The alternative ending to I AM LEGEND is worse than the theatrical one!!!
See it after the jump and be amazed at just how even more crap the ending could have been. Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the film.
I love Richard Matheson's I Am Legend novel. Matheson is one of my favourite sci-fi writers and with his most famous tale he brought together such a clever plot, a great lead character and such open-ended themes and ideas that it's impossible for the book not to remain with you for months after you've read the last sentence. He has a great ending in the book. Very dark, very shocking and one without hope for mankind and human nature. I mean essentially that's the book is about, hope in a hopeless situation and what happens to us when that hope slowly drifts away day after day. All previous adaptations of I Am Legend, including the Charlton Heston 70's version have come a little unstuck with how to end the tale of the last man on Earth. For some reason, I'm continually baffled as to why they don't use the powerful ending from the novel and although I do like how dark both The Omega Man and the Francis Lawrence film ended, I still they were rushed and uncomplicated endings when they didn't know how to finish the picture.
So we've heard for a while now about the alternative ending which was originally set in place for the film before the ending was re-shot when the execs at WB weren't sure about how "commercial" or "mainstream" it was. Though clearly this ending is nowhere near as dark as the original picture, but it is certainly more complex and gives us more to chew on. But that doesn't mean it's good. And of course, the theatrical ending easily screams out sequel a little more than this one does, despite the - well see for yourself... ALTERNATIVE AND ORIGINAL ENDING TO I AM LEGEND AS TAKEN FROM THE DVD IS BELOW...Just horrible and contradicts everything the book and film had been building towards.
These vampires had no soul. No feelings. No remorse. They don't have loved one's. They are to be killed before they kill you.
And weren't all the bridges destroyed?
And an adaptation of I Am Legend where Robert Neville survives. PLEASE. That's going completely against the main theme of Matheson's book, what a horrible ending.