Blu-ray Review: I Am Legend

THE MOVIE: 3 stars out of 5

We are concluding the Will Smith high def film festival with the 2007 release I am Legend. I am Legend stars Mr. Smith as Robert Neville, Manhattan’s solitary surviver after a claimed miracle cancer curing drug causes the outbreak of a virus that kills most people infected with it and mutates the others into insanely aggressive and violent beings which kill and devour all they see. Robert Neville is immune to the virus and is able to travel throughout Manhattan during the day to collect mutated survivors in an effort to find a cure to the virus, performing tests of various serum formulations in his basement lab. At night, Mr. Neville is forced to turn his home into a fortress to protect him against the ravenous hordes who come out to hunt only at night. While Mr. Smith turns in an excellent performance, I found the film itself to be rather ponderous and slow moving. While there are periodic flashbacks showing how the mutating virus came into existence, they could have been better integrated into the film. Quite frankly, while Mr. Smith gives an excellent performance, he is on the screen alone for two long a length of time at the beginning of the film. The acting and cinematography here are all top notch. It is the screenplay that I have issues with. It should be noted that there are two versions of the film presented here, the theatrical release and an alternate theatrical release with a very different ending. The review of the video and audio noted below are applicable to both versions of the film presented on this release.

THE VIDEO: 5 stars out of 5

Encoded with VC-1 and presented on a BD-50 disc in its original aspect ratio of 2:40:1, this is an amazing looking film and another addition to the reference category. Colors are beautiful and spot on with deep and rich black levels and a clarity to the image which has to be seen to be believed. Detail is outstanding, from skin textures, to clothing, the the New York skyline and the streets full of debris, overgrowth and wild animals. All are revealed with starting reality. The only fault I could find with this release is video noise that mares one scene where the Neville character enters a dark building looking for his dog. Other than this one scene, which takes place in almost total darkness, the video on this release is flawless and truly reference. The rest of the video is so outstanding that this one scene does not warrant a drop in the score from a perfect 5 star rating.

THE AUDIO: 5 stars out of 5

The high rez track on this release is presented with Dolby True HD at 48 kHz/16 bit and is every bit as good as the video. I can find no fault at all with the audio which is reference in every way. Dialogue is beautifully rendered capturing every breath of the characters. The sound of the film is smooth, open, rich and utterly dynamic with incredible room rattling bass. Even better is the immersive sound mix which captures the acoustics of each of the room environments faithfully, from Mr. Neville’s basement lab, his kitchen and the empty warehouses and stores. All have their own distinct acoustic which are faithfully captured here. Gunshots are very realistically rendered and starting. The totally realistic audio really adds to the jarring sequences in the film, giving them visceral impact. It does not get any better than this.

IN CONCLUSION

While I would not normally recommend a film such as this for anyone other than a hard core sci-fi fan, the video and audio on this release are so outstanding that you owe it to yourself as a home theater fan to check this release out. Recommended.

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