Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #972 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-04-21
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: PAL, Special Edition
• Original language: English, Greek
• 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

Blu-ray Quality
I thought I'd write this review for the HD fans out there. As I noticed some people have given the picture quality a 5/5. However I'm sure that there are other HD purists out there like me. I hate digital compression with a passion, to the extent it dictates what channels I watch on digital TV. I really have the eye for it. Unfortunately I was detecting digital compression on this Blu-ray disc. Mainly on Will Smith's face, it really started to annoy me. Parts of his face would stay still when he moved. This is a common problem of variable bit rate. Its actual bit rate does average lower than my other Blu-ray films. It may have been necessary to compress it a bit more because there are 2 films on the disc. I wouldn't let my review put you off of buying the Blu-ray version, it is amazing on scenes of New York. I just wanted to let the HD purists know that it will not be the absolute best quality Blu-ray can achieve.
"Earth" by the BBC is my current Blu-ray demo disc if I want to show the system off.

Movie: 3~4.25/5 Picture Quality: 4~4.75/5 Sound Quality: 4~4.75/5 Extras: 3/5
Version: U.S.A
Disc size: 40,341,045,500 bytes
Codec : VC-1
Audio : English Dolby True HD 16-bit / Dolby Digital 640 Kbps

Theatrical Version
Running time : 1:40:31
Movie Size : 16,347,887,616 bytes
Average Video Bit Rate : 16.14 Mbps

Alternate Version
Running time : 1:43:53
Codec : VC-1
Movie Size : 17,440,892,928
Video Bit Rate : 16.30 Mbps

No Seamless branching !!!

I Am Legend, Blu-Ray
This film is 'I Am Legend' in name only, it bears very little relation to the book of the same name. This aside, it is a fairly good movie with post apocalyptic themes and a storyline that will keep you interested for the 96 minutes duration. Will Smith plays the role of the relationship starved army medical researcher well. You really feel for him when he talks to mannequins and at his relationship with his dog. The action is pretty good, although the computer graphics left a lot to be desired, both the various animals and the 'dark seekers' seemed very dated compared to other computer graphics films. This is an OK film, that should keep you watching until the end. As long as you don't expect a faithful rendering of the book you should be fine. Watch it with an open mind and you'll get what it sets out to be, an action film that shows another side of Will's acting and how one copes on his own in a world where everyone else is dead! A solid three star film.