When I reviewed I Am Legend with Will Smith I ranted at length that the ending of the movie was so incredibly bad that it ruined whatever value was there in the movie. If you haven’t read the review, I will simply say that it was pretty much a bizzaro-world ending – an opposite-day ending so to speak. It took the message from Matheson’s original story and reversed it glorifying Robert Neville as a true hero, where the book condemned him as a monster. It was monumental stupidity in a grand Hollywood style – not so much surprising, as disappointing.
Imagine my surprise that I found out that there is an alternate ending to the movie included on the DVD release, and that this ending is much closer to that of Matheson’s! It turns out that the director and the writers actually read the book, and most likely planned to end it on the same note as the original, but then at the last minute they ripped it out and replaced it with that infantile, idiotic bullshit that we saw in the theaters.
Fortunately, some helpful soul posted the alternate ending online can be seen online so that I didn’t have to actually buy the DVD to see it. I already paid $10 to see it at my local theater, and I feel that I overpaid for it anyway. I really don’t want to support playing fast and loose with the source of the adaptation to make the movie shallower, and therefore more accessible to IDIOTS. They tricked me into watching it once – they won’t get my money again.
That said, if you felt cheated like me, this few minute grainy video is worth watching. It is not perfect, but it illustrates what this movie could have been if it was not butchered on the cutting floor. Pay close attention to the moment in which Neville slumps down on the floor and looks at the wall. You can’t see it in this low-res video but on that wall are are the pictures of all his former “patients” who did not survive the treatment. This my friends is the essence of the story – the moment when Neville realizes that he is not a hero, but a butcher. I won’t say they nailed it, but in the context of all the changes they made to the original, it was true to Matheson’s idea in spirit.
This ending also explains few scenes that have been a topic of heated discussions. For example, who moved Fred? After watching the movie I was convinced that Neville had to move the mannequin himself, and then in a fit of hysteria he caught himself into his own trap. I based this interpretation on the fact that at no other point in the movie the infected were never shown to be capable of analytic intelligent thought. That single scene stands out because it suggests that:
- They moved Fred
- They set a trap for Neville
- They set up an ambush for him
- They were able to domesticate the infected dogs which they used in this scene
All of this didn’t make sense with the original ending. If you think about it, you will realize that the scene was filmed with the assumption that the infected are in fact intelligent, and social creatures as it is revealed in the alternate ending. The scene could not be removed after the ending was changed because it is a pivotal turning point of the movie so it was left in without any obvious alterations. This created a plot hole or discrepancy that bothered many viewers – including me.
Which ending do you prefer? I believe that most people who read Matheson’s story will prefer the alternate ending, since it is closer to the source. That’s a given. But I wonder how those of you who didn’t read it will like it. Do you consider it better? More interesting? More edgy? Would it make the movie better, or would it ruin it for you? Would it confuse you? I think it is simply a better ending, whether you read the book or not but then again, my opinion is probably biased.
Another note (since i am a fan of the original story, and the Vincent Price adaptation) was if you watched some of the animated shorts that came out before the movie was released (and are included in the DVD special features) you learn that the infected are still somewhat intelligent, but see their surroundings differently.
In the shorts, they view the immune and non-infected humans as being the monsters, and attack them to”protect” themselves.
They definitely butchered the theater version, but the alternate ending made watching it much more worthwhile IMO.
I haven’t read the book, but the alternate ending was way better than schmaltzy hollywood ending I sat through at the theatre.
Never read the original story, but I thought the alternate ending was better.
THEY MOVED FRED
I was right dammnit
Yup, and I was wrong. :) It’s all because of the silly theatrical ending.
This ending made the movie make much more sense. And it is also *closer* to the book I suppose. So I liked it better than the theatrical ending. However, had this been the ending in the theater, I’d have still been disappointed.
__SPOILER ALERT__
I loved the way Neville was in the book – a tanned blond bearded thor-god. Huge, muscular, and merciless in wiping out the vampires by day. Neville of this story was a scientist, like in the book (although probably of overblown importance in the movie) – but the vampires were much more fierce, and dangerous. This forced Neville to be a scaredy-pants who wet himself anytime the vampires were around. Rightfully so too. Book Neville was cautious, he knew they could kill him, but he was far more potent an opponent – which is why the twist was so much better. Book Neville was the “bad guy” coming in the day to murder loved ones, the way vampires are traditionally seen as the “bad guy” coming in the night to murder loved ones. There could be no such twist with movie Neville, who couldn’t have been all that scary to these uber-men.
I also missed the real human element in Neville some. Smith was very good, but I wanted him to have a vampire he knows, but doesn’t want to kill, like in the book. I wanted him to beg for the dog to come in to his garage, and be heart broken when the vampires get it & turn it. I wanted him to experiment with the vampires more than the disease. I wanted him to wilfully deceive himself when he meets another person, just to have some company. This wasn’t possible in the movie because the way they created the vampires.
Ah well, maybe in 30 years they’ll do a third remake.
@Garrick – forgot to comment on this earlier – have you seen these shorts on youtubes anywhere? I’d love to see them, but I don’t feel like buying (or even renting) the DVD for just that reason.
I wonder why they didn’t put this stuff in the actual movie. Do they really think so lowly about their target audience that they stripped it down out of anything that could be even remotely confusing?
@jambarama – Actually, I believe the original Neville was not a scientist. I think he worked in some factory – I vaguely remember parts of the book mentioning him carpooling with his neighbor or something.
This sort of made him more human. He did try to figure out what was causing the disease but he was struggling when reading the biology books he got from the library. I remember being frustrated with the character at that point. I was like “DUDE! It is not that hard!”
But you’re right. It would make for a much better movie. This ending by no means redeems the movie. It is still very flawed and has very little in common with the novel.
@ Luke – I know they showed the shorts on television (I think I saw one at a bar, since I don’t get cable, and don’t generally watch TV).
They had also had the shorts on the Apple Quicktime trailers site.
I found the pages, but it looks like the movies have been removed since then (try http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/iamlegendisolation/)
Do a search for “I am Legend: Awakening” and “I am Legend: Isolation”.
They were all animated by DC comics Vertigo.
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I saw the movie, without prior knowledge of the book, and the ending sucked. I didn’t like the religious overtone or the fact that Nevielle was a self sacrificing saint. It just didn’t seem to fit in. It was so clear to me that the vampire didn’t came to slaughter Nevielle, but to rescue the leaders big love from the monster.
But the alternate ending made the movie so good. To realise that the person you routed for, you tought was the good guy, was actually the monster. A big schocker and made me think. Someone ought to be slapped with a curled up newspaper for ruining a superb ending.
I KNEW IT! I KNEW ROBERT DIDN’T MOVE FRED!
even if my mother said otherwise.
never read the novel, both of us, but both of us preferred the alternate ending.
the theatrical ending, to put it so “eloquently”, was dumb.