By Fred Topel

I Am Legend was a dream movie for me. I love stories where survivors have to find supplies, and this was 90 minutes of Will Smith alone in New York looking for supplies!

I couldn't wait for the hi-def Blu Ray version where I could freeze frame on empty streets looking for all the background jokes in perfect detail, even though I still didn't see anything other than Batman Vs. Superman and Teen Titans.

The scenes of New York look like it will when The Discovery Channel films post-apocalyptic New York in a few years. The decrepitude is as clear in distant buildings as it is in the foreground of torn up streets. It just looks real, as if the Brooklyn Bridge really were nuked and weeds really were growing out of the pavement. The sky is finally clear of grain though.

For all the rubble, I Am Legend is very shiny too. The bright red car glints and mirrored glass windows do too, at least those that are still intact. Everything glows in the moonlight, and of course Will Smith's glistening, sweaty abs.

Light plays an important role in the daily timeline, so seeing the sun across increased or decreased portions of the frame are distinct. Lit segments shine brightly, especially on the golden dog fur. The brilliant beam of light scene where Neville is trapped by the monsters is all blue except for that one ray of sun. Dusk through the windows on Smith's face is nice too, and a brief water spray at magic hour was quite impressive. The dark scenes are actually blacker than the letterbox bars.

The curvature of the anamorphic widescreen frame is pronounced and that's kind of cool, a last remnant of the film process. The monsters reproduce well. They're still flailing fast, but the detail in the CG work is strong with all their bruising, burns and veins. I'm still impressed by couch fibers in the living room, so all of this makes me happy.

The alternate version is really just a different ending, but it's quite an interesting one. It's still not the book but I don't need that. It explores the philosophy of the book a little more, but in an equally modern and fascinating way. It actually pays off the lead alpha male, and somehow it is both more ambiguous and less tragic. It's way better, and I liked the theatrical ending just fine.

There are actually some good extra features included too. An unwieldy list of EPK topics adds up to 52 minutes of behind the scenes. There are some good ones because they really did shut down New York and you can see PAs holding the crowds back. It's a bit less impressive seeing a massive camera crew follow Smith down 5th Avenue than to just see the shot they got. They add nature to city streets too.

A 20 minute feature on the science fact of it, interviewing CDC scientists about viruses, was really interesting to me. I thought they made it much more gripping than a science lecture, but maybe that's just because I'm in love with this movie.

A few animated comic strips feature more survival stories from the world of I Am Legend, so that makes me happy too. So I got better detail than the theatrical presentation, a new ending to ponder and extra mini-stories. I Am Legend may be the perfect DVD/Blu Ray for me!