Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1617 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-03-18
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.com
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 neighbors 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 bathos does nothing to take away from the visual and dramatic accomplishments of its first hour. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

One of the best of 2007
Just about any movie with Will Smith is good, if not great. He is one of the best actors at this time and just seams to add a lot to the movie. The bonus features of the Blu-Ray are nice. I wish that I had not watched the alternate ending. It is just to weird. The theatrical ending makes him into more of a "legend".

"Light Up the Darkness"
I Am Legend DVD

I am Legend stars Will Smith as a scientist who has survived a deadly virus that was developed by genetic engineering to kill cancer; instead it has killed off most of mankind. Smith struggles to live in New York City with his German Shepherd dog surrounded by cannibalistic super strong zombies that only come out at night. This is a jarring apocalyptic movie that speaks well of Hollywood. I'm glad that someone in Hollywood is reading Science Fiction. There's a ton of science fiction books that could be made into good movies.

This movie is based on the novelette I Am Legend
Recommended for fans of Will Smith, and science fiction (Note: I have not read the book so I don't know how closely the story follows the book.)

Gunner October, 2008

Amazing Film
I absolutely loved this film. I must admit i did not expect much going into it. I have never been a huge Will Smith fan or a fan of science fiction which this film seemed to be. Wow, was I shocked and amazed with the excellent, quality film of the highest caliber that totally took me by surprise.

This film is so well made. I thought the story was very well laid out. The government thought that they had finally found a cure for cancer by using a vaccine for another illness. After much use the treatment backfired with major side effects with the people turning into flesh eating zombies who could never be in the sun. I didn't look at the creatures as mere vampire like beings but thought the deterioration due to the vaccine was well documented. Back to the plot, New York City becomes quaurantined and Will Smith plays Neville, a military scientist who stays in New York to work on finding a cure.

The barren and stranded New York City is amazing to view. I was caught up in the film from the first second and amazed as I watched the small world Neville had created for himself and his dog which allowed him to work on the cure but also have protection from the creatures. He ventured out every day and returned at night. Will Smith has been praised for other films but his work here was truly Oscar worthy. The first half of the film is the best when it is just him and the dog. His characterization is more than believable as the lone survivor who deals with loneliness by talking to mannequins etc. He has not gone crazy but has adapted. I found the story to also be believable and the creatures when shown were also believable and very well created. The movie has a serious basis but also has chills and thrills like one of the best horror films there are.

In the latter half of the film the plot changes a little (I won't give it away) and the 5 star plus caliber of the first half gets a little off track. It is still excellent but the first half was so superior it is hard to compete with. The film has a purpose and shows Will Smith as never seen before. Whatever your expectations for this film, upon viewing they will be far surpassed. Excellent acting, amazing production and directing.

Highly recommended.