Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Warner Home Video – 107 minutes – 2007 – Rated PG-13 and Unrated – 1080p Widescreen 2.35:1 – Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Audio Mix – Digital Copy

* Note: Portions of this review are from the original stand-alone Blu-ray release: http://www.fusedwire.com/index.php/2008/04/14/blu-ray-review-i-am-legend-2007/

I Am Legend was a big hit, both at the box office, as well as when it was released on Blu-ray earlier this year. Now Warner has decided to use the George Lucas textbook to milk the film even more with a three discs Blu-ray box set. I Am Legend was an entertaining film, but does it deserve the treatment that a Star Wars or Lord of the Rings film gets? Nope, not at all. So unless you think of this film as the second coming, and you worship the ground Will Smith stands on, there’s really no reason to buy this box set if you already have the original Blu-ray release.

THE MOVIE

The novel I Am Legend, which was written over fifty years ago by author Richard Matheson has had quite a life cycle. It was first adapted as a movie in 1964 with Vincent Price using the title The Last Man on Earth, and the again in the 70’s with Charleston Heston under the title The Omega Man. Well being that Hollywood loves remakes, Matheson’s novel has come to life again, originally planned as a big budget Arnold Schwarzenneger film, the script was re-tinkered for the current box office champ, Will Smith, and given back it’s original title, I Am Legend.

This film should have been called the ‘I Am Will Smith,’ because he literally carries the entire movie. With the exception of the end and various flashback scenes, Smith is the only actor in the movie playing Dr. Robert Neville, a scientist who specializes in deadly viruses, who becomes the only living survivor of a bacteria that has wiped out humanity, which he is immune to, and the only others remaining are mutant creatures who come out at night to hunt for flesh called the Dark Seekers.

Neville has the entire island of Manhattan all to himself, where he and his loyal dog, race through the decaying streets of the city during the day in a cool Mustang, and then locks himself inside his home at night clutching a high-powered rifle to protect himself from the dark seekers. He constantly sends out radio messages hoping that someone else who has survived will arrive, while at the same time struggling to find a cure for the virus. Finally someone does arrive, a young woman and a little boy, who are trying to make their way to a camp where it’s assumed that other survivors like them are holding out. But Neville has a bigger problem on his hand because the mutant woman he holds captive in his home to perform experiments on is the wife of the mutant leader, who is desperately trying to find her. When Neville’s location is found by the mutants, their leader launches an all out attack in hopes of getting her back, pitting him against Neville face-to-face.

Director Frances Lawrence has delivered a good popcorn movie that as long as you don’t take it very seriously is very entertaining. Will Smith does a good job with his role and you do feel his sense of loneliness. Not many actors can keep a movie going with a solo performance, but Smith does his best with the material. New York City has been the backdrop for many post-apocalyptic movies, but it just looked too neat at times. It would have been more effective if corpses and skeletal remains were everywhere and there was much more destroyed scenery. Most would actually not mind being in this vision of Manhattan and having the place to themselves. I’m a New Yorker and I can testify that on most nights in the lower village it already looks like mutants are roaming around, so it would have been interesting if the city had a different look.

The original Blu-ray release let you watch both the theatrical and alternate ending version on one disc, but this collector’s set gives each version of the film it’s own disc. By now we all know that in the theatrical version Neville dies and in the director’s alternate version Neville survives. I actually preferred the alternative ending because I felt that when Neville died at the end of the theatrical version it was an easy way out to conclude the story. This new ending has more of an impact because it’s saying something about humanity instead of just ending with cliché big explosion.

I Am Legend is not perfect, but it does successfully breathe life in a fifty year old story; and even though it plays it safe and avoids taking risk in terms of story, there are many good moments. It’ll probably be another two decades before there is another remake of I Am Legend, so until then this will have to suffice. Word of advice to whoever holds the rights then, how about the last woman on earth? The guys have already had three tries at it.

VIDEO

I Am Legend is one of the best looking Blu-ray movies you’re going to find, hands down. Both the theatrical and the alternate version are presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio in full 1080p. Colors, skin tones and dark scenes all flow evenly and look superb. The image is so sharp that during close-ups you can see the grey hairs in Will Smith’s beard. Probably the only problem with the transfer is that the image quality is so good that you can see how bad the CGI effects look. Instead of looking photo-realistic, the mutants look like cartoon characters. Just look at the final scene when they mutants attack Neville’s house; it looks like a videogame cut scene. But despite that minor issue, I Am Legend is complete HD show off material.

AUDIO

Like with its picture quality, I Am Legend scores another home run in the sound department, offering a TrueHD 5.1 surround sound mix. This will blow your speakers off, especially during the action scenes, such as when Neville is trying to find his dog that has wondered in a dark abandoned building and he has to rely on sound to find him. Another standout audio scene is the flashback where Neville is trying to get his family out of the city. The sounds of the sirens, helicopters, and screaming crowds will make you feel like you’re right in the scene. And when you hear the mutant’s shrieks as they attack, that’s the icing on the cake. If you’ve got a good sound system, and your neighbors won’t complain, crank this one up full volume and enjoy.

EXTRAS

The one highlight with this collector’s edition against the original Blu-ray release is the selection of new extras, such as a director’s audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a Digital Copy, all split up on three discs.

Here’s the new stuff for the collector’s edition:

The audio commentary features Director Francis Lawrence and co-writer/producer Akiva Goldsman. This is something I wanted to be on the original Blu-ray release, but now that it’s available I found myself disappointed, because it’s a dull commentary. You will definitely get much more useful information watching the making of docs than listening to these guys talk about it.

Focus Points allows you to watch the film and when an icon appears on the screen, pressing enter on your remote will trigger a behind the scenes clip for that sequence to be viewed, and when the clip ends the film continues where it left off.

There are twelve deleted scenes running about twenty minutes, with the option to view them with director’s commentary. These scenes are only in standard definition and really don’t add anything new to the film, being that most are just extended clips to what’s already in the film. A few a raw before the special effects were added, so it’s worth a look.

“I Am Legend: The Making of Shots” is five quick behind the scenes featurettes that run five minutes each, labeled – Seaport Evacuation, Alpha Male, Times Square Hunt, Visual Effects Highlights, and Alternate Ending.

“Making I Am Legend” is a twenty-five long promotional reel, showing everything we’ve already seen done better in the other behind the scenes documentaries.

A Digital Copy is available on the third disc for those who want their Will Smith on the go. (Theatrical version only).

There’s a 44 page Concept Sketch Book that sounds more exciting than it is, because it’s just some weak pictures stuck in a badly bonded booklet.

Six cheesy lobby cards that basically look like post cards that have had the Photoshop treatment to show the regions have been effected by the virus: Spain, Tokyo, Paris, Taiwan, London, and India.

A Collectible Lenticular is included, which is basically a plastic block with a hologram sealed inside that when tilted will show a frame-by-frame quick scene from the film’s finale. Maybe one day it may be worth something on e-bay, but now…Yawn.

The bonus features from the original release are also included:

“Creating I Am Legend” is just about an hour long and goes deep into the making of the movie, featuring interviews with Will Smith, director Frances Lawrence, screenwriter Akiva Goldsmith. There’s a lot of good stuff in here looking at everything from updated the book for today’s audience, converting NYC into an apocalyptic dead zone, and creature design. This is an interesting documentary that should satisfy those who enjoyed the film.

“Cautionary Tale: The Science of I Am Legend” is a 20 minute that looks at the science behind the virus presented in the film. Real doctors and scientist are interviewed talking about the possibility of something like this occurring and what the aftermath would be on the planet. This plays out like a science channel special, and is set up to make what was in the film more terrifying. It’s worth a look, but you’ll find better info about all these scary viruses on the Internet.

There are four animated shorts that all together run 20 minutes; Shelter, Death as a Gift, Sacrificing the Few for the Many and Isolation are tales that relate to the virus wiping out humanity and a look at other survivors dealing with the aftermath. These shorts are well done, and interesting in an alternative way.

One thing that must be noted is that the packaging for this collector’s edition wasn’t well thought out. When you think of the cool way something like the Blade Runner collector’s edition was done, I Am Legend’s cheap box falls apart the minute it’s unwrapped and within a few days looks like it’s old and ready for the scrap pile. For the $60 asking price for this set, Warner could have done a better job with the packaging.

BOTTOM LINE

If you own the original release, there’s really nothing inside this box set that is worth shelling out more cash. If you have a friend who is going to get it, just check out their set first before deciding if it deserves your double-dip dollars. But if you’re new to Blu-ray and enjoyed this film, you will benefit from this box set more.

SCORES (out of 5):

The Movie: 4.5

Video: 4.5

Sound: 4.5

Extras: 4.5

Bottom Line: 4.5