Miss Mango

Who Saw I am Legend !?!

Well I did and I really enjoyed it, did not read the book either, but I still found the movie entertaining...but honestly the ending did partly ruin it for me.. as it did for others, but I saw this one and I am so pleased with it, it should of been shown as the original ending in the theaters.. Take Look .. Tell me what you think!?!

Youve been warned - everything from this point forward contains spoilers. Proceed at your own risk!

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/03/...is-is-amazing/

Willravel

It's good they had a more faithful ending. It's a shame I couldn't see it on the big screen.

blahblah454

I enjoyed this ending much more. I have not yet read the book but I plan on it as soon as I get a chance to pick it up.

UKking

I actually prefer the theatrical ending. It was pretty obvious and simple, but it fit the tone of the film (particularly the third act) very well and I liked how it gave Neville a good, manly, heroic ending.

This original ending, while more faithful to the novel (I haven't read it but I know the ideas the ending follows), I don't think is as faithful to it as that website claims (it doesn't make it clear, or really even imply the 'reversal of the legend' idea) and I think it disrupts the tone of the film for a faux-intelligent conclusion... it feels like a cop-out to me. The first ending might not be very clever but it does a nice job of rounding off the film's plot and adhering to its tone.

And it's not just that I hate endings of films which don't fit the style or tone so far - see There Will Be Blood, which I loved.

kligger

i liked this ending 100x better, the old ending ruined it for me, i thought the first half of the film was pretty darn good, but itd be interesting to see if this helped it as a whole in my eyes. i guess i have to wait till the dvd is released to decide!

Redjake

Jesus, this one is ten times better than the theatrical ending. They should have went with this one...........

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intecel

I will agree that they should have gone with this ending... I was extremely disappointed by the theatrical one.

Charlatan

This ending works in ways the other ending didn't. I especially liked that it closed the loop on the head vampire's odd actions (leaping into the light when his woman is taken and setting the trap for him).

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kligger

that was a part that really bugged me in the theatrical release but with this ending it made it justified and actually added more to the story for me

*Nikki*

I don't know. I liked both endings!

Pac-man04

I read the book a long time ago back when I was in Jr. High. I was really excited to see this movie hoping that it would be better than The Omega Man which was based on the book. I like the movie but compared to the book it is completely different. If I had to choose between the book and the movie I think that I would pick the book. If they could make a move exactly like the book it would be awesome!!

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"He's the best of us. The best of our best, the best that each of us will ever build or ever love. So pray for this Guardian of our growth and choose him well, for if he be not truly blest, then our designs are surely frivolous and our future but a tragic waste of hope. Bless our best and adore for he doth bear our measure to the Cosmos."

"You are
What you do
When it counts"

DonnieBoy

Damn, makes me wish I had spent the extra 4 bucks for the 2disc version... oh well.

I liked this ending but I think the theatrical ending better suited the tone of the movie.

ratbastid

Exactly. Without that, Neville is a complete moron. "Oh, gee, I guess there was a trap there. The infected couldn't have put it there--they're too stupid. But let me now not wonder about that for 45 minutes. Maybe the audience will forget about it too and I won't ever have to explain the thing that motivated the fourth and fifth acts...."

I was PISSED about that trap not being dealt with in the theatrical release. This new ending shows us there was a whole subtext going on there--it was personal, the head vampire must have stalked him, watched him interact with the mannequin in the hoodie, watched him set the trap that caught the girl, learned from him... there's way WAY more to them than Neville is aware of. And he's been killing them like they're spoiled meat. That moment, when he looks up at the pictures of his dead subjects is maybe the darkest moment in the whole film--that's where "the legend turns".

noodle

I liked both endings.
But, I totally "got" the relationship between the two vampires from the time Neville took her. I didn't realize that other people didn't understand that. I think clarifying it in the second ending was well done. But I liked it when they go their revenge, too.

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UKking

I understand what you mean, but I disagree that without the original ending, Neville becomes a moron. Sure, the theatrical ending doesn't go into the idea that the infected can be intelligent to the same depth that the original one does, but I thought it was obvious that Neville hadn't set the trap. The film implies that the vampire set it up (and observed and learned from Neville's behaviour) without making it the central theme, and although a film developed around these ideas would have been good, it wouldn't have been the film we ended up with. And what that means is that the original ending would have linked with the scene with the trap, but with little else in the film, and would have pissed off a lot of people (and let's not pretend that the main aim of I Am Legend was to explore the human psyche and blah blah blah - it was a big horror thriller with Will Smith and that's it).

I think that trying to go too far into the film's subtexts and depths gives it way more respect than it deserves - it's not a good film. Entertaining, but not especially well thought-out or deep. I think that the original ending would have done more damage to the film than good - it's an ending better suited to a different type of film altogether.

RetroGunslinger

Now if only there was an alternate third act.

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Miss Mango

Like what? How would you like it to end?

RetroGunslinger

Like the book. It's perfectly film-worthy, and makes more sense. Of course, it would really help if the vampires didn't look like shite, but I could let that pass if it ended like the book and earned its title.

Don't get me wrong though. I enjoy this ending much more than the final version, but it still doesn't keep with the book the way it should have. I realize that movies almost never stay close to the book they're based on, but this is a case where it's simply inexcusable. If they had kept with the original twist with the woman, taken out the kid, and brought in the group from the book, it would have made me simply giddy. Hell, I even thought that Will Smith did a fantastic job, and despite it not being 100% accurate, I enjoyed the film up until just after what happens to the dog, and then it went downhill.

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It's a rare pleasure in this world to get your mind fucked. Usually it's just foreplay.

M.B. Keene

smoore

Very cool. The film totally derailed for me with the trap. I didn't get that the zombie laid the trap for him and was left confused. Obviously being the last man in NYC, the zombies MUST have set that trap but it wasn't explained at all.

I suppose I should read the book.

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smoore

PlanG

Just seen it and it is definitely an improvement on the one shown in cinemas.


However, I would love to see the full book plot acted out though. It could have the hollywood effects, just the Spoiler: new culture of vampires who have grown intelligent, and eventually manage to capture Neville himself, where he realises he is now the legend, not the vampires. is far more moving than either film endings.

I don't see why they couldn't have done that for a special feature? This one is still too standard for me. If it isn't for the big screen, why can't they pay homage to one of the great story endings of all time?