I Am Legend Robert Is Keeping His Family Safe
Warning: SPOILERS for I Am Legend are in play. If y'all've never seen the film before, it's now available on Prime Video for viewing.
There are a couple movies out there that, despite their rather apocalyptic theme, you're probably going to exist tempted to stream. Films like Contagion, Outbreak and even Will Smith's viral epic I Am Legend, are all finding new popularity with folks who are trying to handle the COVID-19 pandemic through a sort of fictional catharsis. If that final motion-picture show in particular is of involvement to you during quarantine, there's something you should know: the alternate ending wrapped things upwardly way better than the theatrical ending that we got.
Yes, folks, it's fourth dimension for another tale of a movie that kind of lost its fashion in the reshoots, as I Am Legend's "controversial" catastrophe was changed into something that was more adequate to audiences. Why was it and then controversial? Did those butterflies really mean annihilation? Is Sam notwithstanding the goodest girl in this ending? All of those questions and more are nearly to exist answered as nosotros await at two paths that diverge on the studio lot, and we're almost to venture down both of them.
Last warning, both endings to I Am Legend are going to be spoiled. So if you're slap-up on visiting this 12-year-former blockbuster with fresh eyes, caput over to Prime number Video, equally it's but put the film into its streaming library for you to enjoy. Otherwise, scrub upwards and join us equally we head into the examination room to see just where things went kinda/sorta wrong for I Am Fable.
What's In I Am Legend'due south Theatrical Catastrophe?
Information technology should exist noted that both versions of I Am Fable are pretty much the same, up to one crucial sequence. The story of Dr. Robert Neville (Volition Smith) plays out identically, with him roaming the metropolis, trying to cure the Krippen Virus that turned humanity into the Darkseekers (or Hemocytes, equally they're more pleasingly named in the DVD subtitles) and ultimately meeting fellow human survivors Anna (Alice Braga) and Ethan (Charlie Tahan).
Withal, it's in the final moments of I Am Legend'southward big third human activity finale, with the Blastoff Male person (Nuance Mihok) and his young man Hemocytes overrunning Neville's base of operations, that the film takes its large divergence. For reference, here's the clip of the theatrical ending, which will definitely come in handy after:
The theatrical ending of I Am Fable has Neville telling Anna and Ethan that the Hemocytes won't terminate chasing them. And wouldn't y'all know, the set on happens just every bit his cure for KV is starting to work on a random female Hemocyte he had captured for testing. Not his showtime test subject, the proficient doctor had killed many of these creatures in the name of his human trials, simply she would be his last.
Handing Anna a vial of his exam subject'south blood, he stashes her and Ethan in a rubber space. Deciding to sacrifice himself for their safety, Neville pulls the pin on a grenade and charges into the Hemocyte scrum headfirst, killing the Alpha Male person and his army.
Anna and Ethan are saved, and during her terminal monologue describing how Dr. Robert Neville cured the Krippen Virus in his final moments, we run across the two venturing to Vermont, in search of a survivor colony. At the very end of I Am Fable, Anna discovers the colony is notwithstanding active, and hands over the vial of cured blood to the government.
What The Theatrical Ending Says About I Am Legend's Story
If yous were a fan of author Richard Matheson'south original novella of the same name, I Am Legend's theatrical catastrophe is an even bigger slap to the face up than the pic's handling of the source material on the whole. That'south not to say the pic's not good, as it'due south some of Will Smith's strongest work at a time when his career was not getting the raves information technology once knew, merely it'south way different than the inspiration.
The theatrical ending of I Am Legend pulls a motility that some studio execs, movie stars and fifty-fifty examination audiences felt the film needed to pull: information technology squarely frames Dr. Robert Neville as the hero and the Hemocytes equally the villains, and information technology wraps the film in a squeamish and neat bow with the cure in play.
Fifty-fifty the film's path of fateful "butterflies" is manipulated betwixt the versions of I Am Legend'due south ending, equally the theatrical ending you saw above sees that symbology leading Neville to believe that Anna is the hope he'd been searching for this whole time. Already a symbol of fate, thanks to the memory of his expressionless daughter telling him to "expect at the butterflies," Neville'south sighting of a butterfly tattoo on Anna'southward neck tells him he has to trust her equally the deliverer of the cure.
Nonetheless, that wasn't the original catastrophe of I Am Fable, as when the film hitting home video in 2008, it came with the "controversial" alternate catastrophe that brought united states of america hither today. And it all starts with a very different sighting of that butterfly tattoo.
With that in mind, delight scout the same pivotal scene from the third act of I Am Legend, merely with a very different detail:
As the butterfly tattoo is no longer on Anna, but rather on the Alpha Female (Joanna Numata) that's been Dr. Robert Neville's guinea pig for a skillful portion of the picture, everything leads to an alternate ending that makes then much more sense.
What's Different In I Am Fable's Alternating Ending?
Nosotros never really knew the significance of the Alpha Female person before I Am Legend's alternate catastrophe, as the Alpha Male person's charging of the glass enclosure Neville, Anna and Ethan are safely hiding in looked like a sheer evidence of aggression against the human he'd previously encountered.
All the same, little details throughout the film, such as the Alpha Male person exposing himself to sunlight, and Neville's assumption of the Hemocytes beingness totally devoid of man behavior, start to paint another moving-picture show. I that culminates in the original, and somewhat preferred ending, to I Am Legend, shown below:
This new chain of events sees Neville realize that the Alpha Male was trying to salvage the Alpha Female person this whole time. In an fifty-fifty greater context, nosotros see that the Hemocytes accept also seen Dr. Robert Neville every bit their own boogeyman, much like Richard Matheson'south source material had done with its ain overall plot.
It'southward here we learn that the Hemocytes aren't mindless brutes, and they're more socialized than we idea. Neville, forced to look at his own actions closer, apologizes for his murder of Hemocytes in his experiments for a cure, and in an act of atonement, he releases the Blastoff Female back to her mate, no cure in hand.
I Am Legend's "controversial" ending sees Neville, Anna and Ethan still live and leaving New York City together. Every bit they head to Vermont in the hopes of finding that survivor'south colony, Anna records a new message, much like Robert'southward previous broadcast that attracted her and Ethan to the dock, telling anyone who's still alive to find them up north.
Why The Alternate Ending Fits Much Better With I Am Legend's Story
All of the breadcrumbs that I Am Legend had laid out through the entire film lead to a more satisfying conclusion in the alternating catastrophe. Noting the barbaric nature of the Hemocytes, Anna'due south questioning of Robert'due south experiments and fifty-fifty "the butterflies" all tie together into a conclusion that steers away from the cheese that the 3rd act pumps its narrative total of, and heads dorsum to the promise the motion-picture show had shown in its before acts.
Much similar Richard Matheson intended, Dr. Robert Neville is the boogeyman for the Hemocytes. Instead of sacrificing himself out of spite as a savior of humanity, in the alternate ending, he opts to go out the Hemocytes alone having now seen them for what they truly are. Which is funny, because throughout the pic, we come across a Time mag cover that names him a savior, with his ain addition of a question mark after that very discussion. It's equally if the movie is non simply edifice his character with that moment, it's too openly asking us to question our feelings for this character, and ultimately his ending.
Information technology besides speaks volumes when you consider the fact that the alternate ending, and its setup, are both official clips from the film that you'll notice on YouTube. You can certainly find the theatrical ending in tact besides, merely it's a rip from the film'due south domicile video release, and not function of the official MovieClips contour for I Am Legend.
It'due south even retroactively hinted that this ending was preferred from day ane, as we yet run into a shot from the alternating ending at the very end of the theatrical trailer to I Am Fable. Which, naturally, is provided below every bit a resource:
So if this ending to I Am Legend is so damned good, why was it changed to begin with?
How Did I Am Legend'south Ending Get Changed In The Starting time Identify?
Every bit far dorsum every bit the movie's original home video release in 2008, there was already whispers floating from sites like Vulture that I Am Legend's ending was changed due to test audiences not really enjoying what information technology had to say about the hero they'd followed through an entire film's worth of chance.
Still, information technology wasn't until a full decade later that the truth was revealed by I Am Legend director Francis Lawrence, equally an interview with the helmer from 2018 delved into just why the finale to the film was altered in the offset place. The site too got Lawrence to confirm that the alternate finale is his scenario of option, as he explained the entire scenario below:
I agree it's the improve ending. I mean, it'due south the more philosophical version of the end, only in terms of story math we're doing everything you're not supposed to exercise, right? The hero doesn't detect the cure, correct? They drive off into the unknown and the creatures yous've been saying are the bad ones the whole fourth dimension you learn actually have humanity and aren't the bad ones - the hero'south the bad one. Then y'all've basically turned everything on its head. We tested it twice and it got wildly rejected, wildly rejected, which is why we came out with the other one.
Test audiences tin can shift the class of a film like I Am Legend in subtle, merely fundamental ways. The departure in the two versions of the film's catastrophe proves that, as all it took was a couple of scenes, and a rewrite reframing the finale, to totally change just how the film would be seen in the long run.
While we may never go the prequel, sequel or reboot that was proposed to continue I Am Legend on the books known as "active evolution," at that place is still an interesting example to be seen in the film that we did go from the famed sci-fi/horror text that withal inspires fans to this very mean solar day.
If, for some reason, you haven't seen I Am Legend before reading this rundown, first of all, we warned you lot. Second, and more than importantly, proceed in listen these facts, and feel gratis to revisit the clips above after yous've seen the film. Information technology'll make for some interesting conversation in the comments beneath, and y'all'll be able to take function in the poll we've shared to get together your valued stance.
Stay condom, stay indoors and stay in the light, as you watch I Am Fable on Prime Video.
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CinemaBlend's James Bail (expert). As well versed in Big Scale Aggressors, time travel, and Guillermo del Toro. He fights for The User.
Source: https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2493690/i-am-legends-alternate-ending-wrapped-things-up-way-better-than-what-we-got
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