10 Most Disappointing Endings In Movie History

Everyone knows why this one is here. I Am Legend is the story of Robert Neville, played by Will Smith, as he remains uninfected in a post-apocalyptic New York with his dog. Neville is a virologist, trying to find the cure to the disease that ravaged the country and turned 9% of the population into vampire-like monsters.

Beyond the fantastic portrayal of a devastated New York and the tragic scene with his dog, I Am Legend is an underrated sci-fi drama that lost a lot of points with its unfortunate ending. Neville seems to have finally found a cure inside one of the monstrous women, but he’s stuck in a dead end with her. In the theatrical cut, Neville blows himself up with a grenade to get the cure out to a band of survivors. This ending isn’t awful, but it’s when you compare it with the director’s cut that the problem with this ending really becomes clear.

In the director’s cut, the monsters aren’t trying to trap and kill Neville - they’re trying to rescue the woman. Neville realises what they want and hands the woman back, and the two parties make peace. It’s a much more hopeful ending that recontextualizes the entire film and the true implications of Neville’s goal.

The creatures were still human at their core, and Neville has a new purpose. It’s a much stronger ending while still being equally tragic - this time for the vampires and less so for Neville. The only question left is why the producers changed the ending so drastically.