research, and (2) sending out a radio message to anyone who might be alive and in need of shelter. But his sanity may be slipping. Early on, he enters a video store that not only has a fine selection of DVDs, but also a number of strategically placed mannequins. He speaks to them as if they were real people. He also avoids some out of nervousness; he just can't bring himself to strike up a conversation with the pretty female mannequin in back of the store. Here's a scene that appears light-hearted and funny but is actually quite serious. Simply put, loneliness can make a person do some strange things. And consider the moment he returns to the video store--he finally does approach the female mannequin to say, "I promised my friend I'd say hello to you. Hello." Now with tears in his eyes, he says, "Please say hello to me. Please. Say hello to me."
  
  This is the kind of depth that can mean the difference between a compelling film and an unimaginative rehash. Most of "I Am Legend" is a well-structured character study, highlighted by palpable levels of suspense, drama, and fright. It isn't until the final twenty minutes that the film loses some steam, turning a fascinating story into a run of the mill creature feature. It begins with the introduction of two immune humans: a young woman named Anna (Alice Braga) and a boy named Ethan (Charlie Tahan). Anna believes that a survivor's colony exists, not because she's actually seen it, but because God told her so. This, of course, brings out the worst in Neville, who has not only lost his faith, but also his willingness to leave New York--"This is Ground Zero," he says. "I can fix this." Despite his daily radio message, his years of isolation have left him unable to interact with other people, least of all with Anna.
  
  And that's when the vampire mutants attack, infiltrating Neville's fortress/house in a final showdown. I obviously can't say how everything ends, but I can say that it isn't all that surprising given the kind of movie this wants to be. I won't go so far as to say that the ending doesn't work, but I do think it could have worked better, especially since the rest of the film was so much more effective. For the most part, "I Am Legend" is an above average thriller, with a tense opening that quietly plays itself out. I'm recommending this movie despite some structural and narrative flaws; on the whole, it's still an engaging, taut, emotionally charged thriller, one of the better ones of recent memory.
  
  
• Hollywood racial beat-down
  By A12LBLKK6YXFSQ on 2008-01-20
  People: black man, hispanic woman, teaming up to eliminate the world of pale-skinned monsters. If you don't see the socio-political implications of this flick, then I wish I lived in your world. It's propoganda, aimed at you.
  
  Anyway, now to judge it as entertainment:
  
  SPOILER WARNING.
  
  From the tense, original premise, things either unravelled completely, or failed to meet potential. The zombie things weren't especially scary - they looked pretty ridiculous. The way the disease was structured was a little too convenient for the sake of the movie, and Will Smith artlessly providing the exposition for the viewer (when telling the disease's back-story to the woman who had to have already known) is perhaps a symptom of the writer's strike.
  
  Where's Will Smith's character get his electricity, by the way, now that no one's around to man the power stations? Who cleared all the cars off all the roads - the zombies? It was weird how the dogs were so well trained, don't you think, for mindless creatures, who are trained by mindless creatures. Plus, if the disease kills off the major percentage of victims, and only converts a small proportion into monsters, how come Will Smith's dog just happens to be in that small percentage? Convenient for the filmakers again.
  
  Then the woman and the kid showed up and things went further down hill. You have the protagonist begging a store mannequin to talk to him, he's so lonely. You'd think he'd be a tad more excited when people appear.
  
  Good acting by Will Smith, pity he was making a racist and pretty badly written film.
  
  
  
• Awful!!
  By A3IO6VM9U9K3RJ on 2008-03-20
  I had great expectations from this movie especially after the success at the box office. After watching it I was totally disappointed. The movie has no action and the story is lame at best, Smith performance is so-so.
  
  
• sucks
  By A3KTWUXXB8KKC7 on 2007-12-15
  ** SPOILER AHEAD **
  
  the guy is a brilliant scientist. the guy is strong. the guy is brave. the guy sacrifices himself. he is the best man on earth. no one else is as good as him. and yes, just before he died, he found the vaccine to cure the disease. what a coincidence.
  
  and why did the lady have to dress sexy and wear makeup when mankind is near extinction and she was running for her life?
  
  and why were there no corpses on the street?
  
  the man is depicted as sacrificing and "self-less", yet the movie's title is an egoistic "I AM LEGEND".
  
  this is just a fake, made-up movie trying to make a man look like a god and a saint.
  
  
• Adaptation my butt
  By A2P6VRR9AP14V5 on 2007-12-25
  I know there were those that enjoyed this movie as an adaptation. How, I dont know, but good for them. I, for one, thought otherwise. It would have been a decent enough movie, in its own right, had they called it something else. But they didnt.
  
  The only thing this movie has in common with Matheson's (amazing) novel is the name of the protagonist. Thats it. Every single other identifying mark was changed, moved, or taken out altogether. Matheson must be rolling in his grave at this point.
  
  If you want to see an adaptation, watch Last Man On Earth, with Vincent Price. At least in that one, they got most of it right.
  
  
• A 2-Part film: Part one,not bad...Part Two really bad
  By A3RWR50VUII07D on 2008-01-13
  I don't like it when a film has a very slow and somewhat purposeful beginning where suspense is built brick by brick,only to rush to the most unsatisfying ending that totally ruins the film as a whole.That's why this newest installation of "The Omega Man" and "The Last Man on Earth"-type film "I Am Legend" is as bombed out as #11 Washington Place,New York,New York in 2012 inhabited by the city's mayor/chief of police/head of sanitation Robert Neville as played by Will Smith.I will not give away anything about this film except to say that when Anna arrives from Maryland via Sao Paolo with Ethan, the film cracks apart into another film that plummets the depths of WHAT?-land! I can go along with these kinds of films for the fun ride, but this one really bites the grassy knolls of futuristic Times Square. The editing for this film is atrocious, and the cuts between the computer generated graphics and the real life actors is some of the worst I have ever seen.The film seemed to descend into some kind of religious,Messianic,God,try to be deeper than it really is mode.I am glad this film was under 100 minutes.I could not have taken any more of it.Great acting by Will Smith? If you call hanging upside-down from a noose, injecting humans with serum , quoting medical jargon and singing Bob Marley great acting, than you will love it.Why only one star? The film was a complete mess of bad script,cheap graphics,and lack of any explanation.If you are doing Science Fiction it needs to be better than this.Glad to see Vermont survived.I love Burlington,Bennington,Stowe,Birkenstocks and liberal thought!!!
  
  
• The dog was the only thing worth watching
  By A1LVG2S8IPEOBN on 2008-03-07
  I thought it was a great movie until the infected started acting like superhumans. I find it hard to believe that a virus can enable a human to scale the side of a building unaided and to crawl across the ceiling of a room like some supernatural creature. Give me a George Romero zombie flick any day. They are at least believable. The dog in the flick was the best part of it.
  
  
• eh
  By A2HCVRSNTCTUNU on 2008-03-11
  why cant someone just do justice to richard matheson's short story...the ending to this movie sucked and distorted the entire point/moral to matheson's story...and where the eff was neville? one neville scene and the story ending and everything would have been ok, sorry hollywood, you lack vision
  
  
• Takes BOREDOM to a whole new level.
  By A1CQJYMTE8C6WJ on 2008-03-28
  The primary question is why? Why make a third adaptation of a truly horrifically boring movie? (Face it, when Vincent Price's $17 production is more compelling than Will Smith's 63 GAZILLION dollar special effects extravaganza, something stinks.)
  
  Great, so you're the last human in New York City. There's 10 million zombipires, you, your dog and some bacon you were saving for later. Wonder how this will turn out?
  
  Don't bother.
  
  And "one of the best movies of the year?" Step away from the bottle please! This is a legendarily BAD MOVIE. Nothing to see here. Move along.
  
  
  
  
• How can I rob from thy pocket ... let me count the ways ...
  By A10C5CJK1YKGV0 on 2008-04-20
  
  Dr. Robert Neville seems to have more incarnations than Sherlock Holmes at this point. From humble beginnings, birthing slowly in the unlit corner of the one bedroom apartment and rising from the cheap laminate desk of Richard Matheson -- this character seemed destined for greatness. The original story reads painfully, is half cheese, half camp ... but strains the eyes continuously, and has a feel to it that is quite moving and worthy of film, graphic novel or some other type of legacy yet unknown.
  
  It would seem unlikely that this movie could be compared in anyway to the original short story / novella that shares the same title. In fact, the title might just be the only similarity. My Chinese wife, when she heard about them remaking this - yet again, said: "Robert Neville is very repetitively described as a blonde haired, blue eyed white man in the book. Will Smith? I gotta see that." Needless to say, the horror and action fan that she is, she was heavily disappointed in this as it seemed to be its own entity, instead of sharing even the most remote similarity with the book or even the previous films in any way conceivable.
  
  I guess it would be foolish to state that this is the only film to have deviated so far, but we all know that isn't the truth by a long shot. The Omega Man, The Running Man, Total Recall, Minority Report and even Blade Runner all differ from their original source material - some heavily while others subtly. Who's to say whether this practice is right or wrong? Some of these films are blockbusters while others are heavily dated and total flops. Apparently, Matheson, not only approved of this version, but stated that he thought it was the best so far. Maybe he was referencing the size of the licensing contract and repetitive royalty amounts, surely he couldn't be favouring this over the Charleton Heston version.
  
  But what is it about Hollywood that seems to believe that good books just don't translate onto the screen? All the films I previously mentioned are decent books that would've made good direct adaptations, and I can say this confidently because the adjusted adaptations were nothing memorable or impacting, all with the exception of Blade Runner. Giving credit where credit is due, Forrest Gump made an interesting adaptation from a sub-par book to an excellent film. But this type of foolish recklessness is unfortunately more prevalent in the Science-Fiction genre when it comes to adaptations.
  
  When I saw this movie at Target, it was on sale for $15.99, but beside it was another version for $24.99 that had the `controversial ending'. So, now, we must either pay an extra ten bucks to see the version where the Vampire Zombies have any level of noticeable intellect and show a glimmer of cunning, or we end up getting both versions for $35, because we just HAVE to see the other version. They used to market these `other versions' for two or three dollars more, which I used to have no problem with, but this is just unforgivable. Double-dipping is understandable in some cases, like with `Donnie Darko'. Numerous years passed until the Director had a chance to make his desired corrections, and when they were made, another DVD was released. What `I Am Legend' is trying to do is just foolish. The alternate ending is not worth the ten dollars, so save your money. And, sigh ... don't worry what I just told you is nothing close to a spoiler. So if you haven't seen any of the films or ever read the book, you're none the wiser, but hopefully a little more informed.
  
  I also found the use of the soundtrack was superficial and annoying. A lot of opportunities were wasted on this film, the soundtrack is probably one of the biggest ones, as it could've equated into more revenue for the producers and distributors of this let down. `28 Days Later', a film that really raised the bar on these type of `chaos reality' films, has a groundbreaking soundtrack with even a few tracks (18 and 20) that are deeply reminiscent of the score that was used in `The Omega Man' and were quite moving. The majority of James Newton Howard's score wasn't even used in the film. The film was overwrought with so much Foley nonsense (action, explosion, sound effects) that the actual composition for this movie had been dialed into the off position or forgotten about entirely. Shame on the mix done in post by the sound board hacks guzzling diet Pepsi. James Newton Howard may have attempted to repeat his success here from the `Batman Begins' soundtrack, but apart from a few memorable moments, the majority of the musical score here is just way too slow, boring and very forgettable.
  
  Since I've noted `28 Days Later', let me just say that that `film' probably had a lot of creative impact on this `movie' from its inception or first utterance of "let's remake `The Omega Man'". `28 Days Later' and `28 Weeks' later recouped more money than either of their primary budgets, thus sending signals to Hollywood, that these types of films would essentially be good vehicles for their leading stars. The problem here is that even though you put bankable stars into a bankable idea it doesn't necessarily equate to a success. Also '28 Days Later' is probably the high water mark of all horror zombie films. Danny Boyle set the bar so high that other imitators will likely fail to even come within groveling distance.
  
  This movie's major flaws were the deviation in the writing and not adhering to enough of the other films or the original novella. Reciting lines from `Shrek' when confronted with other survivors was also another poor use of story, viewer time and appreciation of the material or the genre. The use of the mannequins was a nice touch to the creepy, artsy feel that was readily prevalent in `The Omega Man' but it just wasn't enough to admit that it's a worthy adaptation. These writers need to be sent to the unemployment office -- asap.
  
  
  
  
  
• Ridiculious !
  By A2AFBVM5O9R09V on 2007-12-27
  For this to be a hollywood movie it surprises me in the amount of money was actually spent on graphics (CGI)? I mean, that is probably why because it was a hollywood movie PG-13. The creatures looked fake as h*ll, I mean they looked like something from a video game and not a good one. Clive Barkers "Jericho" video game had more horrifying well designed creatures than this. No human being would morph into something that looked like that a jughead cartoon character. The movement was just unreal the story was poorly developed for PG-13 ratings. I mean why couldn't they take the time to at least do make up on humans like Resident Evil Extinction. Which was pretty much the same premise just done a whole lot better. But did it make 79,000,000 and why? Because Will Smith wasn't in it and it didn't have a PG-13 rating for children. This is a shame what our country will except as good work just because someone has a good track record or famous. Or if it is commercially marketable to the public over 13 it will make it . This is really a waste of a great opportunity and story. There was really no backstory due to fact they would have had to have more violence. The dogs were CGI also which I really found was horrible. When Resident Evil had actually live dogs that were infected and they looked scary and nasty. This is a waste of space please pass if you know anything about cinema. They never showed the creatures on the commercials now I know why !
  
  

• No Country for Old Men [Blu-ray]
• National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets [Blu-ray]
• Cloverfield [Blu-ray]
• Beowulf (Unrated Director's Cut)
• Hitman (Unrated Edition)