Short of legendary

When something is labeled as an “alternate” version, it should be at least slightly different than what was shown in the theater, not the exact same film with a different ending tacked on. The two-disc special edition of “I Am Legend” delivers the latter.
Robert Neville (Will Smith) is immune to the vampiric virus pandemic that quickly spread from his home city of New York to the rest of the world. But even though he is the sole “survivor,” he is not alone. The New Yorkers who contracted the virus but don't die become rabid creatures that sleep by day and thirst for blood by night.

Like most movies made from more subdued novels, “Legend” suffers from overblown physicality, concocting super-powered villains out of author Richard Matheson’s mostly human antagonists. The alternate ending is still cluttered with fiery explosions, but it beats the theater ending by allowing Neville to reach a moral conclusion in line with the novel’s original message.

Also accessible through the DVD features are a series of animated vignettes that illuminate what happens around the world as the vampire-virus spreads. These scratchily sketched cartoons with their monotonic color schemes better capture the physical and mental desolation of a post-apocalyptic society than the flesh-and-blood (and computer-rendered) main feature.

Some of the special features have to be accessed through a computer’s DVD drive. Included in these are 21 short “making of” videos with subjects such as “NYC Gone Back to Nature,” an analysis of how the city that never sleeps was converted into a wasteland reclaimed by herds of migrating deer and clusters of untamed greenery, and “Quiet Imagination,” an interview with Smith about the challenges of portraying a nearly nonverbal character.

The DVD-ROM special features end on a slightly ominous note with the documentary “Cautionary Tale: The Science Behind ‘I Am Legend.’” It includes interviews with virologists who list the world’s most deadly pandemics and educate the audience on the viruses’ structure, behavior and history while contemplating the possibility of encountering outbreaks and creating cures. Accenting their dialogue are skin-prickling photos of pockmarked bodies and microscope-magnified organisms.
“I Am Legend” doesn’t warrant a purchase on its own, but the packaging does.