Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #985 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

"NiGhT oF tHe LiVinG DeAd" on steroids -- with lots of explosions and stuff...
I don't over analyze movies, so I will keep this real short.

I never read the book, but instantly picked up on the influence from the "Night/Day/Dawn of the Dead" movies. In fact, that was basically what I expected to see: a remake of a "dead" movie with a bunch of flashy CGI effects and Will Smith one-liner quips.

Surprisingly, not only were the flashy CGI effects included, but the movie actually did have quite a bit of substance to it. The Fresh Prince also only had a few one-liners, less it would have spoiled the overall dark tone of the movie.

Overall, it was enjoyable. Just sit back, relax, and watch it. Usually, I find Will Smith's movies enjoyable in a mindless sort of way, but he actually did strike a few chords of emotions in this movie.

Downside: Half way through, I could tell that there would be a video game based on the movie. It is just begging for a video game tie-in since it could entail car racing through NYC, deer hunting (while driving), shooting zombies in dark places, Half-Life type science labs, etc. The downside is because video games based on movies always suck and degrade the essence of movies.

Not up to Will Smith's usual standard
You have to like Will Smith. How do you not like him? He's one of the best leading men in Hollywood today. So I took a chance with "I am Legend", a sci-fi apocalyptic thriller that is set in New York in the near future after a virus has either killed or turned into zombie monsters most of humanity. Will Smith and his dog are hanging out in Manhattan, trying to survive and find a cure for the virus.

It's a great premise, and it is fun to think of all the things you could do if you just had an empty city all to yourself. But I didn't care for it. It has too many horror elements to be really enjoyable. Unless you like that kind of thing, it is jarring to constantly be going from soft and quiet sequences to loud and crazy scenes. And Will Smith is at his best when he is interacting with other characters. Tom Hanks managed to pull off "Cast Away" talking to a volleyball, but it gets old having

Cheesy Ending - Real Cop-out
Pretty good adaptation of the novel by Richard Matheson, modernized and great idea to set it in NYC. And the creatures were great. But then the ending came, and I wanted to .....Hollywood bs. Stick to the novel for a change.