All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
Francis Lawrence’s post-apocalyptic thriller starring Will Smith as a scientist turned vampire killer isolated in a nightmarish metropolis after a worldwide epidemic, left many (myself included) stupefied with the myriad of loopholes and unexplained phenomena.
Good news: I Am Legend’s DVD release, slated to hit shelves March 18, may redeem the film’s shortcomings thanks to an alternate ending.
Luckily, we won’t have to wait that long — the extra ending (embedded right) has surfaced on YouTube.
Alternate endings don’t add much to the overall experience (unless we’re talkin’ Clue or Army of Darkness), but in I Am Legend’s case, those additional three or four minutes of subtle exploration into the societal complexities and tension between the day and nightwalker communities injected a much needed dose of scariness and depth to the film.
Plus, the Hollywood version that dropped the survivors off in that strangely utopian, heavily guarded safe-house in upstate New York was way too reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan’s village from The Village — which, for starters, may not have been the best movie role model. Just sayin’.
Underwire readers, watch and discuss, and then vote. Which version was better — the alternate or theatrical ending?
