Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #144 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-04-21
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: PAL, Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Will Smith stars in the third adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic science-fiction novel about a lone human survivor in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by vampires. This new version somewhat alters Matheson's central hook, i.e., the startling idea that an ordinary man, Robert Neville, spends his days roaming a desolated city and his nights in a house sealed off from longtime neighbours who have become bloodsucking fiends. In the new film, Smith's Neville is a military scientist charged with finding a cure for a virus that turns people into crazed, hairless, flesh-eating zombies. Failing to complete his work in time, and after enduring a personal tragedy, Neville finds himself alone in Manhattan, his natural immunity to the virus keeping him alive. With an expressive German shepherd, his only companion, Neville is a hunter-gatherer in sunlight, hiding from the mutants at night in his Washington Square town house and methodically conducting experiments in his ceaseless quest to conquer the disease.

The film's first half almost suggests that I Am Legend could be one of the finest movies of 2007. Director Francis Lawrence's extraordinary, computer-generated images of a decaying New York City reveal weeds growing through the cracks of familiar streets that are also overrun by deer and prowled by lions. It's impossible not to be fascinated by such a realistically altered cityscape, reverting to a natural environment, through which Smith moves with a weirdly enviable freedom, offset by his wariness over whatever is lurking in the dark of bank vaults and parking garages. Lawrence and screenwriters Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman wisely build suspense by withholding images of the monsters until a peak scene of horror well into the story. It must be said, however, that the computer-enhanced creatures don't look half as interesting as they might have had the filmmakers adhered more to Matheson's vampire-nightmare vision. I Am Legend is ultimately noteworthy for Smith's remarkable performance as a man so lonely he talks to mannequins in the shops he frequents. The film's latter half goes too far in portraying Smith's Neville as a pitiable man with a messianic mission, but this lapse into pathos does nothing to take away from the visual and dramatic accomplishments of its first hour. --Tom Keogh

DVD Description
Robert Neville (Will Smith, Men in Black) is a brilliant scientist. But when a man-made virus can't be contained, Neville finds himself the last human survivor in New York City and potentially the world. For three years he faithfully sends out daily radio messages, desperate to find other survivors. But he is not alone... Mutant victims of the plague (The Infected) lurk in the shadows, waiting to catch Neville out. As perhaps Earth's last hope for mankind, Neville is driven only by the desire to somehow reverse the effects of the virus before it's too late...

Stills from I Am Legend

Synopsis
In I AM LEGEND, Will Smith joins the ranks of Vincent Price (in 1964's THE LAST MAN ON EARTH) and Charlton Heston (in 1971's OMEGA MAN) as the star of an adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name. Often surprising in its focus on loneliness and loss, this thoughtful, eerie, and restrained sci-fi horror film provides a parade of startling visuals, but never allows special effects to overcome the human element. Smith, in a strong performance very different from his usual persona, is Robert Neville, the lone survivor in a New York City where streets are overgrown and deer gambol among deserted vehicles. Following an epidemic, the Earth's population has been turned into an army of nocturnal zombies. Immune to the virus, military scientist Neville searches for a cure in his Washington Square townhouse. Haunted by visions of his family leaving quarantined Manhattan two years prior, he drives through the city with his German Shepherd, Sam, by day and barricades his home from the monsters nightly. But when Anna (Alice Braga)--another immune stranger-finds him, they will have to fight the onslaught twice as hard.

Akiva Goldsman and Mark Protosevich's emotionally-charged script showcases the charisma of Smith, who commands the screen alone for most of the picture (aside Abbey, the talented pooch). Director Francis Lawrence (CONSTANTINE) uses music minimally, wisely allowing the eerie cityscapes to remain mostly silent. The set pieces, including an overgrown, deserted Times Square and a lion hunting a deer in the Flatrion District, are goose bump-inducing moments of stark beauty. A chilling and effective adaptation of a horror classic, I AM LEGEND is also a thought-provoking piece of Hollywood filmmaking.

Customer Reviews

Will pulls it off single-handed!
There are very few actors who can carry the weight of a whole film, but Big Willy does it! Superbly acted. The plot is all a bit obvious and you know what is coming all the way through. Also, the (animal) special effects did not gel very well. That notwithstanding, a jolly good film and I was torn between 3 and 4 stars. Well worth a watch. P.S...be prepared for the dog copping it (as always, brave dog gives her life for dozy human)

A blu-ray best!
I was quite reluctant about watching this film seeing as most reviews complained about how awful it was. But I thought I'd give it a try and "I am Legend" turned out to be a surprisingly good movie with a brilliantly controlled performance from Will Smith.

The film starts with a whole host of production companies as Emma Thompson does a prologue in the form of a TV interview. From then on (until half-way through) the movie is simply Smith and his dog wondering the streets of New York trying to survive - with the occasional flashback, of course. In the latter, less good, section all hell brakes loose as the 'infected' go hunting.

The normal ending lacks fluidity but the alternative version is far better, displaying much more emotion and simplicity.

So, my advice would be to buy this blu-ray - which is truly marvellous with shining NY shots - purely for the alternative ending and don't bother with the other version. You'll be much more satisfied that way.

I Am Legend(arily poor).
I thought this film was terrible. I haven't read the book (and they're always better) but I'm sure this is a very weak interpretation of it. I even felt robbed of the time it took to watch the film and both endings.

Another reviewer mentioned that the CGI was poor and I agree. Many sub-standard films are saved by their effects but this one is, in fact made even worse. I feel someone at the studio should be shot for allowing the film to be released like it was. In terms of animation "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" was more convincing! It probably is in terms of story and entertainment as well.

One to rent if you have no paintwork to oversee the drying of.