Iron Woobie: Despite going through so much psychological trauma and suffering, Robert always gets back on his feet, even if he's fully aware the world will soon smack him back on his knees. He just embraces his predictment instead. Even when he eventually commits suicide, he does it more out of spite than anything else.
It Was His Sled: Neville committing suicide in the final pages, after learning that many of the vampires he killed are are actually perfectly sane and view him as a frightening monster from legend. It was originally a pretty shocking twist, but now it's one of the main things people know about the book, given it both completely changes how the reader sees the story and it's one of the more unique takes on the zombie/vampire apocalypse genre. The very title is also technically a giveaway of this twist.
The 2007 Film:
Fan-Preferred Cut Content: The alternate ending, where Neville realizes that the monsters are sentient and view him as a monster, is much more popular than the rushed and generic theatrical ending. It is also much closer to the book's tone and ending.
Fanon Discontinuity: Unsurprisingly, the Focus Group Ending has a significant group of viewers considering the original ending to be the "real" one. Apparently Canon Discontinuity as well, since the announced sequel is planned to continue where the original ending left off.
Funny Moments: Neville reciting dialogue from Shrek as a means of regaining some of his sanity.
There's a scene where the gas prices are shown to be over $6 a gallon. In Real Life 2022, the gas prices were higher than that thanks to a combination of inflation and the Russia Ukraine conflict.
Jerkass Woobie: Neville. While his numerous failed experiments on the sapient Darkseekers and his temperament towards Anna and Ethan doesn't exactly paint him nicely, being lonely and undergoing a Sanity Slippage, ultimately attempting suicide when he loses Sam does earn some sympathy points.
Magnificent Bastard: In the original ending, the Alpha Male is methodical and intelligent, contrasting with the seemingly mindless monster he was reduced to in the theatrical cut. Enraged when Robert Neville steals his mate from him, he observes Neville's increasingly unstable habits from the shadows, luring him into a trap and sending his attack dogs after him, nearly killing him and infecting his dog, Sam. Driving Neville to go on a suicidal rampage, he comes close to finishing him off again, fleeing when confronted by other survivors. The next night, he tracks Neville's scent down and leads a horde of infected in an assault on his house, tearing down his defenses, cornering him and the other survivors in the basement until Neville returns his mate, ultimately letting the survivors live despite his disgust with Neville for killing so many of his kind.
GODDAMNIT, FRANK and WOLL SMOTH, which spun into an entirely unrelated meme.
"I Am Leg" is an infamous edit of the movie poster with the man replaced with a large leg with a face. It's been snowcloned and modified numerous times.
Narm: Neville tearfully begging a mannequin to say hello to him.
Narm Charm: The above mannequin scene does work though thanks to Will Smith's tearful delivery and the context showing just how alone he is.
One-Scene Wonder: She has about 1 minute and a half of screen time at the beginning of the film (and isn't listed in the credits), but Emma Thompson as Alice Krippin is so delightful you desperately want to know more about the woman who inadvertently created The Virus.
Periphery Demographic: This film has gained a rather strong (semi-ironic) following among Brogres, who deeply admire the scene where Will Smith regains some of his sanity by reciting the dialogue to the original Shrek. All hail the Ogrelord.
Signature Scene: The Shoot the Dog scene has gone down as one of the most infamous cinematic deaths of the 2000s.
Special Effect Failure: The zombie/vamps are pretty obvious CG. They tried using extras at first, but since it required constant hyperventilation, they were forced to use CG instead.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The film's alternate ending comes closer to the message of the novel than the ending that made it into the movie and fills the above-mentioned plot hole, in addition to many others. It did poorly with test audiences, though, so Executive Meddling changed it to an ending that is completely different and misses the point of the entire novel, twisting the message so that it can still fit the title, but in almost the exact opposite way that the original ending fit it.
found in the background of a scene promised that a Batman and Superman crossover movie was in production Just Before the End. 6 years after the release of the movie, it was officially announced. Even more amusing is that Will Smith was signed on to appear in another movie set in the same shared universe as that film.