DVD
REVIEW: I AM LEGEND
2 DISC SPECIAL
EDITION
03/22/08
SYNOPSIS:
Robert Neville is a brilliant scientist, but even he could
not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable,
incurable, and man-made. Somehow immune, Neville is now the
last human survivor in what is left of New York City and
maybe the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully
sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other
survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone.
Mutant victims of the plague -- The Infected -- lurk in the
shadows... watching Neville's every move... waiting for him
to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind's last, best hope,
Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a
way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune
blood. But he knows he is outnumbered... and quickly running
out of time. Director: Francis Lawrence Actors: Will Smith,
David Richardson, Salli Richardson, Alice Braga, Paradox
Pollack, Charlie Tahan
REVIEW: This is one of those
edge-of-your-seat, gasping-for-air types. It is intense and
startling. It will scare you and it will make you chuckle.
You will feel desperation and hopelessness but you will urge
Robert Neville (Will Smith) on. You will reflect on the
question “what if I was in that situation, how would I
handle it?” Well Robert seemed to be in complete control and
well prepared to handle the situation as a good
soldier/scientist should. He is still human though and all
alone except for his dog Sam. “My name is Robert Neville. I
am a survivor living in New York City. I haven't seen
another person in three years. If there is anybody out
there. Anybody. Please.” With the limited dialogue in this
movie due to the nature of the story, when you hear a line
like that you can’t help but to feel his anguish. As he
struggles to find a way to fix this infection, his battle
with the infected grows more and more difficult to fight. He
begins to crack.
Will Smith is a very well rounded performer. After putting
critically acclaimed roles under his belt such as in Ali and
Pursuit of Happyness along with his already established
action movie abilities, this one was right up his ally as a
combination of both. This role for Will is very similar to
the Cast Away role for Tom Hanks. Granted, Will’s
performance does not quite reach Tom’s masterpiece, but it
is worthy of praise nonetheless. Speaking of Cast Away, I Am
Legend does resemble several movies besides the fact that it
is another version of the Richard Matheson novel by the same
name. There was a version called The Last Man on Earth in
1964 with Vincent Price and a 1971 version with Charlton
Heston called The Omega Man. As far as more recent movies
that this one will remind you of are 28 Days Later,
Invasion, Cast Away, and I, Robot to name a few. Yeah, I,
Robot because certain scenes when the infected humans are
attacking Robert are reminiscent to the robots attacking
Spooner not to mention they both star Will Smith. So if you
like those movies mentioned, you will enjoy this one. Not
necessarily Will’s best work, but still a great job
providing the meat around the bones of this story. And that
is important because the story portrayed in this version is
quite simple. The beef lies in the drama of the situation as
well as the visual presentation. Will handled the drama part
and the visual was not too shabby either. It would have been
nice to have a little less computer graphic visuals, but
considering the scenario you can’t blame them for going that
route. It was convincing enough and seeing a desolate
Manhattan was truly amazing.
“God didn’t do this. We did!” Is Robert defending God or
denying His existence? There are some religious undertones
that surface during this movie. The main character himself
is thrust into a God-like or Savior-like persona trying to
save humanity. His drive is not ambition but more like
responsibility and determination. Director Francis Lawrence
seems to like to explore religious subject matter. When it
comes to Francis I have to admit that I am a little biased
because his previous major motion picture Constantine with
Keanu Reeves is one of my favorite movies of recent years.
Now that Francis has added this work to his name, I can more
officially say that I am a fan.
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
VIDEO:
Widescreen [16:9 Transfer]
AUDIO:
Dolby
Surround 5.1 - English
Dolby Surround 5.1 - French
Dolby Surround 5.1 - Spanish
Subtitles - English Spanish French - Optional
SPECIAL FEATURES:
DISC 1:
Animated Comics A total of four short
animated stories all are about how the virus was view around
the world. The stories titles are: "Death As a Gift",
"Isolation", Sacrificing the Few for the Many" and
"Shelter". The only two that are worth seeing are
"Isolation" and "Shelter". (21:06)
DISC 2:
Alternate Theatrical Version: This is
basically the entire film with and alternate ending. An
ending that is being marketed as controversial, but I'm
still trying to figure out what is so controversial about
it. In my opinion the original theatrical ending is better.
Digital Copy of the film:
There is an option to download a legal digital copy of the
film which is good, but the digital copy is not compatible
with Apple Macintosh and ipod.
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
|
|
VIDEO |
|
|
AUDIO |
|
| BONUS
FEATURES |
 |
People Movie Review I AM
LEGEND
|
Chris M |
80 |
|
Really intriguing film. A
nice mix of horror and action. Loved the
setting. There is something very
unsettling about an abandoned New York
City. Will Smith did remarkably well to
carry this as a near-solo performance. A
great, entertaining thriller! |
Submit Your Movie Review
MORE MOVIE REVIEWS
>>>
