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I Am Legend (2 Disc Special Edition Including Digital Copy) [2007]
![I Am Legend (2 Disc Special Edition Including Digital Copy) [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xRXyRxxmL._SL160_.jpg)
Special Features Still from I Am Legend
RRP: £23.99
Our Price: £12.99 (subject to change)
Editorial
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
Editorial
DVD Description
I Am Legend stars Will Smith (Men in Black)as Robert Neville, a brilliant scientist. 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...
A huge host of extra content including:
Will Smith 
Will Smith
Editorial
Amazon.com
Over 90mins of extra content including:
- An alternative ending
- A host of featurettes, including: A Cautionary Tale – The Science behind I Am Legend, and The Making of I Am Legend
This version also comes as a Digital Copy:
Digital Copy (DC) aims to bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds that viewers interact with. Until DC there has been no way to store your movies in a digital format. DC is the first step toward an easier and faster experience than downloading direct from the internet.
- Insert the disc into your computer
– Enter the authentication code
– Your portable file is downloaded from the disc to your computer
Editorial
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.
A truly outstanding movie. It's a pity this special edition dvd doesn't live up to the film.
Review date: 2008-08-05 Rating: 8 out of 10
So where do i begin?
First things first; the movie itself is something remarkable and shows one of will smith's greatest and probably best performance he's done. From my opinion, if it weren't for him the movie would of probably been a bit rubbish.
When i first saw the film; i must admit, i didn't think much of it but when i watched it again, i was completely blown away. The way they captured the loneliness and sadness of Robert Neville's life is just incredible. When buying the film, just don't expect much of a blockbuster because this is not. Look at the film as how it was supposed to be... ...a one man show.
Now your probably wondering why i only gave it four stars. This is simply because the DVD was a big huge let down for me and also for fans of the film. For starters; there is only one extra (special feature), only ONE. When the DVD arrived i was really excited but was let down entirely. The only extra on their is the science of I AM LEGEND which basically talks about cancer and other diseases; stuff like that anyway. I must admit it was still rather interesting. What i would of liked to see was behind the scenes and what it was like back stage. it would also be nice to see how they did all the abandoned streets and stuff.
Anyway if your looking at buying this dvd, make sure you think twice about it and remember that you won't get many extras and for £15 (thats including postage), its kind of like throwing you're money away.
Just remember this DVD is only for die hard fans and people who throughly enjoyed the film.
P.s.it does also include the four animated comics that are quite good but you get those in the single edition anyway. It also has the alternative ending which is on the second disc and put into the actual film. This i suppose was a pretty good idea and is better than just showing the alternative scene.
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Reviews
suspend your boring disbelief and just enjoy it for what it is!
Review date: 2008-06-27 Rating: 10 out of 10
I have not written a review for quite some time and after reading and hearing some of the negative criticism about this film i felt i had to give my opinion after watching it last week. In fact i almost didn't watch it based on some of the complaints i heard, such as: "The C.G.I. monsters are awful and really fake looking", "The ending sucks", erm yeah and that's about it, I don't think I've heard an other issues with it.
SO, first of all this is not a typical action film, the Initial scenes echo loneliness and desolation, and I felt these scenes were truly amazing to behold, evoking sadness and compassion, seeing the wild-life roaming free in a once never sleeping city and the plant life breaking it's way through the concrete is truly breathtaking and allows you to see through the everyday prison that we live in, consumerism, crime, the media, etc etc. And it makes you wonder why we need all these things- is that what makes us human? could we actually survive without it? or do we need to thrive off of it in order to feel content with our lives? anyway.....
As in "the pursuit of happiness" Will Smith gives off an excellent performance, played out with passion and conviction, not once do you think: "this is just an actor in a film" (although you know that) he is very believable and you feel you are there with him all the way.
Anyway onto the C.G.I, as a digital media student and an absolute film buff i have to say the C.G.I really isn't that bad, what matters is the performances, credibility and your capability to completely let go and immerse yourself in a good movie, if your one of those people that fath about with your phone and struggle to keep your eyes on the screen, (of any film) then your not going to be able to fully appreciate the movie for what it is, a visual glorification of a desolate dystopian future in which man-kind have evolved into vampire like creatures with a driving hunger for their human counterparts.
My thoughts on the C.G.I beings are so what if they don't look 100% real, they're not human anymore, so what does it matter? they still appear to be there in flesh and blood, they do not look 2-dimentional, Smith's interaction's with them both physical and emotional makes them believable enough, so it adds a touch of surrealism, big deal. you have to suspend your belief a little for the majority of films anyway, that's the whole point of it!
the only part where it was far too noticeable was when he had the female creature on the table and the camera showed her from a low angled perspective, her breasts looked "odd" and yes, she didn't look real, but the rest of the film works so it wasn't really an issue for me and i am normally very fussy on such things!
Now, with regard to the ending, yes i found it a little frustrating, as anyone would know that he didn't have to do what he did, there were other options available as everyone who's seen it and can put 2 and 2 together will know, but on the other end of the scale we had watched his whole persona change throughout the film as we learnt what he had been through previously and that all he had left was them taken away from him, and then saw him loosing hope and cracking, etc etc. so maybe that would cause him to do what he did?
Anyway the good news is that if you buy the 2 disc special edition you can watch the film with an alternative ending, and it's not just slightly different, (like with the alternative endings in cloverfield) it's major different! and changes the whole film! well sort of. Things that i had suspected with the "evil beings" all came into perspective and gave the film a different spin questioning who the evil ones truly are? have they really lost all their humanity? or are they just trying to survive?
I really preferred the Alternative ending and can't understand why they didn't use it as the theatrical ending? maybe they thought some would find it corny, which it may be just a little but much better than the original ending which just makes you feel annoyed!
Anyway, that's the end of my review, i strongly recommend potential viewers to watch the film for themselves and to watch the Alternative ending also if you can, it's definitely worth buying the special edition for! suspend your boring disbelief and just enjoy it for what it is!
Not an Americanised 28 days later, or a typical action flick, i would say it is more of an emotional affair that question's our humanity and capability to survive beyond consumerism, capitalism, and ultimately, evolution.
Will Smith make's it work for me.
Review date: 2008-06-25 Rating: 8 out of 10
When reading the original reviews in the film magazines I was given the impression that this was not a great movie on which to put my money on as the CGI was dissapointing.
So much so that this rendered the film "NOT VERY GOOD!".
Thankfully they were wrong and what you have here is a very moving film in parts played with full gusto by a very impressive Will Smith.
The way that he shows us through the camera how 3 years of isolation, 3 years of hiding and hunting and 3 years of trying to find the ever illusive cure for mankind's desease ... is as realistic as you could expect it to be if you were ever thrown into the same circumstances.
The crushing isolation is all the more apparant when you realise that it was he that set up the mannaquins in the shops to make it feel that there was still some remenance of life.
The CGI of the vampirish city folk is not the best but is far FAR from being the worst either. You soon forget about the short comings and really get into the characters (or should that be character & dog?) .
Impressive, is the New York landscape.
Grass growing up through the roads, cars rusted where they stopped.
Shops stacked with never again to move items and four legged CGI wildlife roaming where once people trod.
The city scenes are breathtaking so much so that you can sense the isolaton.
Well worth the price and definately worth watching twice .. just incase you were wrong the first time!.
P.S. I havent read the book yet but am about to buy it and will then compare.
Another overated overhyped Hollywood hash up.
Review date: 2008-06-22 Rating: 2 out of 10
The first part of this movie seemed very promising indeed, bleak apocalyptic etc..etc..
But as the movie came to its climax or should i say anti-climax, it just became lost, meaningless & pointless.
It basically looked as though Hollywood wanted to make more money, made a film with a high profile actor to bring in the crowds & shazam!!! Money maker!!!
Utter rubbish imho, which seems to be the norm these days, chuck in well known actors, CGI effects & poor story, rent before you buy.
I Am Legend, 2 disc edition.
Review date: 2008-06-21 Rating: 6 out of 10
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! The extras on the second disc are OK, but nowhere near as extensive as other films out there. A solid three star film.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Salli Richardson
Charlie Tahan
Dash Mihok
Will Smith
Willow Smith
Creators:
Will Smith (Primary Contributor)
Dash Mihok (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321902294483
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: Box set, DTS Surround Sound, PAL, Special Edition, Subtitled,
Release date: 2008-04-21
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 195 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2007
Language: English (Original Language)