This alternate ending to I Am Legend is (IMHO) far superior to the abrupt version in the theatrical release, and fits in better with something that happens in the film about midway through.
At one point in the movie when Will Smith’s character took the lead zombie’s mate away from them, the zombie reacted with extreme rage, indicating that there was some vestige of humanity left in them. But throughout the rest of the movie we never saw any more hint of that, which felt… “unfinished.”
Well this clip addresses that very nicely, plus ( —— SPOILER ALERT —— ) doesn’t have that nihilistic ending with Will Smith dying. I don’t know why they didn’t go with this ending… maybe they thought it was too cliched for Will Smith to survive – but in this case I think it would only have made the film better.
Source: GameTrailers.com
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I agree,
I think this ending is vastly better than that of the theatrical version. Those guys really freak the hell out of me though
SPOILER ABOUT THE BOOK! I Am Legend the book features Neville killing himself, only because a race of Vampires were more human-like and one of them warned him to escape to the mountains. He didn’t and he’s captured by this new vampire, and he’s set for execution for killing so many of the others.
Btw, the “other” vampires can still talk, but they’re desperate to kill him. The new ones are more civilized.
heath
I completely agree with you here Vic, this ending was so much better than the one that ran with the movie in theaters. Plus this didn’t have the corny “this is his legend” line at the end. This ending actually gave a feeling of humanism to the vampires.
In the original movie that this one is based on, the lead character Dr. Neville dies at the end. I think that the studio did not want to go against the original. And yes, the book takes from the original movie with the talking and the trial.
i liked the theatrical one a lot more
and anyway, if he doesn’t die, then how can he a legend? (the title is I AM LEGEND for a reason)
The tittle wasn’t “I Am Legend” because he died. It was because of what he became while he was alive. He became a mythical, legendary monster. He became to the vampire like creatures what vampires are to us. To us, a vampire is a mythical, legendary monster hunts people and kidnaps women and takes them back to his lair and turns them into one of him. In “I Am Legend,” Will Smith hunts Darkseekers and kidnaps a woman and takes her back to his lair and turns her into one of him. He became a monster to the new civilization of people. A myth. A legend. That’s what the tittle originally referred to in the movie and that was the way the book intended it.
I prefer the this ending to the theatrical, it still isn’t the ending I wanted but, it had some of the spirit of the novel. Neville realizing these things aren’t as mindless as he thought by looking at the wall of all the ones he’s killed.
I don’t really think the theatrical ending was nihilistic at all, yeah Neville sacrifices himself but it’s still a hopeful ending. With this one it leaves it ambiguous as to whether there is a colony of surviors. Still hate the woman doing the voice over at the end.
It’s been pulled…uh oh…another useless post
Drat, I would have liked to have seen that!
The theatrical ending is better and less abrupt (although the other ending is not terrible, just lacking).
You can see the theatrical ending on the extras on the special edition DVD and Blu-Ray.
Correction:
I totally agree. The alternative ending is better, less abrupt and finishes the story better (although the cinema ending is not terrible, just lacking).
You can see the theatrical ending on the extras on the special edition DVD and Blu-Ray.
(Please ignore/delete my previous comment. That’s what happens when you are distracted! lol)
I much preferred the ending they put on mainstream release. It doesn’t conform to the standard Hollywood happy ending, and also if they chose the alternative ending, the name of the film wouldn’t have much significance in my eyes. He was the one who found a cure, he died after passing that cure on. As said in the film it is his legacy which caries on.
maybe he starts the legend because he claims that the vampires still have human emotions and intelligence capabilities and so because he survived this close encounter with the vampires he is a legend!
I have to disagree. I saw this ending on the DVD, and think it is pretty cheesy. It also drags on quite a bit and kills the pacing. One of the main reasons why I think this ending is bad is the fact that on one hand, they are supposed to be intelligent enough to be able to communicate, yet they don’t really communicate, they just roar at each other. How do they know he was roaring to tell them to not eat him or roaring to tell them to eat him faster?? lol
Anyway, I just think it’s just too jarring compared to how they are portrayed in the rest of the movie. I personally like the theatrical version better. But I guess this ending would have made it better for a sequel…
It’s supposed to be jarring. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a twist. I do agree that it came off kind of cheesier than it could have though. But I think the idea behind it is much better than the theatrical ending.
@Gary
I don’t mean it’s jarring in an “Oh wow” twist kind of way, it’s jarring in the, “this is hard to take serious” kind of way… The CGI monsters are already kind of bad, for them to do such long steady cuts with them “hissing” at Will Smith it was more than cheesy for me…
I don’t think I get what you’re getting at apart from the fact that practical effects are better than CGI. But my point still stands: The fact that Will Smith’s character became the “Legend” by becoming the monster is more interesting than exploding the vampires with a grenade.
I agree. So much better! The flick was decidedly average, this could have made it halfway decent!
come on people read Garys post.. think of the monsters as us and as Will smith as the monster .. if there was a monster killing us it would become a legend.. think were wolfs, Frankenstein .
Thats exatly what the book gets at and this ending follows his idea much better than the actual ending did. The idea of the vampires seeing us as the enemy. He is not a legend because of his discovery of the cure but because he is a legend or myth similar as to what we think of vampires as, unreal but still an fear. He is a legend because when he kills himself he is the end of the vampires fear.
I think they should think better befoere killing him in the first movie, if they were thinking in doing another.
….ow, ow…and I absolutly loved the alternate version instead!!just go with the ending that he manages to escape tro the back door, I think the fans would aproveit it, above all!
The reason for this was Will blurted out the ending during a talk show. The studio was angry that Will outed the ending and ordered another ending to be shot which ended up in the cinema released.
It still messes up the ending. In the book, Neville realizes that he is the last human and that the “vampires” are now the new normal. This all happens as he awaits execution. He declares, “I am legend” knowing that humans will fade into myth as the new society takes over.
This ending still leaves open the war, as it were, and that humans have not passed on.
THEY. ARE. NOT. ZOMBIES!
They are vampires created by a paricite in the air as described by the book.
Well i kinda expected an ending like before the grenade exploded he was thrown to the back of the room cause of the leader and survived but half burnt well thats my guess haha still i find it kinda weird he stayed 3 years in that city and he found a way out… o.o anyway pretty good hope they make a good movie not like all the other sequels