I
Am Legend is based on Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name
and stars Will Smith as our pragmatic hero Robert Neville, a US Army
virologist who believes himself to be the last human alive after a
mutant strain of the measles virus (masking as a cure for cancer)
which decimates the human population.
The story begins with the
quarantining of New York City and director Francis Lawrence masterfully uses
flashbacks to tell the tale of how this disaster occurred. In the
present, Neville and his loyal dog Sam search the city for survivors
during the day and hopefully a cure for this malignant virus.
Unfortunately for Neville, this virus has caused the survivors of
humanity to be turned into murderous vampire killers as he carefully
balances a game of sanity versus insanity. Without spoiling this
impressive film, Smith is brilliant in I am Legend as his sidekick
Sam who work extremely well together and are both quite believable.
Will
Smith plays a likeable and humanistic character whom the viewer
automatically has a relationship with and best of all, this current
incarnation also contains the controversial ending, unlike the
original theatrical version which did not give the movie a true sense of
closure. The movie is a great ride from start to finish and match
that with some state of the art special effects and this is the
perfect Hollywood blockbuster movie come to Blu-Ray.
The video quality of I Am Legend if phenomenal with high definition
video footage that is exceptionally sharp with vibrant colours. Some
scenes in the movie are truly awe-inspiring as the attention to
detail is quite amazing. The movie also comes with Dolby TrueHD
which makes good use of the bass and speakers which means if you
truly wish to experience this movie as it was made, you need a
decent surround sound setup as the audio is exceptional.
For lovers of special features, I Am Legend contains both versions
of the movie and some interesting animated comics, a great
featurette entitled "The Science of I Am Legend' that gives a create
insight into the science behind the movie and "Creating I am Legend"
which is documentary of the making of this film.
We could easily
recommend this movie to all action/adventure movie buffs and what
really sets this film apart from the market at the moment is the
outstanding video and audio quality plus a great story that had me
drawn in from start to finish.
Special Features:
Alternate Theatrical Version with Controversial Ending
4 Awesome Animated Comics - Death as a Gift, Isolation, Sacrificing
the Few for the Many, and Shelter
Creating I Am Legend: Chronicling the Movie's Creation
Cautionary Tale: The Science of I Am Legend - exploring the history
and current status of life-threatening viral infections
