I am Legend

[KiriK]

geez.... been seeing a couple of movies like this where the build up is great... and you think it's going somewhere... and bam.... some short stupid ending.... i felt really gipped that this movie could have been GREAT with a decent exit story.... Ocean's 13 did the same thing for me where i felt the ending was kinda meh while there was a good buildup up throughout the movie....

If only Neville had waited 1 more day instead of going apeshit on the mannequin and getting caught.... he would have met Anna and then seen the cure working and woulda been a happy ending... haha...

[EXO]

There's been so many movies this year where the ending doesnt deliver to a great first 2 acts of the movie, the one that disappointed me the most was No Country For Old Men. Man... that was some of the best viewing in a long time until...

they killed off the main character and the secondary character you'd assume would take over doesn't do crap!

1. No country For Old Men

2. 3:10 To Yuma

3. I am Legend

[eugimon]

I think if you consider I Am Legend was originally going to be an ahnuld movie, it all makes sense.

I disagree about 3:10 to yuma... it only delivered 1.5 great acts, the last part of the 2nd act just dragged on and on.

[Vermillion21]

Just returned from seeing this, and like many of you, I too was disappointed by the rushed ending.

Hopefully there will be an extended cut of this on DVD.

[Metal_Massacre_79]

Our friends have a download of this movie and were so excited to show it to us. After watching it, all I could say was that I'm glad I didn't pay to see it. I didn't like how they kept going to flashbacks to give the history of what happened. I thought the mutation depicted by the CGI figures was stupid (your mouth and voice ain't gonna change THAT much in 1000 days). The whole "god sent me here" and "there is no god" argument was dumb. Will Smith is a good actor, but honestly I've seen him do much better than this.

I'm still glad I didn't pay to see it, and I won't be getting it on DVD either.

[baronv]

Finally saw this one, it was an o.k. movie but once the end credits rolled around I was like, "is that it?". I was expecting this movie to be closer to the book for the ending but ended on a totally different note. I'm planning on checking out the Last Man on Earth and Omega Man but after hearing about them, most of the movies don't follow too closely to the book plot points and the ending of the novel, I always liked the novel's spin on the "Legend" theme the infected calls the main character in the book compared to how it was stated in the Will Smith movie.

[do not disturb]

What? Damn it DNB. You're a really cheap bastard aren't you. You can't afford to buy one movie ticket?

ha! only saw this post today.

its not that i'm cheap, i'm just not going to pay $10 to see it when i can watch for less(sometimes for free) and in the comfort of my own home.

i like kicking back and drinking a couple of brewskis as opposed to trying to get there early just to get a good seat, only to end up sitting in an uncomfortable chair in the second row, 2 feet from the screen, sharing an arm rest with some fool i don't know, all the while not drinking a brewski. somehow that doesn't seem like the movie going experience i'm looking for.

anyway to keep things on topic,

i hope theres an alternate extended ending on the DVD that i won't be buying.

[KingNor]

Here's my tip for watching I am legend as the bleakest, lonelyest masterpeice of emotional moviemaking ever.

Just watch the movie like normal, stuff happens, samantha gets infected, smith sits with her till he has to kill her with his bare hands. Then he goes for a drive and stops, and the camera pulls out and out and out. at the end of that last scene, just turn the movie off.

Edited January 23, 2008 by KingNor

[GobotFool]

Here's my tip for watching I am legend as the bleakest, lonelyest masterpeice of emotional moviemaking ever.

Just watch the movie like normal, stuff happens, samantha gets infected, smith sits with her till he has to kill her with his bare hands. Then he goes for a drive and stops, and the camera pulls out and out and out. at the end of that last scene, just turn the movie off.

Wow... I think if the movie ended like that I'd have left the theater and tossed myself of a bridge, it would have been that depressing.

[Gunbuster]

i hope theres an alternate extended ending on the DVD that i won't be buying.

there is an alternate extended ending on the Bluray version, not sure if there is one for the DVD version

spoiler below (somewhat)

Basically, at teh very end the infected communtcated with Smith's character and he then realize that he has imprison that infected's love one. I won't spoil the rest for you

[JsARCLIGHT]

From what I've heard the Blu Ray will have both versions of the movie, theatrical and alternate, complete and fully branching. So you can watch either the theatrical or the alternate movie in their entirety fully finished and edited together.

[VT 1010]

The alternate ending has been leaked online already. I think gametrailers.com had it. I'm sure it's probably on youtube as well.

The seven minute ending still can't make up for a disappointing third act. I'm sure it will probably have a Special Dark-Seeker Extended Cut in a few years anyway.

EDIT: Yay, 100 posts!

Edited March 12, 2008 by VT 1010

[Roger]

there is an alternate extended ending on the Bluray version, not sure if there is one for the DVD version

spoiler below (somewhat)

Basically, at teh very end the infected communtcated with Smith's character and he then realize that he has imprison that infected's love one. I won't spoil the rest for you

I will.

The vampire leader takes his panting butterfly-tattooed girlfriend away and leaves Will Smith, the woman, and the girl in peace. The final shot shows them driving over what is apparently the George Washington Bridge, which for some reason was left standing.

The alternate ending was posted here. Good luck getting it to load:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/03/05/mus...his-is-amazing/

It sucks anyway. Read the book.

[eugimon]

yeah, saw the alt ending... it does suck, I think it sucks more than the theatrical ending.

[dizman]

Hooray for happy endings! Yeah that was pretty bad and on the overall scale of things it didn't make much sense. The alt and original sucked on pretty much the same level.

[Southpaw Samurai]

I had the most heated argument I ever had with a friend over the two endings... and neither of us really care a lot about the movie either, so it's plain silly. But he was quite irritated with the non-theatrical ending.

SPOILERS

I almost want to do a combination of the endings. I dislike the happy ending part of the new ending. Emphatically. I really enjoyed that Neville's efforts were paying off in terms of limiting, if not eliminating, the mutations in the victims and think it was appropriate for the whole 'legend' part that he should die in a self-sacrifice.

What I like about the newer ending is that it does a number of things that were important in my opinion. It brings closure to the mutant leader's side story of what seems to be a personal vendetta against Neville that leads him to do more creative and intelligent things that neither Neville nor the audience would give them credit (although the newer ending unfortunately makes it looks like the leader's the only intelligent one). I cements the arrogance Neville showed through the movie where he consistently discounts the mutated victims as pure animals.

What I REALLY liked, though, was the glance at all the victims he tried treating. Along with his realization that they may still have some level of hmuanity (perhaps a NEW humanity) to their lives, he also realized that to their eyes all those people were not patients he was trying to cure but kinapped individuals that he 'murdered'. I really dug that dual perspective on his actions... and it deepens the whole 'legend' aspect as he's not only a great survivor and potential savior for the immune humans, but also a boogeyman for the affected victims.

And, finally, I prefer the direct, intentional symbolism of the butterfly over the random 'sign from above' method in the theatrical version. As others have stated, the movie tends to go down hill after Neville tries to commit suicide and/or take as many of them out as possible down at Battery Park after Sam dies. Part of that was the two abrupt new characters and, in particular, the whole 'we're here because God sent us here' aspect.

You could do both together.... you could make it obvious the guy came for the female, have it show there's a hope for a cure, and still have Neville die. But I believe that's me trying to twist the two endings to help make the movie deeper and smarter than it intended to be....

[KiriK]

i like the new alternate ending a lot.... better references to the original story.... although the final part where they were driving off into the sunset all peacefully kinda sucked..... still could have used a better tie off than that..

[Dr. Z]

I don't like the alternate ending. Too... Hollywood-esque. In a very bad way. Mutants in love. Yeah, right.

[JsARCLIGHT]

In posting about this movie in another thread elsewhere it came to my attention that the original movie adaptation of "I Am Legend" called "Last Man on Earth" (which aired recently on MGM HD) has fallen into the public domain and is free to watch here: Internet Film Archive

I still prefer this film adaptation to Omega Man and this recent Will Smith vehicle. Last Man on Earth is the closest to Matheson's novel (hell, the man himself wrote most of the script for it) story wise with only a handful of minor deviations. It's not big, loud and over the top like Omega Man or I Am Legend but it definitely has the right "feel" and mood.

[Roger]

Last Man on Earth is much more faithful to the source material, unfortunately it's just not a well-made movie. It did, however, inspire George Romero to make Night of the Living Dead, two years later.

[JsARCLIGHT]

But most of that was budget constraints, location filming (Rome of all places), half the actors where Italian (and speaking in Italian, requiring a lot of the dialog in the movie to be overdubbed in English in post), the fact that Matheson abandoned the script halfway through and other people had to finish it, the dubious choice of Vincent Price as the main character etc. etc. I still to this day think that if it's script was polished just a tad and it was given the budget and star power it needed Last Man on Earth could be remade practically shot for shot and turn into a superior movie.

I'm just tired of Hollywood "knowing better" and dicking with the story lines of well established stories just to "popcorn it up".

[Roger]

But most of that was budget constraints, location filming (Rome of all places), half the actors where Italian (and speaking in Italian, requiring a lot of the dialog in the movie to be overdubbed in English in post), the fact that Matheson abandoned the script halfway through and other people had to finish it, the dubious choice of Vincent Price as the main character etc. etc.

Yeah, these are all factors that would contribute to my opinion that the movie is "not well-made."

[JsARCLIGHT]

When viewed against it's peers (other bargain basement sci fi movies made in the early '60s) it holds up though. The same complaints can be leveled against the original Night of the Living Dead (which also has fallen into the public domain) yet it is still a great movie.

Science fiction / horror was cheap B movie pulp back then, completely low budget and it was unheard of for a movie like it to receive any better treatment than what these films had. Which given today's newfound "respect" of sci fi films and the outlandish budgets and talent they throw at them you'd expect this particular subject to be hit out of the park... but it isn't.

For all it's flaws I still believe Last Man on Earth is the superior movie to the new I Am Legend. Legend has all the glitz and polish but none of the mood or message.

[Roger]

The same complaints can be leveled against the original Night of the Living Dead (which also has fallen into the public domain) yet it is still a great movie.

You can criticize NOTLD for having a relatively low level of quality, but it doesn't quite stick when you consider that it was made by a group of first-time filmmakers who were outside of the studio system for about $100,000. LMOE, on the other hand, was handled by veteran producers, and it does not hold up to films they previously created like Reptilicus and The Fly (not exactly cinematic gems, but superior in execution to LMOE).

I think NOTLD deserves credit for being an excellent freshman effort. LMOE deserves criticism because it was released that way by people who previously demonstrated that they could do better.

Also, NOTLD became public domain the first night it was shown in theaters. The distributor removed the original "Night of Anubis" title card along with the Image Ten copyright information, and replaced it with the new title.

Edited March 13, 2008 by Roger

[JsARCLIGHT]

You can criticize NOTLD for having a relatively low level of quality, but it doesn't quite stick when you consider that it was made by a group of first-time filmmakers who were outside of the studio system for about $100,000. LMOE, on the other hand, was handled by veteran producers, and it does not hold up to films they previously created like Reptilicus and The Fly (not exactly cinematic gems, but superior in execution to LMOE).

Yes but Last Man on Earth was also produced outside the Hollywood system (in Italy by a majority Italian cast and crew) and also on a shoestring budget. Which means the only area they differ is that Living Dead was done by (at the time) rank amateurs and Last Man was supposedly done by "professionals" (even though the Italian director and most of the cast were of roughly the same skill and experience level as George Romero and his crew). Just because Last Man was a Lippert production doesn't mean it was given the same level of treatment as his earlier "in system" movies. Last Man was actually turned down by another studio before Lippert picked it up, and he picked it up knowing full well he was going to farm it out to Italy. Had Lippert kept it inside the studio system it would have been a better movie... but it would have cost him much more to produce, which means it would have been too expensive for him to make.

Which is kind of the thrust of my argument on I Am Legend... this time around they had the budget and the star power and still managed to not do the subject matter justice. Last Man had the story but lacked everything else... I Am Legend had everything else but lacked on the story. Omega Man falls somewhere in the middle, having a better budget and some semblance of the original story but never enough of either to make it truly great.

[Retracting Head Ter Ter]

When I watched it at the cinema I was expecting the kidnapped female to be the leader's girlfriend all along. Thought that there was more than enough hints. So I was expecting Neville to realise it and stop the final attack by pointing the gun at the girl's head to threaten the leader.

Edited March 13, 2008 by Retracting Head Ter Ter

[Max Jenius]

I don't like the alternate ending. Too... Hollywood-esque. In a very bad way. Mutants in love. Yeah, right.

QFMFT. Lame, cliched ending sucked.

IMHO book ending > Theatrical > * > Alternate

The alternate may be *closer* on paper, but I think it changes too much altering the tone.

Edited March 13, 2008 by Max Jenius

[Roger]

The alternate ending was what they test marketed it with? Is that correct?

I wonder who pushed for the "I Am Jesus" theatrical ending, Smith or someone else?

[Keith]

When I watched it at the cinema I was expecting the kidnapped female to be the leader's girlfriend all along. Thought that there was more than enough hints. So I was expecting Neville to realise it and stop the final attack by pointing the gun at the girl's head to threaten the leader.

I'm sure you hear this often, but I just tried to kill your avatar on my screen...

[Vermillion21]

Just watched the alternate ending, and I read some of the comments. Now I "get" the book concept of 'I am Legend', but I still think both movie endings were only ok.

[Southpaw Samurai]

When I watched it at the cinema I was expecting the kidnapped female to be the leader's girlfriend all along. Thought that there was more than enough hints. So I was expecting Neville to realise it and stop the final attack by pointing the gun at the girl's head to threaten the leader.

I have to agree and this was a major point of contention in my argument with my friend because he felt the whole 'coming for the girl' part was trite, too mushy-mushy, and totally out of left field. My friend basically saw the movie through Neville's eyes, where the mutated victims were simply mindless eating machines. I had to point out where again and again the leader guy was demonstrating some intelligence and at least immitational creativity, social behavior, and a goal centered around the capture of the female, whether she be mate/sister/daughter/or even simply 'part of the clan' (although the leader's obviously out for revenge at first, believing that Neville is simply hunting and killing). It was really interesting to me how people can come away with two such distinct views.

I will not argue that it's way too sappy-happy, but my friend even blew the whole mutant-Neville diplomatic relations outcome out of proportion by suggesting they made all peace in the new ending. Like I told him, "It's not like the ending has the humans and mutants all sitting around a campfire singing and the mutant leader guy bringing two mutant puppies over so that both he and Will Smith can each have a new pet (although, now that I describe it, I would pay to see that ending)."

Edited March 14, 2008 by Southpaw Samurai

[taksraven]

You won't believe this.....

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39218

FFS.

Taksraven

[ruskiiVFaussie]

I dunno, i'd watch it.

[eugimon]

whatever, the first movie was meh, I don't give a rats ass if they make a sequel, a prequel, a reboot, whatever. if it looks fun, I'll give it a watch.

[dizman]

I don't beleive it! Actually scratch that... I do. Will Smith is everywhere these days and he'll even do a terrible prequel to keep his name in the tabloids. Please can this movie just die and can we forget the allmighty Will Smith?!