Customer Reviews
I Am Legend, Blu-Ray - By: Book Worm, 21 Jun 2008 
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 & 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 reallly feel for him when he talks to mannequins & 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 & 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 & you'll get what it sets out to be, an action film that shows the softer side of Will's acting & how one copes on his own in a world where everyone else is dead! A solid three star film.
Just Brilliant - By: Steven Stewart, 16 Jun 2008 
A lot of the negative reviews have pointed out that it's a terrible adaptation of the book by Richard Matheson, but I simply have to say that it's a standalone movie that takes the plot outline from the book & puts its own spin on things. On its own this film is a very emotional, intense, & at times quite a frightening movie that will have you thinking that this is possibly Will Smiths best performance to date.
A cure for cancer is created from a geneticallly modified disease, but this cure turns into an infection of its own & soon spreads across the world killing most of the worlds population & turning the rest into mutated vampires which have fed on those last few survivors. Robert Neville is a former Army Lieutenant Colonel/Scientist who is forced to have his family taken away from him whilst he stays in the quarantined New York City looking for a cure to the mutated virus. His daughter hands him her dog, Sam before they take off in a helicopter. 3 years down the line & the human population of New York & possibly the world have died out & Robert is possibly the only human survivor. As he still battles to find a cure we are given an insight into how Robert copes with possibly being the only surviving human on Earth. He sets up mannequins in stores, pretends like their real people & interacts with them as if they were actuallly living. The Dog Sam is his only companion in the movie & we come to appreciate & love the relationship that develops between Robert & his Dog. One scene in particular that shows the intense emotion that this film reaches from time to time, is when Robert is cradling Sam in his arms after Sam is attacked by mutated dogs. Due to open wounds Sam is infected with the virus & Robert is forced to kill Sam. This, to me is a very upsetting scene & personallly had me on the verge of tears, this shows the pure acting skill of Will Smith & proved to the critics that he was perfect for the role. The mutants in the film for the times that we see them are very intimidating & the chase scenes are quite intense & place you on the edge of your seat.
Will Smith has always been one of those actors that a lot of people would doubt until they saw him in a movie or playing any particular role. I have to admit I had my doubts about him playing the last man on Earth & had my reservations about a film like this altogether as you would have to be prepared to sit through a movie with just the one human character on screen for the larger portion of the film & I had my reservations as to how this would play out altogether. Once putting the movie on, my doubts were simply put to rest as from the first scene Will Smith enraptures you in intrigue as you're shown how the man is hunting down his food in the form of a deer. The action sequences are intense & alll scenes featuring the mutants are unbelievably frightening, even more than I thought they would be.
This is a genuinely great movie & on Blu-Ray it's made much better with the alternate version paralllel to the original cinematic version. This is a gem of a movie that I think alll Will Smith fans will adore & even if you're not a fan of his previous work, this will make you want to see more.
This had all the signs of being rubbish - By: Barney McRubble, 06 Jun 2008 
A Hollwood version of a respected sci-fi novel plus Will Smith - this had alll the signes of being rubbish - & it is. Why oh why do Hollywood scriptwriters think they can improve on good books when alll the do is dumb them down into unbelievable trash. To give this film some credit it isn't as dreadful as Spielburg's War of the Worlds - but its not far off. Will Smith is out acted by the parked cars (but unusuallly doesn't have the mass product placements - ref I Robot), the story line has more holes than a sieve & the only relationship to Matheson's novel is the title. Utter trash. Don't waste your money. 1 star because the dog looks good in HD.
Will Smith at his best - and the dog was great as well ! - By: Steve M, 02 Jun 2008 
The first half of this film is outstanding, the second only average. The combination of a performance of real depth from Will & the very effective use of CGI to create the deserted city, deliver a palpable sense of post apocalyptic desolation. Will is alone of course with the exception of Sam, his dog, who gives him the only opportunity to cling to his fragile sanity. Ironicallly then the CGI that looks so great in the opening scenes seems to be the undoing of this film as the disturbing fate of the human race is revealed. This is highlighted by Sam who is portrayed using a real dog & is wonderful to watch but as a result makes the CGI animals & Dark Seekers look like the digital creations they reallly are. I think Steven Spielberg's realisation that a rubber shark was going to frighten precisely no one & his decision to keep it off the screen as much as possible is a principle that still holds true today.
So, as the suspense of the first half is replaced by the action & visuals of the second, a potentiallly great movie rounds out to a merely good one. The story also loses its credibility with the arrival of two new characters looking remarkably healthy & calm given the rigours of day to day survival in this bleak world. I think if I had managed to survive for three years in this environment at the very least I would have had bad hair.
The picture quality is probably the best I have seen on Blu-Ray so far, combining great detail with a natural look free of any obvious sharpening or edge enhancement. Sound is also great with contrasting use of effects channels to create the atmosphere of the deserted city as well as alll the jumps & shocks of the action set pieces. I watched the theatrical release first & then the alternate ending & thought the more downbeat ending of the theatrical version better suited the arc of the story & seemed more believable than the alternate 'happy' ending.
I reallly enjoyed this film & total respect to Will Smith for a credible, believable performance that makes you reallly care about him & what happens to him - a fundamental that is too often overlooked by studios in their rush to show off their investment in CGI software. Anyone looking for a reference Blu-ray disc should add this to their collection.
A degree of sobriety - By: T. de Souza, 30 May 2008 The Movie
So many people have panned this film because the CGI isn't as good as it could have been or the plot isn't anything new or original. My view - watch this film simply because of an outstanding performance by Will Smith. It is definitely not a five star movie, but Smith's believable portrayal of a frail, scarred individual is top drawer & drags this film up from a 3 to a 4, in much the same way as he did for Pursuit of Happyness.
Blue Ray
Fantastic conversion with an amzing picturfe quality that reallly does show off the blu ray format. This is particularly the case in the opening sequence. Unfortunately, the crispness of the image does highlight the comparatively weak CGI, but perhaps that is more of a testament to the astounding creation of a desolate New York.
The alternate ending takes you on a completely different path from the original, & I think this reallly does boil down to personal preference. What it certainly does do is fill some of the plot holes from the cinematic release, but personallly I still prefer the original ending.
Recommended.
