I Am Legend (2007) - 27 questions

Question: Why are lots of skyscrapers and other buildings in Manhattan covered in large plastic foil ?

Answer: Since it was a virus that destroyed things, it's possible that the government tried to quarantine certain buildings by covering them up, before everything went to hell.

Question: Is the scene where Will smith recites all the movie dialogue while it is playing in the original Richard Matheson novel, or was it just a homage to The Omega man (where Charlton Heston does something similar)?

Answer: It's an homage to the Omega Man. He doesn't watch films at all in the novel.

Question: How did Anna save Robert on the night he tried to kill himself by fighting the zombies in his car? It was seen that the zombies knocked his car over and suddenly there was a blinding white light. The next scene shows Anna driving a half conscious Robert back.

Answer: The obvious assumption is that she used a UV light to kill or drive off the darkseekers, then pulled Neville from the SUV.

Question: Rumour has it, that one of the mannequin moves its eyes, now I have noticed that Frank moves in 'the trap on Robert Neville' scene, but I was specifically told that one of the eyes move. Now I have a few questions for this: firstly, is this the truth, or false? Secondly, if this is true, which mannequin moves its eyes? Lastly, is this a figure of Robert Neville's mental breakdown?

Answer: All of the incidents involving the mannequins show how he is starting to breakdown a little mentally. The female mannequin "moves" her eyes.

Question: Why did Robert Neville killed Sam? He could used her for future experiments. I know that maybe because he loved her he wouldn't used her, but he is a scientist and he knows that a recently infected being is worth study.

Answer: Neville cared too much about Sam to let her live out her life as an infected. He wanted to save her from being one of them, so he killed her to save her.

Question: This pertains to the special 2-disk dvd that has the alternate ending. In the alternate ending, Neville and Anna are driving on a bridge in his SUV. Didn't all the bridges get destroyed 3 years ago?? Seems like a mistake to me.

Answer: Since the scene was deleted from the film, it can't be considered a mistake. It's an extra feature on the DVD, not part of the film itself.

Question: How is it that the disease could infect dogs too, and turn them into the same thing as infected humans? At the beginning of the movie, it is stated that the virus that killed everyone arose from a specially bioengineered treatment for cancer, which mutated into the deadly virus. But dogs can't get a lot of the diseases that infect humans. Did the disease really mutate far enough so that it affected dogs that way too, or did people want their pets cured of cancer, or what? Even if the disease was able to infect the dogs, it seems strange that it would affect them the same way as it does humans.

Answer: There are plenty of cross-species diseases and medical conditions (rabies, for example). And yeah, it seems strange, that's why they had difficulty finding a cure for it!

Question: Can we be sure that the "trap" set for Smith wasn't just bad luck? Is there proof that the infected set it up that way? I thought that it was just a coincidence that he got stuck, at first.

Answer: No, it wasn't a coincidence that an inanimate object found itself halfway across town right next to a snare trap.

Question: What are the infected humans doing when they are huddled up together when Will Smith first finds them in the abandoned building? Are they sleeping? But then how is the deer killed?

Answer: When Will Smith first sees them huddled together, they are eating the deer. They killed the deer while Smith was looking for his dog.

Question: Did just New York get contaminated or did the rest of the world get infected?

Answer: The whole world is infected.

Question: When Will Smith enters the abandoned apartment looking for survivors, etc., he opens a cupboard to find some Spam. When he opens the cupboard, there is a magazine cover saying "Dogs can come out at dusk". I have two questions. One, why can the dogs come out at dusk and the infected humans can't? And two, when the encounter with Fred occurs, and the dogs are waiting for the strip of light to fade so they can kill Robert, is that the reason why the infected human hiding in the shadows could not come out? Because they cannot come out at dusk?

Answer: I took the sign to be a warning. Like martial law had been enacted, and dogs trained to attack were being used on patrols. Dogs could guard against the infected, since they are immune to airborne infection. The infected cannot endure sunlight, whatever their species. The dogs were waiting for the light to go so they could pass through without being burned.

Question: Why was the leader of the mutants so mad at Neville?

Answer: The leader of the mutants is mad at Neville because the mutant that Neville captures to experiment on was its mate. That's why, when she first gets captured, the leader gives Neville an evil look before running back into the building.

Question: I know someone else asked something like this, but how did deer get there? I've never seen a zoo with any and New York City is on an island.

Answer: Just because you've never seen one at a zoo doesn't mean they don't exist there. But petting zoos are known to have young deer... they grow quickly. Or perhaps the deer came from an animal testing facility. Or perhaps they were just being transported through the island when the crisis struck. Or perhaps the deer just found a way onto the island (Manhattan did have deer back in the day... they got there somehow).

Question: When Sam is turning into an infected, and Neville is holding on to her, she is trying to kill Neville and the shot goes to a close-up of him, and after the close-up he lets go of Sam and she just rolls away motionless. What I don't know is, did Neville break her neck or did he suffocate her or did the medicine he gave her kill her????

Answer: He strangles her.

Question: After his failed deer hunting expedition, when he is going into his apartment, he is pouring a bottle of something on the staircase and sidewalk of his apartment. I want to know, what is that stuff and why is he pouring it out?

Answer: It's gasoline. It serves a double function, both to mask his scent and it can be ignited in case the infected find him anyway.

Question: I might have missed it but, how exactly did Robert Neville become immune to the virus?

Answer: He didn't become immune, he simply *was* immune. The reason for his immunity was the point of his research.

Question: During the mutant attack on the house Will Smith enters an upstairs room and we see what appears to be part of an arm dripping blood. What is this or who owns it? It doesn't appear to be the mutant who attacks straight afterward as he appears uninjured and free of any blood.

Answer: It's not an arm, it a part of the metal plate covering the window.

Question: I don't know New York's geography, so I'll not post this as a mistake. But is it possible that after 3 years there are deers and tigers and lions roaming around the city? Where could these animals come from?

Answer: New York has a number of zoos from which these animals could have escaped.

Question: Before Neville is caught in the Darkseekers' trap, you see the "Fred" mannequin from Neville's viewpoint when he's still driving the car. Is it just my imagination, or is "Fred" actually moving like/being played by a human actor? Wouldn't be a mistake as we're seeing through Neville's eyes (and his inevitable mental breakdown), but this is bugging me all the same.

Answer: Yes, he does move. As you said, we're seeing this through Neville's eyes and it's done to show he's on the verge of a breakdown.

Question: When the mutant dogs attack Will Smith why doesn't the mutant man also join in the attack?

Answer: Because he knows Neville has many weapons in his car and he doesn't want to risk it.