It was big news that I Am Legend went through a series of reshoots. One of the big changes was the film’s ending, which was reshot to give the film a more commercial conclusion. The special edition DVD hits store shelves on March 18th, and the alternative ending has been leaked onto YouTube.
I’d be interested to hear what you guys think, so please post your thoughts in the comments. I feel that this is a much better conclusion, aside from the voiceover driving sequence which book ends the footage. Also, can anyone please explain to me how they drove out of Manhattan if all the bridges were destroyed… Am I missing something? It’s also worth noting that a few seconds of this alternative ending was included in one of the early trailers. I was really weirded out when I didn’t see it on the screen in December, as it seemed like a rather creepy sequence.
Discuss: What did you think of the I Am Legend Alternative ending? Would you have preferred it over the theatrical finale?
March 5th, 2008 at 2:39 am
Never mind about driving out, what about driving in?!?!
March 5th, 2008 at 2:53 am
the chick and the kid got there by boat how they drove off I don’t know
and I liked the theatrical ending better
March 5th, 2008 at 2:54 am
*sigh* yes, that would have been a far superior ending and with all the foreshadowing in the film I thought this is where they were originally headed. Damn, lowbrow test groups.
March 5th, 2008 at 3:13 am
It is still not the book ending, but it is better than the original ending for the film. The ending gave the vampires a more human appeal to them, and in the book they are still human.
I cant watch this film with or without this ending with it without feeling unhappy with the ending and just proves that Hollywood cant make a good book into a good film.
March 5th, 2008 at 3:42 am
I should read the book just to find out the origional ending. In any case I can’t say I would have been satisfied with either ending. Whichever way they went the ending would have been the films weakest part by far as I quite liked the rest of the movie.
I am legend was the the only average film I saw this year that could have been great. If only they fixed the special effects and the ending, sigh.
March 5th, 2008 at 3:53 am
I definitely prefer THIS alternative version over the theatrical. I don’t get why they took it out!? It seems to me the audience would have preferred Will Smith NOT dying.
One of my criticisms of I Am Legend was that the whole thing was just one big bummer. Whole world dies out, Family gets blown up in front of him, he has to kill his own freakin’ dog! GEEZ! So I like this ending a lot better. It gives it a satisfying resolution. Plus it ties together why the infected are really hell-bent on getting Neville at the end, which is actually a little tiny bit closer to the book.
I’m glad we finally get to see the alternative ending, but I do think they made a mistake switching it out in the first place.
March 5th, 2008 at 4:18 am
This ending was much better and was cleary the ending that the movie was moving towards. All the hints and the vampire intelligence and society that *seem* to be one of the most important parts of the story are completely dropped in the theatrical version in favour of an explosion. I would have liked to see the original book’s interpretation of Neville’s status as a legend in the end voice over and that would have wrapped it up nicely for me.
This was the ending I was expecting, and would have made the film that much better in my opinion.
March 5th, 2008 at 5:20 am
the only problem is that everyone wants a happy ending. One with a cure s to speak, so thats why this one didn’t make it. But it did give the night stalkers the human feeling. In the book they can even talk, so i guess this was as close as it was gonna get.
March 5th, 2008 at 5:39 am
I liked both endings.
March 5th, 2008 at 5:52 am
EXACTLY what Dexton said.
March 5th, 2008 at 6:02 am
Both endings were good. This one ties that event in the movie showing their intelligence.The event of how the lead nightstalker used the mannequin “Frank” to trap Will. This ending gave it a humane feel.
The “theatrical”ending is the one I preferred due to the circumstances that he had to endure for three years.Through that time span ,he never strayed from his mission of trying to “cure” their sickness. He felt responsible.He made the ultimate sacrifice because there was no feasible way to make them understand.
The “theatrical”ending should have taken into account things that happened earlier in the film.
Though I preferred , the “theatrical” ending, it should have been the alternate ending and earlier scenes should have been reshot to link to that ending.
March 5th, 2008 at 6:02 am
I actually like this ending better..
not because of WILL SMITH dying or not… but in this ending it seemed like there was no hope for a cure…. which is abit more realistic…
or its just the way i like these type of movies to end…
eg. i hated ‘the day after tomorrow’ because the movie was suppose to be about end of the world and watnot.. but no, 70% live in that movie
bak to IAL, yeh… there was no cure, this virus is inevitable*
i wonder how long till this vid gets removed
March 5th, 2008 at 6:12 am
i think that both endings were equal in their context. What I don’t understand is how the theatrical ending was concidered to be the “happy” ending by the studio execs. Are the execs getting a bit morbid? I wont ruin it for the 2 or so people that havent seen this film yet, but come on! I guess they like their hero’s going out in a blaze of glory instead of having a heart and being falable.
March 5th, 2008 at 6:33 am
I like this ending better, BUT, it’s still not the book ending, which is the best of them all. The book is one of my favorites, and they really ruined it. The movie was still good though, up until the ending, even though it wasn’t really anything like the novel. Still, this ending is MUCH better.
March 5th, 2008 at 6:50 am
This ending is exactly what the theatrical release was missing.
I cannot fathom the decision making process used that allowed the other trainwreck of an ending into the final cut. It was pure sh*t.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:08 am
An ending without Robert Neville dying would have been horrible. While the original ending could have been better, it is far better then the alternate ending linked above.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:21 am
This ending was better and there is more hope for a sequel with Will Smith.
In the book there is a guy who taunts Neville by constantly calling out his name. While that wouldn’t have fit here, something like that where that one deseased guy should have taunted Neville more. Maybe in a different way by constantly tryng to get to Neville.
If Neville didn’t die in the end then he wouldn’t be a Legend.
JedK
March 5th, 2008 at 7:40 am
usually the ending with the hero dying is the better ending (like the butterfly effect) but this one is far superior to the theatrical.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Neville was a legend because he was a monster to the vampires. He was a vampire slayer. He was a spook story that the vampires told the “children” to scare them at night. Not because he died.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:40 am
this ending may be a little better, but its still pretty horrible.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:10 am
This is to much better ending.
Thanks for sharing.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:16 am
This ending was much better. I really liked the last part with the driving away and the voice-over. It was nice that they kept it open instead of showing a whole city of survivors and stuff.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Wow…I haven’t seen this movie yet but after watching that clip I’m even less excited about seeing this. I’m glad I waited to rent this.
Those special effects are awful.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:38 am
With the newws that hit about possibly a second film I would have much preferred to have this ending as I would rather have Will Smith as the main character again. With him dying it made a second film seem rather annoying.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Nice Thanks for sharing!
March 5th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Ehhhh the movie was terrible no matter what both endings didn’t do justice at all. What killed the movie was the terrible CGI of the creatures… The NYC CGI was the best CGI in the movie. I like the Omega man much better, the creature’s felt more real. there wasn’t any crappy CGI and overall it had a better plot and everything felt more smoothly. As for this piece of crap it was over hyped and over edited, and overly used CGI. It could of been a lot better. If they kept the NYC CGI and just used real shots of the city make it look like it was real dropped the whole CGI of the creatures and used real make up. And had a tad bit more action.
March 5th, 2008 at 10:35 am
It depends on what you hoped for, a remake of Omega Man or an Adaption of I Am Legend.
March 5th, 2008 at 10:56 am
On one hand - I liked this ending, sure. It gave the vampires a human side, showing that they weren’t just infected people, but their own society. But on the other hand, wouldn’t someone want to live in human society, and not the infected society? I think I prefer the theatrical ending. I don’t think the development and discovery of a cure was too far fetched. If you look at it in a different way, the theatrical ending was more of a happy one, there was a cure, a hope for humanity. They could capture and cure the vampires, and rebuild. In this one, sure Will doesn’t die but there’s little hope for humanity in the larger picture.
March 5th, 2008 at 10:57 am
this ending is way better makes u see the humanity still in them i like it alot more..
plus willie still alive so yeah
March 5th, 2008 at 11:29 am
the only thing good about this ending is that it finally gave the movie a chance to show some human emotions in the zombies. aside from that its the most cliche bogus hollywood ending they could have made. this is the ending any idiot would have expected from seeing the movie, and the fact that they didnt use it is probably a good thing actually. i mean, the real ending sucks too, but theres nothing really interesting at all about this. zombies and will smith finally connect and understand eachother? lol no thanx.
March 5th, 2008 at 11:44 am
i like how the creatures in this movie have so many names no one really knows vampires zombies and i just call them mutants not the fun lovin x men variety but just mutant a mutation
just like how really so many people see them diferentley is all
March 5th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Update:The Video Is No Longer Available
March 5th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Are you kidding me? The took it off the net!!! I PAID TO SEE THE MOVIE IN THEATERS!! I hope the RIAA gets all their tapes burnt when society collapses. They are making this fight very hard.
-Bo
March 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Ah man…
anyone got an alt source?
March 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
this movie could have been better if they would have followed the book more.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I like the idea of this ending, that the infected still retain some social aspects. And it too is plausible that the big bad guy couldn’t fathom that she was being cured, but that all he wanted was to have her back. The very basic emotional response. Like a pack of dogs, really.
I could have accepted this ending without the driving away. Simply do the voice-over on black. I don’t need to see the smiling as they leave. In fact, I don’t need to see them smiling like that at all, like they know everything is going to be all right. They don’t. Just leave it at the discovery of emotion in the infected.
I’m torn, though. Both endings just don’t feel complete.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
oh my gosh this movie was so good until the woman showed up. ugh. and with her kid to boot. always with a kid.
I am Legend also would have been better if the zombies would have been extras in makeup and not CGI. OBVS it’s possible cuz they did it in 28 Days Later. Scooby Doo special effects need to be stopped. Seriously…surely SOMEONE working on this movie was like, “Guys, this looks pretty bad.”
March 5th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Thats horrible! Robert Neville has to die (as like in the book), otherwise its too watered down.
Both the theatrical and alternate endings have good and bad points. In the alt version, I liked how they humanized the zombies, but hated that Neville lived and drove off Hollywood-style. In the theatrical version, I liked how he died (a lot more movie friendly than pills), but hated how the lady and kid drove off and “saved the world”.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
the first ending made absolutely no sense at all. what is the point of him dying? he already lost everything else, why does he lose his life too? let him start over with the new family at least and another dog. That first ending meant he went through all of that suffering and he can’t at least live to see it or at least get laid one more time. the second ending was perfect.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
The book is better. I wanted to hear the vampire say,”Nevilllllllle! Come out Nevillllle!” They also missed the different levels of progression from the book (that led me to believe when I first saw the movie that the woman was a vampire). And yes, having him die in the end of the movie was “justice” for him being the creator of it, but the ending in the book was CLASSIC - the irony of him being a legend was captivating.
This book has been made 3 times now. They have never been true to the book, yet.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Both endings sucked lol. Hollywood sucks…
March 5th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
This ending is 100% better than the one in theaters. I really enjoyed I Am Legend and the only disappointment was the shitty ending. I think it would have done a lot better with this ending,
March 5th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
A much better reply - I would’ve actually left the movie satisfied if they’d kept this ending, even though it’s weaker than the novel.
This ending shows that the Vampires have intelligence and society, which ties up all the stuff where they trap Will earlier in the movie. It’s still a tense, climatic scene, and most of all - it makes the “butterfly” line make sense!
I also like that it doesn’t show the camp of survivors, which was far too cheesy and Hollywood. At this ending it’s just the 3 of them vs. the world at the end. Much better.
March 5th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
this is much brighter, but as much as i wanted dr. neville to live, the original ending is much truer to the story. not everything can be happy endings. sadly, it’s called i am legend, not i am living legend.
March 5th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
by the way, the ONLY way to see this was on IMAX - un-fucking-believable!
March 5th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I might buy the two disc version because of this. The ending here IS A MAJOR IMPROVEMENT over that crap (random grenade explosion) ending.
Who thought of the ending to the theatrical release? Morons. This is more complex and I liked it.
~Scott
March 5th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I don’t really like this ending that much. I felt like he needed die and get some revenge instead of just being like “ok truce” and everyone goes there separate ways.
I was half expecting to see them high five and go watch shrek together when I was watching this ending. Not good. Although the original wasn’t great either this was not any better.
March 5th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I think those idiots should have done this ending. It is much better and thats the way the ending was heading!
March 5th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
I liked the original endings where Vincent Price and Charlton Heston die. In ‘Omega Man,’ Chuck Heston had conversations with the Mutants.
March 5th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I just have to add that I never saw Omega Man, nor have I read the book. From that perspective this new ending tries to add a dimension that wasn’t even eluded to in movie - that the infected are still human. My impression from the movie was that the infected have only enough society left to find comfort in numbers.
This alternate ending was not hinted at for the entire movie and to have it show up at the end at first seems like a neat revelation, but in the end leaves me thinking that the concept should have been developed more during the movie. The theatrical ending is more in line with the single minded nature of the infected that the movie portrays the entire time.
However it does open up that Neville’s injury during the movie is not him going mad and forgetting where he put traps, but in fact the infected trying his own game on him. However having watched the movie twice I never came to that 2nd conclusion - I always thought that his being alone for so long was finally getting to him.
March 5th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I of course, prefer the book ending. I dont think this ending was that good either.
The book ending was really what tied the whole movie together. Its where the title of the book came from. They seem to have just discarded that idea though.
March 5th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Can someone please tell me what how the book ended? It it that every human dies and the world is just left with the infected?
March 5th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Still not what the book ended with but a much better step in the right direction.
I still have to fault both WB and Avika Goldsman because the former dumbs down material and the latter ruins adaptations. The DaVinci code? I Am Legend? Ruined both so far. And he’s written Angels and Demons. Oh noes.
March 5th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
@Yeti - The book ends with him realizing that civilization has evolved into the infected. And they have evolved themselves. They come out during the day, they have a family like culture, they even act as an imposter. He realizes that it’s him that’s left behind rather than them leaving us behind. He takes a cyanide pill and dies while looking at their new civilization forming. He realizes that for this reason and in his words, “I am Legend.”
Oh, and the key to this entire ending hinges on that girl (without that child) being one of them and luring him into a false sense of security. Then they break in and he realizes what’s happened.
March 5th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
way better!!! amzing
March 5th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
This ending would have been better. Not knowing anything about the book, the whole movie seemed like a bad 28 Days Later ripoff. With this ending it would have at least seem like a decent ripoff, since both would have had similar ‘infected or not, man is beast’ theme.
If there were clues about intelligence of the infected, I somehow missed them. That made the mannequin trap really confusing. I didn’t come to think that the infected zombies could have set it up.
March 5th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
The original ending was crap, this is crap.
Total waste of a film. Which, incidentally, bears almost no resemblance to the book at all. I cannot fathom why Hollywood insists on playing with expectations by taking a well known title and re-writing the whole damned thing.
As for the ‘vampires’ appearing more human in this version, they remain blatant CGI and thus about as inhuman as you’ll ever get.
Way to kill the soul of a story.
ps. as noted above, the whole point of the book is that the vamps *ARE* the new society, rendering the original ending completely stupid. He is Legend because they are utterly terrified of him, the mass murderer.
March 5th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
I have to say now that someone explained how the book ended. I do think that this film should have ended that way as well. That is powerful and could have been more powerful if done correctly making sure to explore his realization that the mutants = human evolution.
To answer the question about getting out of Manhattan w/o any bridges. There are still tunnels. But even still the bridge featured is the Verranzano Narrows Bridge (best I can tell from my time in NYC). It does not touch Manhattan. It runs from Staten Island into New Jersey (also a bit odd because they said they needed to head north and this is the opposite direction). Someone else said that they could have taken a ferry across. This also is not that far fetched if there was a) one still around b) it operated and certainly had enough fuel to get across the bay c) Dr. Neville could operate it (I am pretty sure he was an Army officer not a Naval Officer). BUT there is a STATEN Island ferry so the dots do connect..if not the logic of it all.
Thank god for alternate endings to keep things interesting.
March 5th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
The book was terrible. It took me 2 hours to read and I hated it. The movie was better, except for the zombies being super-ridiculously athletic. I liked the original ending. I did think that the movie could have done SO much more, especially with Will Smith…
March 5th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
This is commercial bull-shit. The book ending is… just bad.
The original movie ending is way better.
March 5th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
hehehe… for Bad, check out Richard Mathesons ‘Hell House’
Has by far the stupidest ending I have ever read. Seriously, *ever*. As in worse than the worst childrens books. Mind-bogglingly bad. He later had the cheek to slam the ending of the film, which is completely book-accurate.
March 5th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
New ending sooooooooooo much better.
March 5th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Both endings has its flaws. I think a mixed ending would be better. Take the human side of the zombies/vampires from this ending and put it to theatrical ending and take out the “holly” stuff from the theatrical ending and voila!
Theatrical ending trying to be like Shyamalan’s Signs’ ending. You can notice that theatrical ending was not the director’s idea because the signs in the movie was not well put into the movie. (sorry for my English).
Neville must die in order to get good ending. But the way he die is too much Hollywood style.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
the theater ending was much better , it was what made him a ” legend”.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
well, i think that this ending was pretty good. the movie was great i think. but, when i left the theater, i was wondering…was that kid that girls son? what did they do when they got to where ever? did the freaky people ever leave the city? but, this ending was very good. this should have been in theaters for sure.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
This ending should have been in the movie the ending in the movie sucked. I would have rather have seen this then the woman going to vermont and him dieing. Plus if they come out with a sequel it wont be any good without Will Smith in it unless their was some way for him to survive?
March 5th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I think this is an awful ending. Its so cheesy and weird.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
I really liked this movie too up until the woman and kid showed up. In the book the woman turns out to be something totally different and that added to the creepy feeling of the situation…
…speaking of which, can anyone recommend another good book like I Am Legend? I love apocalyptic books, but it’s hard to find good ones. I already World War Z…it was pretty entertaining too, but not as good as I Am Legend.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
i enjoyed the movie because of the mysterious effect. all through the movie, you see clues as to what the story is about. the alternative ending ties all the confusing parts together. for example, when i watched the movie for the first time, i thought that he had caught himself in a trap of his own. i never suspected that the creatures had set a trap for him.
the original ending leaves everything a puzzle, while the alternative makes the movie seem complete. i enjoyed the original anyway, but still, id have liked the alternative better.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
For other, similar books?
Not sure if it’ll hit the button, but the Walking Dead graphic series is pretty good.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Both endings kills the spirit of the book…
March 5th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
thank u
March 5th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
In the Alternate ending it was a bit closer to the book, regardless it was more satisfyingly because the story alludes to this kind of resolution. Honestly, omg get in the crazy hole as I blow myself up with a nade…. seemed a bit weak. Mainly what I think would have properly closed that gap in the audiences mind into a simple “morale of the story” type of ending. Neville could have stated, like implied in the book, something along the lines of “In the end the everything had changed and I had become the monster taking children in the night. This world is their’s now, and I must find a home in the new shadows of daylight…”
That seems a bit more like AHHHH then…. huh?? or I saw that coming…
March 5th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
*“In the end everything had*
March 6th, 2008 at 12:46 am
From the Merriam-Webster English dictionary: A LEGEND is a story coming down from the past, regarded as historical although not verifiable.
In order not to be able to verify the story, you must not have access to the primary sources, which in this movie is Neville. the woman and the kid.
That’s why the first ending made more sense to me. It explained how come Neville is a Legend and not just a survivor. It’s not like he had supernatural powers, he was just surviving in NYC and this fact is amazing.. but it doesn’t make him a legend at all.
Now you can’t have all the primary sources die, because then the story can’t be told, right? So someone must survive. And in the first ending, you had just this: the woman and the kid went somewhere up north and told the story of Neville and gave them the cure (which is sort of cheesy, but anyways). The cure is passed to other survivors (perhaps somewhere in other parts of the world) and the story of Neville is oassed along with the cure. People cannot verify the story, but sufficient proof (the cure) would be present in order to make everyone believe the story is true. And that’s how Neville becaomes a LEGEND.
Now, if Neville survives and the woman survives, that makes him a living hero, or a great scientist or something… but definitely living somewhere in a laboratory, with people being able to come and visit. It doesn’t really sound like an unverifiable story, does it? He could still be a legend, but it’s much more tragic and powerful when the hero actually performs the ultimate sacrifice, people respect and understand the importance of the sacrifice, that’s why they retell the story to everyone, to make his spirit live, or tell and unbelievable story.. whatever makes you happy.
The bottom line is that the second ending does not have enough support to prove that Neville becomes a Legend, while the first ending does.
On another point: is it just me, or did Neville take a blood sample from the mutant girl? In my understanding, when he took ANOTHER seringe, he injected the virus back into the mutand girl, gave her to the mutant and drove off with the blood sample. Presumably, he will use that to make the antidote?
And thus, unlike some posts above have said, there is hope for humanity and your favorite hero survives, so there’s no happier ending than the second one, which makes it so unrealistic.
And where are the dead rotten bodies on the streets of New York? I want at least some realism in the movie…
March 6th, 2008 at 1:01 am
correction to my previous post:
there was no blood sample. No hope for humanity, but Neville survives.
Eh..
March 6th, 2008 at 2:31 am
Yes, it is a better ending. As for driving out? Well they obviously found a ramp and jumped to the other side of the bridge in a slow-motion scene which wasn’t completed by the SFX guys…lol
March 6th, 2008 at 2:44 am
This ending should have been the theatrical one, it would have left the story line wide open for some really good twists in a sequel.
The infection sufferers showed a mortality and inteligance about them which could have been used to show a resistance to humanity curing them.
A connection between the 2 leed males, if you can call the infected one that, could have been used in the sequel aswell.
I think they made a big mistake not showing this one in cinemas though that being said i still think it could have been a lot bettre still!
March 6th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Give me Dawn of the Deads anyday!!!
March 6th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Definitely like the alternate ending better than the theatrical release. More emotional and the theatrical ending seemed really random.
March 6th, 2008 at 7:23 am
I think this was a much better ending than the origonal and I can’t understand why they didn’t go with it. At least in this one he remains alive. I hated that he died in the origonal ending…
March 6th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I like *THIS* ending! KEEP IT!!! Dump the theatrical release ending.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:33 am
This is the original ending I read when I read the script on set. I’m not sure which is better tho.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I thought that the original ending was better then this one.
March 6th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
i liked the original ending better because i like to see my monsters as mercyless killers. I do not like the monsters to show fealings and even less when that feeling is love. I would have made it so this does not happen but put in a way so will would not die…. also I would have made it withought the woman and kid… It would be better if he desovered the cure and restored some people on his own
March 6th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I may just be a bit silly here, but I was under the impression that I Am Legend is supposed to be - even very very vaguely - a film of a book.
The more you change the story, the less it is the film of the book, and thus isn’t I Am Legend at all.
Consider it thusly: no matter what you may think of the books, what if Lord Of The Rings was filmed as a bunch of filesharers attempting to take down the RIAA?
that’s how much sense IAL would have made with the number of ‘alterations’ you are suggesting.
the whole freakin point is that he dies at the end. That is why the alternate ending is outright daft.
I shut up now.
March 7th, 2008 at 2:14 am
I was in Manhattan when this was being filmed and I saw Will Smith being filmed in a sequence that looked very ending-like, but it was neither in the theatrical version nor in the Official Alternate Version. What I saw was: Will & girl on a long walk right down the center of 5th Ave. They are having a long talk. (I was too far away and couldn’t hear what they were saying). They don’t seem to be in a hurry and are not trying to hide themselves. It’s daylight. He’s carrying a gun. He was limping in a big way, so, leg injury very recent. Then they walk into a church. Pause while camera crew reassembles stuff for a new shoot. Then, a very happy-ending type scene where Little Kid, Girl & Will come out of the church slowly, Will & girl glance at each other shyly, he takes her hand, they walk down the steps of the church toward camera.
It seemed like it was clearly a “we just won the big fight and now we’ll live happily ever after!” type of scene. I thought that in the movie version, obviously there would be some kind of climatic fight in the church and then the walking-down-the-church-steps would be the final shot, but instead, none of it was used at all.
So, anybody know what it was that I saw? Is there another alternate ending?
5th ave looked bizarre, btw, with all the dusty cars and clumps of grass and fake trees everywhere. Wash. square was full of fake trees lying on their sides, and big floodlights. I could not figure out what the floodlights were about. So when I finally saw the movie, during the big vampire attack when Will’s blowing everything up, everybody else in the theater is screaming and I’m going “HEY! It’s those floodlights!”
Anyway, the theatrical ending was depressing and completely lost the thread that it’d been carefully building about the vamp intelligence, and as a biologist I was totally bummed to know that his cure that he died for would be totally useless because the girl didn’t have the wits to spin it down and put it on ice. She hands that sweaty little vial over at the end and I was thinking sadly “every antibody that was ever in there is long since degraded to sludge, menina…”
Alt ending is cooler, but I think Will ought’to’ve found a way to pop the cure at the lead guy, cure him and his girl, then all 3 of them turn the tables on the others. I note we did not actually see Will get pulverized, so, still some wiggle room for a sequel? (he could’ve fallen behind a big blastproof table at the last sec or something - I’m sure some totally implausible scenario could be worked out)
The CGI lions were the worst CGI animals I’ve ever seen. That was appalling. The lioness’s face looked like a warthog. And the poor deer literally looked like a cheap fuzzy plastic reindeer toy from Fred Meyer.
March 7th, 2008 at 6:02 am
Okay, now.
I’m writing from Germany and within our (German) dub version, the theatrical ending that you know is included (in Germany, “dub version” generally means, every ecator featured has his own dub synchronous speaker and the text spoken in is actually lip-synchroous as well as content-identical).
Beforehand, I read SOME criticism. My conclusion was, don’t go in, it’s cheesy Hollywood and not worth a Cent of your money. As I was up to visit a friend of mine in Munich next day and she urged me (via phone), I went to watch it anyway (if SHE urges me to watch a movie, then with a reason…).
After watching Will blow himself (and the lab, and the abducted girlfriend of Alphaman) up, I was only somewhat disappointed to see the “last surviving Americans” (?) in the area return to where (approximately) America as such started.
Another puzzling (!) fragment visible early on was: The “narrator” of the movie (as expressed through camera, cut, perspective &c.) has a perspective allowing him to judge Neville, which he does: Remember the scene with Neville sitting around, fixing up his video diary? He says something to the ammount of, they don’t have social structure, a nullification of affect is clearly visible, &c. At this point, at the latest, one could have marvelled - is that so? The Narrator is very much inviting us to…
Come on, I know - some of you might want to jump to my throat right now, calling me European smartass and names. You might. But I invite you to read further.
Considering a guy who
a) lost everyone he knows 3 ys. ago
b) actually _saw_ his wife and daughter blow up in a fireball _without_ subsequent counselling
c) even then (flashback: Family enters SUV) shows no trace of good judgement in terms of social behavior
d) does not know wether or not he is the only one surviving out of his “peer group” (save for his German shepherd dog)
- okay?
Consider this same, heavily traumatised, well-educated, lab-worker guy - how would he make friends with somebody, at all, ever again? Take into account, please, that he has lots of firepower, lives in a highly-controlled fortress and there are creatures outside the fortress allegedly trying to kill him. Again - how would you re-integrate such a guy into _any_ society, be it vampire or human? He has been fighting more than three years, now and (he must think) that all of those he is fighting for are dead, so fighting could be considered _over_ - could it be, that we are dealing with a veteran problem, here?
About the ending: Both the theatrical and the alternate ending have a Hollywood note to them. But in case of the alternate ending, I would not have had the impression, that it comes ozt of an authoreal context of a society short to comitting cultural suicide - with the alternate ending, the movie could have passed to _be_ the legend given in the title (remember: legends are not necessarily realistic). Instead, the theatrical ending advices audiences, which might identify with the main character to rather commit a kamikaze murder than try to understand the alleged enemy at the risk of, maybe, dying.
In terms of quality, the theatrical ending is more consistent with the rest of the movie - while the ending is very “low brow”, the movie as a whole only _just_ fails to be high brow and low brow, both at the same time, which might be called a good thing.
March 7th, 2008 at 6:50 am
the original ending is better and it makes more sence in a way…
to be a legend you have to be dead. withought his death he would not have been a legend
March 8th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
The alternative ending is much better. I hadn’t read the book so I didn’t know the story. I like being surprised but the theatrical ending was a surprise disappointment. I seemed like it was not supposed to be over yet and certainly not that way. Thanks for putting this up to see.
March 9th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
The driving out on the Bridge was possible. They were driving out on the George Washington Bridge which was NOT shown in the movie at all. It was the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges that were blown to bits. (maybe the Williamsburg as well, I didnt notice) The GW Bridge is uptown in Harlem.
March 14th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
i hated that ending, ugh…..it pissed me off
March 14th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I like the fact the Neville gave his life to protect the cure, and give the cure a chance to making it out.
They can still do a prequel with Will Smith, he lived there for 3 years. The first couple months would make a kickass movie.
March 14th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
This movie completely betrays Richard Matheson’s novel in both endings. The theatrical one is really ridiculous /politically correct by current standards( Anna who finds out a community of survivors with church bells ringing, since ,hey, science fucks everything up but there’s always some God with Plan B ). Anna and Ethan’s characters are not present in Matheson’s novel but , at least , Neville dies as in the novel.
The director’s cut ending sincerely made me laugh since it really seems to be drawn from ” Blade runner ” , except that the final runaway is made by SUV , another sign of current times… and not by airplane. He even makes Neville’s character survive..No comment.
By the way, a far better movie from the same novel by Matheson was made in 1971 , starring Charlton Heston : Omega Man.
Maybe someone can be interested in renting and comparing it to this one ( better afer reading the original novel ).
March 14th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
The Vincent Price version: Last Man On Earth is almost completely faithful to the book and shows I Am Legend up for the badly re-written hack job it truly is.
Completely - and painfully - absent from this turd of a film is that Neville is tormented every night by his once best friends and neighbours who can’t get into his fortified abode. Vastly more touching than having to shoot his dog.
March 16th, 2008 at 8:54 am
I preferred this ending. So much better. Loved the movie, just wish there was more to it. How did she find him in that great big city. How did she find his home with him passed out. And how did they get off the island? I am thinking it must have been by boat as well.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I think this ending is better. A lot of people say this alternative ending is the “happy ending” of the two but I disagree. The other one ends with this uplifting hope of humanity in that they’ve found the cure, and there really is a collony to the north where humanity lives on.
In this alternative ending, they are driving out of the city (which shows character development on Neville’s part because he finally lets go of the city. They don’t have any idea if there really is a colony of people to the north, so I think it ends in a much better note that provokes further thought into the movie.
People say “well he has to DIE to become a legend!” Why does someone need to die before becoming a legend? He is possibly one of the last humans alive, is that not enough? What about the Legend of Zelda? Hah! By using a grenade and blowing up, I was actually laughing my ass off in the theatre. It’s like they tried to make another epic hero movie like 300, Gladiator, or The Matrix Revolution.
March 18th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Listen both endings where great, I think that the right decision was made though. In the book Neville dies and it should happen in the movie, but the alternate ending gave me a better sense of closure because when I walked out of the theatre I didn’t want to except the fact Will Smith had died.
March 19th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I liked the alternate ending much better. I hated the ending in the theaters. Could they make the poor guy suffer any more - first his family, then he has to kill the dog, then he dies! And why were the vamps super human - scaling the walls and hanging from the ceiling - they got a disease not Kryptonite!?
March 19th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
I have to admit, it was very moving. I just started watching the movie again, and that ending was a lot stronger than the theatrical version. If this ending had been there from the beginning, I would have put this movie on my MUST SEE list of all time. As it is, still an amazing movie, but with a weak ending
March 19th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
after watching the movie and seeing the ending of the theatrical version i also felt it wasn’t that strong and even though it made more since for him to call himself a legend i thought the second ending when he lives was worth going to see more because then it can give you a clear picture on the sequel which would be worth going to see if they use the non-theatrical version
March 19th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
the only problem with the second one is that he cant become a legend because he doesn’t take the cure.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
@Brelin -
That’s the point. The point is that he’s not a legend BECAUSE of the cure. The movie made that crap up. There is no cure.
March 20th, 2008 at 5:59 am
The theatrical version was better. I am sorry but the whole idea of zombies/vampires in love is pretty lame. I don’t care how the book was written. This was afterall a movie. I thought Will Smith was awesome. Running head on with the hand grenade was right on. Protect the woman and kid. His character had been through hell and back and was broken. He could not have lived and remained a normal human being. But like I said this is a movie and it is for entertainment. I was entertained!
March 20th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
i like the alternate ending better but what i dont get is in the alternate do they still have the cure
March 21st, 2008 at 1:13 am
About the disease and cure: Of course the movie and the book both draw on the METAPHOR of change or otherness being a form of disease.
The surprise with those humans infected is, they don’t necessarily die - they are just changed. In the course of months (?) they prove superior (in terms of physical strength, determination and selflessness, at least) to the up-to-then humans and colonize Earth, killing almost all of the homo sapiens sapiens variety.
Now, Neville is an exception, in that he cannot, for biological reasons, partake in this change of humanity - somehow, in comparison with the “diseased”, he is resiliant (which the movie translates as, He is immune to the virus.).
Being all alone, he makes up his own practice of (puppet-and-movie) idolatry (do the “diseased” have religion? If before the infection they had it, they have it afterward, I’d like to assume), we don’t know if before he was Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jew.
Very many people in here stated, the theatrical ending was the happier one, as at least there was a “cure”. Within the METAPHOR of illness this works very well, but try open your eyes…
Humans created an instrument to BIOLOGICALLY CHANGE THEMSELVES, i.e., the virus. I am somewhat concerned, that this alone seems not to be enough to cause a controversy about pharmacology and GM engineering (but, I know, in some of you’s eyes, I’m Old European…).
Pharmaceuticals and genetic engineering cause change in genes and behavior. So does the virus in the movie. How come, there is no controversy about that unfolding, questioning practices of “curing”, when within the “diseased” there is actually no suffering?
If I had one free wish, open your eyes… There’s much more to the movie than just splatter and suspense.
March 21st, 2008 at 9:57 am
I feel that the original ending was quite good even if it didn’t follow the book so much. I mean after the first remake thay had probably already started to stray from the book anyway. The ending with Will Smith’s character blowing him self up had almost a poetical sense (in a very sad way). I get what most of you people are saying but he had nothing else to live for in the end except protecting the cure. also another fact that earlier in the movie where the infected are depicted as mindless zombies does not fit well with this “alternate ending”. I think the alternate ending was probably just a big stunt to make more people buy the DVD anyway (strictly from a marketing perspective). This comment is simplay my views and you should probably just take it however you wish.
Peter F.
March 21st, 2008 at 2:15 pm
@ Peter -
The alternative was actually the original ending. They tested with audiences and reshot with 2 weeks to go.
So, you can chalk it up to Americans being stupid and pandering to the lowest common denominator.
March 21st, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I agree that the voice-over at the end of the original did tie up the movie nicely, and that in the original ending when the male dark seeker is banging against the plexi glass and you see the shape of a butterfly appear in the silence is beautiful, the original ending dissapointed me. It saddens me that they listened to the public on this one, because the alternate ending is very well written and makes the movie a must-see, whereas the one they re-shot is out-of place with the entire movie and in my opinion corny and to “wrapped up with a bow”. The alternate version is now the only version I will re-watch again and again.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:33 pm
i think the alternate ending was good but left more questions than the theatrical ending. i didnt like how all of a sudden they were civil whe
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:40 am
This movies a piece of crap in the first place. Will Smith was amazing as usual but seriously what the heck were they thinking when they made this crap! Why wreck an absolutely amazing book with the DEMON named HOLLYWOOD. And why use the same name of a book if you were to use nothing from it to make the film seriously.
Watch The Last Man on Earth or The Omega Man and get back to me.
I was so excited to see this movie and wanted to cry afterwords and what the hell was up with the jesus freaks! GOD IS THE ANSWER give me a break!
Sorry to you who liked it but I’m sure there’s millions out there with the same opinion as me I just needed to get this out there oops no hate speech sorry.
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:42 am
o yes Richard Matheson would be turning in his grave if he saw this adaptaion
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:59 pm
If you want something 100% faithful to the book, then read the book. Movies are adaptations, and directors are not obligated to just re-tell the story the same way. This is why it is called an adaptation.
I like the theatrical movie better but the alternative end made more sense to me and gave more depth to the infected people. The original movie feels a bit slower and more character driven though.
I would have liked to get a stronger message that Neville is really the monster. When he looks at all the faces of the ones he kills, we get that idea but not strongly enough. I do not like the last scene in the original, when she gets to the survivor camp.
I still liked the movie a lot.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:41 am
I can’t see the video….:-(
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Alternate ending was good, orgioanl was good, freat movie with great endings… i think maybe combining them both could have brought the perfect ending…. danm..
the dog still isn’t alive…
March 24th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Hate to break it to you guys, but the alternative ending sucked. Or, at least, it sucked without some additional scenes to set it up. My wife and I made the mistake and watching the “alternative ending” immediately after watching the original theatrical version of the film in its entirety, and when I saw the head-infected guy start doting over Will Smith’s human lab rat, I rolled my eyes in disgust. That ending just does NOT work.
I’m going to watch the alternative version of the movie in its entirety before making up my mind completely, however, so I suppose I might change my mind, especially if there are additional scenes in the alternative version that set it up.
But based on what I’ve seen so far, this alternative ending sucks. I get the feeling that a lot of the people in this thread have read the book and want the movie to approximate it, but movies are much more literal experience than books (that sounds strange, I know) because we experience them from the outside looking in, the same way we experience the real world. In other words, many things that cannot survive the plausability test in a movie can, in fact, survive it in a book. Not having read the book myself, I don’t know if this played into the decision to roll with the theatrical ending or not, but I know that I always leave the book out of it when I’m evaluating movies based upon books that I’ve read.
But here’s the real reason why the alternative ending DOES NOT WORK: Like it or not, the movie depicted the infected as crazed CGI with little to no intelligence, with one Uber-infected that seemed to have a bit more intelligence and somehow had power over the others. But they do NOTHING to humanize this Uber-undead, they merely make it look like he has somehow retained some of his higher brain functioning. So why am I mentioning all this?
Simple: Because you can’t suddenly turn the Uber-infected into a sympathetic creature at the last minute. Audiences will roll their eyes in disgust because it does not pass the plausability test.
This may have been the better ending, but they’d have needed to make an all-around better movie to support it. With the movie they’ve got, the original ending is the better one.
I’m guessing that the studio execs made the right decision here, given the film they had in the can.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Hey, I love how all the comments on this site are concantenated by the border so you can’t really read them. And juding by most of the responses here, I’d say that’s just about right.
March 25th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I like this ending far better, the person or persons who said to use the other are asses, how many Virologist do they think survived the outbreak! You would need someone who had his notes and the samples to cure the population in the end and that would take many more years because you would have to weaponize the cure in order to insure that everyone one received the Cure! I even wrote an alternate ending myself, I told others that it would take from three to five sec for the grenade to go off, but they said I was stupid for saying how it had ending wrong. Also remember that we all saw those guys standing around him in the trailers so there had to be a better ending! I also explained who in part two how the virus was continuing to change the infected and that their abilities were increasing, and that they were becoming more like the vampires of legend! Dr. Neville had gone out on a search for more gin pigs to test how well the cure would work , because they could not afford to wait three or four day for it to work, he was developing a faster process to assimilate the cure into the infected! But during their search they encounter a new type of infected and they are running out of time the infected are have more trouble find food in the cities which provide them protection from the day light so they are having to expand their search for food outside the cities which in time have them come toward and humans that are left in the would in camps, this only protection right now is that they are far from any protection for the infected , but as their powers has expanded so has their range of movement throughout the country. So if Neville dose not complete his cure soon their will be now one left, because they will be food for the infected.
March 25th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
P., you don’t make a lot of sense to me. I don’t know if it is bad english or bad ideas…
The way I would have ended it, would be to make a new virus (from the original one that infected people) that I would have given to the girl and returned her to her kind. It would work as a second wave to either cure or eliminate the zombies/vampires.
BUT, the theme that Neville has himself become the monster and that the vampires were now the norm is a strong idea and I think it should have been made more prominent.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Richard Matheson would be turning in his grave if he saw this adaptaion
————————————————————————
Hey, Matt, Matheson is still alive and he signed off on the script.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
This does give the creatures a little more human appeal like in the end of the book. But it does nothing to for bravery that Robert Neville showed in the book like in the original ending. Robert gave his life in the end for what he thought was truely right and that is why he was a legend. It ended that way in the original ending and the book. I am Legend, This is his Legend. Learn from it. R.I.P. Sam
March 28th, 2008 at 7:30 am
wow. if you guys pay attention all the bridges get blown out right before his wife and daughter die. yet in the end of the alternate ending they cross the bridge? i dont see how that works.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:25 am
this ending is much better. all is left - to read the book
March 29th, 2008 at 11:46 am
I thought the alternate ending was awful. As a playwright and an actor, I did not see the ending fit with the themes in the rest of the film. The ending certainly fit better with the theme of the book, but here’s a secret, the movie wasn’t a book…
That being said I do have to agree that overall the script was not a great adaptation of the book because it did not follow the theme, mood, and message of the novel, but you can’t change that in the last five minutes. The alternate ending took every theme that had been building up the entire film and said, “No, we were wrong.” It wasn’t just the character realizing he was wrong, but it was the film makers announcing that they weren’t on the right path.
I can see how someone would like the alternate ending better, I personally prefer the original ending as a spiritual person. Isolated, the alternate is fine, but included with the rest of the theme packed film it doesn’t fit at all.
I think a huge part of that is because it seems like Will Smith was acting toward the theatrical ending and not the alternate. Robert Neville in the book became a cold man who hunted down vampires just because they were evil. Though we are rooting for him the whole time, we realize in the end that he was blind and callus. In the film however, Nevile was a man who wanted nothing more to save the world from the pain and torment he and his family had to feel. Ending the book with Neville becoming the Legendary monster fit perfectly with the book, but a more fitting ending for the film was Neville becoming a Legendary hero.
March 30th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
The problem with the alternate ending is that it actually is straying from the book just as much as the theatrical ending did.
In the novel the vampires that were closer to human weren’t that way because they had evolved, the bacteria did evil, but they never did. The reason why they were more human is because they hadn’t died yet; they only became beasts after dying. That being said the living vampires in the book were much more human (because they were) than the ones in the movie, and they still wanted Neville dead. In the novel the vampires took Neville to be executed. The vampires were bloodthirsty for him. Not because they were monsters, but because they thought Neville was a monster.
To make the vampires soft compassionate innocent creatures at the end of the film is stupid! The alternate ending presented the monsters as more enlightened than Neville was. It is true that he was blinded by his obsession with finding a cure and his isolation, but the infected had been hunted down for years by Neville, and this was the last straw. Why would these characters, who were known for going out and killing other uninfected humans let the man the had vengeance for live?
The best ending would be a synergism between the two. There is no reason why Neville shouldn’t have still given the antidote to Anna. Neville gets the antidote from the infected girls blood and gives it to Anna, telling her and Ethan to hide until dawn. Neville then opens the door knowing the leader wants his woman back. The infected leader takes his woman and clings to her. Neville sees the pictures of his specimens/victims on the wall and realizes that they are all still human. Then the leader commands the rest of them to attack their monster. They grab Neville dragging him out and tear him apart. Anna and Ethan hear the terrifying scenes outside and then silence. Ethan goes to open the door, but Anna stops him when she hears someone outside. One of the infected is inspecting the door, but one calls him back. Deciding that he is satisfied with their revenge, he lives them. The next morning Anna and Ethan seek refuge in Vermont and find the commune there just had she thought.
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:58 am
i disagree with whoever says the alternate ending was better. robert neville was legend because he lived through what happened. unfortunately, the zombies/vampires got through and he couldnt control that. he created the cure. that was the most important part. that he did something that amazing. he is legend because he died. i hated the alternate ending. it was chilling having the zombie,vampire that close to him, but it didnt really make sense because that kindof stuff just doesnt happen. robert neville should have died either way. it was a fantastic movie though.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:02 pm
What I couldn’t understand about the film was how a Lt. Colonel in the army could afford a 4 story brownstone on Washington Square?
Also, if he has the ability to set up a transmitter to broadcast on all AM frequencies, why didn’t he monitor Shortwave frequencies? He could have found out about the survivor colony years before.
Maybe I’m thinking about it too hard.
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:14 pm
It seems evident that he was a biologist first, then recruited in the Army. It may have been quite rich before his recruitment.
He could also have come from a family with money, or his wife did.
April 5th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
The theatrical ending fit the film WAY WAY better because the whole film, they had an underlying theme of “love”. For instance, the poster that said “God still loves us” Another thing that demonstrated that theme was that Neville devoted what was left of his life to finding a cure and helping others. He died protecting the cure, Anna, and Ethan. That was sacrificial love. It also didn’t make any sense at all to have the darkseekers as cold, evil, monsters the whole movie, and then, just randomly, the monsters care, and Neville feels apologetic for