In the year 2012, scientists engineer a cure for cancer. Three years later, every human in New York is either dead or mutated into a light-sensitive zombie by the virus that was supposed to heal. Only one man survives, scientist Robert Neville (Will Smith). For a thousand days he has made the city his own, stockpiling food and water before the sun sets and the zombies emerge. He has two aims: to find a cure for the virus and make contact with other survivors. So far, both goals have proved hopeless.
But just as Neville is about to lose it completely, immune survivors Anna (Alice Braga) and Ethan (Charlie Tahan) show up, claiming to know of a human haven in Vermont. It's the ray of hope Neville has been waiting for, but the undead are now heading straight for their location and they're outnumbered 10/1.
Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas and Arnold Schwarzenegger were all in the frame to play Robert Neville in the early days of the project. However, financing and actor availability kept the film out of production until 2007, when Smith took the lead role.
Music video director Francis Lawrence makes the most of a big budget and minimalist script, letting a deserted New York hit audiences with the same force as London in the Richard Matheson-inspired 28 Days Later. A belting sci-fi actioner with Smith on top form.
I Am Legend is a Film programme that first aired in 2007 and has been classified a 15 certificate.
