Non-theatrical footage in DVD releases (like its frequent neighbor, the commentary track) is a double-edged sword, and few kinds of footage are as controversial as alternate endings. Pre-DVD, there were, of course, films with alternate endings for artistic reasons (Dawn of the Dead) or films that used the idea intentionally for effect (Clue), but these are isolated examples that prove the rule in the pre-DVD age. In 2008 every other horror B-movie and cult science fiction film has an alternate ending among its special features. Directors are fully aware during filming that they can have their cake and eat it too, and some DVDs – 28 Days Later, for example – suggest their directors indulged a bit too heavily.
Given the difficulty of interpreting the material, I Am Legend is an unsurprising new entry in the alternate-ending catalog, and this ending was the focus of much of the buzz around the DVD release on March 18. I wrote about the book and the previous film adaptations here and here. In an (apparently valid) bit of pessimism, I didn’t go see the film in theaters, although anyone looking for a review of the film itself can get a pretty good one here that hits all the key reasons why this doesn’t do the book justice. Here I’m going to talk strictly about the ending (with spoilers galore, of course).
The theatrical ending is absolutely terrible and probably pulls a C+ film into D+ territory on its own. What little optimism I did have about this film rested on the possibility that it would be faithful to the original story. Using the original character’s name, Robert Neville, and using the book’s original title seemed to suggest this might be possible.
The meaning of the book’s title is not obvious – The Last Man on Earth, the title for the Vincent Price version, is a far more literal and marketable title for the story, as is Omega Man. As the original story progresses, the hero’s actions, clear-cut at the beginning, become morally questionable. In the end, the man who is trying to save the world is (arguably) a source of fear and an obstacle to society’s re-establishment. He is legendary as a well-intentioned monster.
In I Am Legend’s theatrical ending, there’s no room for such subtleties. Neville is instead legendary because he sacrificed himself – in a garish grenade explosion, no less – to protect the cure he has finally discovered. Any remaining confusion (or ambiguity) is stomped out by a tactless voiceover that’s sure to include the word “legend.” Granted, The Omega Man distorts the plot in the same way, but TOM is so far removed from the book’s story, with its own themes of survival and luddism, that it’s less offensive. I Am Legend is ostensibly truer to the material, but if anything, even less true to the final message, which is more frustrating.
The alternate ending can be viewed here. It’s a considerable improvement. It shows some belated depth for the “hemocytes” and doesn’t end in an explosion. But it’s not even remotely faithful to the book’s difficult ending, as the hero is still just that. It’s disappointing, particularly for a non-theatrical alternate in which the filmmakers presumably had a lot of leeway. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to pessimists like me, but any optimists mislead by the tone of articles like the one linked above should be forewarned.
Tags: alternate ending, I Am Legend
