I Am Legend: A Legendary Blu-ray

Starring: Will Smith (I, Robot, Ali) as Dr. Robert Neville, Alice Braga (City of God) as Anna, Dash Mihok (Dark Blue) as the darkseekers’ alpha male, Emma Thompson (Love Actually, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) as Dr. Alice Krippin, Abbey and Kona as Sam the Dog
Directed by: Francis Lawrence (Constantine)
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

The Story
I Am Legend [Blu-ray] is based on the classic Richard Matheson novel that has previously been made into two older movies: The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price and Omega Man with Charlton Heston.

This particular version stars Will Smith as Dr. Robert Neville, a military virologist who’s desperately trying to find a cure for a lethal man-made pathogen that has dessimated the human population worldwide. The virus was originally developed by Dr. Alice Krippin (Thompson) as a cure for cancer, but it managed to mix with dormant rabies cells to produce this deadly virus.

Neville has been living alone in New York for 3 years with only his trusted dog, Sam (Abbey and Kona - Oscar-worthy performances), as company. They come out only during daylight hours to hunt for food and catch any of the infected zombie-like creatures called the ‘darkseekers’, so that he can try out the vaccines derived from his own immune blood on them.

He leads a heavily structured routine - he wakes up, exercises, eats, goes to the harbor to wait for other possible survivors, drives the streets hunting deer and looking for hives of the infected, and comes home before it gets dark to barricade himself in. Three years of living alone has taken a heavy toll on him physically and even more so mentally, to the extent that he has taken to ‘conversing’ with mannequins he has placed in and around his local video shop. You really get a sense of his loneliness and isolation and that he’s merely existing and not living.

He makes elaborate traps to catch darkseekers to use as guinea pigs. He considers them as animals, until one day they make such a trap for him, making him realize that they’re not as animalistic and inhuman as he thinks. He escapes, but not before he is injured and Sam badly bitten by infected dogs. He takes his dog back to his laboratory, knowing that in just a few moments, she will also be transformed into a darkseeker hound. He cradles her in his arms and sings to her as her transformation begins and he’s forced to kills his only friend left in the world. At this point, I really felt for him and his deep sense of loss.

Throughout the movie, we were shown flashbacks of when the virus broke out and he was evacuating his wife and daughter. Initially, we assume that they escaped, but while unconscious in bed after a run in with the darkseekers, we see what truly happened to them. It dawns on everyone how alone he really is, how broken his soul is, and how finding a cure is all that he has left.

Then he meets Anna (Braga) and a young boy named Ethan, who are also immune and have come to New York in response to his frequent radio broadcasts for survivors. Unfortunately, the darkseekers managed to track them to his house where they launch a siege. Will they all survive?

On this Blu-ray disc, we have 2 different endings - the theatrical version that had quite a rough time with the critics (though I liked it) and an alternative ending which was apparently more in keeping with the original novel. There are also a couple of new scenes in the alternative cut. I’m not going to spoil it for you, but it does change our perception about those seemingly braindead darkseekers. I love this new ending and you understand the significance of the butterfly all throughout the movie better. A lot of people are more receptive to this new cut, but as I said, I liked both versions.

The theatrical cut runs for 100 minutes and I give it an 8/10. The alternative cut runs 4 minutes longer and I give it a rating of 9/10.

The Visuals
Warner has gone for the high bitrate VC-1 encoding as opposed to Sony/Fox’s AVC encoding. This may hopefully change on June 1st when Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive. Nonetheless, the picture looks beautiful. Close ups of Will Smith’s face reveal every single pore, stubble, and bead of sweat. Distant shots of the city are full of detail. Black levels are superb, as are shadow details. Skin colours were natural.

Also shown in great detail was Sam’s coat and the blood vessels on the infected. The sunset shots of the city were beautiful without looking fake. All in all, a superb visual treat that merits a 9/10.

The Sound
You have a choice of Dolby Digital at 640 Kbps or Dolby Tru-HD at a much higher bitrate. I chose the latter, and I’m glad I did. All panned perfectly, from the opening scene when Neville is seen chasing a herd of deer in his Mustant Shelby GT-500 Cobra to the earie screeches and screams coming from the darkseekers. Even the quiet moments with the birds singing from the normally bustling New York streets sound fantastic. Note that the theatrical version only has Dolby Digital 5.1 for French and Spanish. I give it 9/10.

The Extras
Creating I Am Legend is a collection of mini-featurettes covering all aspects of the movie which can be played individually or as a whole feature. It’s shown in VC-1 SD with stereo sound and a total runtime of just over 50 minutes.

Next, we have Cautionary Tale: The Science of I Am Legend. This featurette discusses all aspects of viral infections throughout history and the threats awaiting mankind in the future. It runs for just over 20 minutes in VC-1 HD with stereo sound.

Finally, we have 4 animated comics: Isolation, Sacrificing the Few for the Many, Shelter, and my personal favorite, Death as A Gift. Total time is 22 minutes and shown in VC-1 HD.

All in all, it’s a good selection of quality extras worth watching more than once. I give it 8/10.

Overall Impact

I really enjoyed this movie, both theatrically and as a Blu-ray movie. Plus, there’s the alternative version which I personally prefer, as do many. A great movie with fantastic sound and visuals backed up with quality extras - this is definitely a must buy. I give it 9/10.

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