Say what you will about the film I am Legend. You’re either a huge fan of the Richard Matheson novella and you hated the movie or you love Will Smith and he can do no wrong — or maybe, like me, you’re somewhere in the middle. I’ve always loved the Matheson story and I also liked the movie. Well, at least until the third act and the ending, which didn’t work for me at all.
Well, once again, thanks to the power of the Internets (via SlashFilm), we can now experience an alternative ending for the film not shown in theaters. This ending, certainly a more upbeat one, was most-likely shown during its original test screenings before release. It probably didin’t test well with audiences, for whatever reason, so the ending shown in theaters was used instead.
If you haven’t seen the film already, you might not want to watch this as it will certainly contain spoilers. If you have seen the movie and were let down by the third act as I was, then this ending might be the one you were hoping for all along.
Either way, enjoy.
UPDATE: It looks like this one is being taken down faster than anyone can post it. We’ll try to find a more stable version of the video, but in the meantime I’ve provided a quick synopsis of what was in the video in the comments thread for this article. – RM
UPDATE: Looks like some enterprising person has posted the ending here. Get it while its hot.
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I just tried to watch it and got a "Sorry, this video is no longer available." message.
(March 5, 2008; 2:25 eastern standard time)
Ah, the video is being posted, removed, reposted and removed at frighteningly fast speed.For those who missed it, here's a quick synopsis:The clip picks up with the trio of survivors, Robert Neville, Anna and Ethan, barricaded in Neville's laboratory in a small room partitioned from the rest of the lab with thick glass. Along with them is the lone infected human (sedated) whose body has shown signs of fighting off the plague. The infected humans are destroying the lab, and the "alpha male" is hurling himself against the glass. The glass is breaking, Neville is screaming for them to stop, and that he can help them if they would just stop attacking him.This is all pretty much in line with the film. Here's where the alternate ending diverges, however:The "alpha male" suddenly pauses, gestures towards the infected female human inside the room with Neville. Neville and the Alpha Male look at one another for a while in silence. Then Neville puts down his gun and begins removing the IV tubes from the sedated female. Anna asks him what he's doing, but Neville asks her to open the door to the rest of the lab. She grudgingly opens the door and Neville rolls the gurney out into the masses of infected humans while they roar and hiss at him.He removes the final IV tube, and the female regains consciousness. The Alpha Male roars, then roars at her, then roars at Neville. The Alpha Male and the female coo at each other a bit as the rest of the infected surround Neville, hissing at him. The Alpha Male picks up the female, roars at Neville once more, who quietly says, "I'm sorry."The Alpha Male urges the infected to get away from Neville, ushers them out the door and Neville sinks to the ground with his back to the glass of the laboratory room where Anna and Ethan remain. End scene.The next scene has the trio driving across a bridge in an SUV with Anna narrating. Neville's constant radio broadcast has now changed to Anna's voice, and includes Anna and Ethan in the list of survivors, and notification that they are heading to Vermont together. The film ends with Anna telling anyone who hears the broadcast, "You are not alone."
You're either … hated the movie or you love Will Smith and he can do no wrong — or maybe, like me, you're somewhere in the middleHate it, love it, or in the middle. Yeah. It's probably one of those.