The Omega Man (1971)

Biological war has decimated life on Earth. Los Angeles is a windswept ghost town where Robert Neville tools his convertible through sunlit streets foraging for supplies.

Director:

Boris Sagal

Writers:

John William Corrington (screenplay) (as John William), Joyce Hooper Corrington (screenplay) (as Joyce H. Corrington)

Stars:

Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charlton Heston	...	Neville
Anthony Zerbe	...	Matthias
Rosalind Cash	...	Lisa
Paul Koslo	...	Dutch
Eric Laneuville	...	Richie
Lincoln Kilpatrick	...	Zachary
Jill Giraldi	...	Little Girl
Anna Aries	...	Woman in Cemetery Crypt (scenes deleted)
Brian Tochi	...	Tommy
DeVeren Bookwalter	...	Family Member (as De Veren Bookwalter)
John Dierkes	...	Family Member
Monika Henreid	...	Family Member
Linda Redfearn	...	Family Member
Forrest Wood	...	Family Member

Storyline

Due to an experimental vaccine, Dr. Robert Neville is the only survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. The plague caused by the war has killed everyone else except for a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people calling themselves "The Family". The plague has caused them to become sensitive to light, as well as homicidally psychotic. They believe science and technology to be the cause of the war and their punishment, and Neville, as the last symbol of science, the old world, and a "user of the wheel", must die. Neville, using electricity, machinery, and science attempts to hold them at bay.

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Plot Keywords:

plague | post apocalypse | based on novel | global pandemic | antidote | 

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Taglines:

Pray for the last man alive. Because he's not alone.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Brian Tochi's feature film debut.

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Goofs

(at around 27 mins) Robert shouts out, "Matthias," and it echoes across various empty city views. However, in the last view several vehicles (including a bus) can be seen driving along a highway on the upper far left of the screen.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[the last man on earth wrecks his car]
Neville: There's never a cop around when you need one.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits feature the credit "Based on a book by Richard Matheson", and does not give the title of the actual book, I Am Legend.

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Alternate Versions

In the common version of this film, the scene where Richie tells Neville that he should either kill the Family or cure them takes place inside Neville's apartment. In an alternate version, the scene takes place on the rooftop, where Neville has a large water tank and a .50 caliber machine gun.

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Connections

Referenced in Dead Meat Podcast: The Asylum Movie Title Game (2019)

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Soundtracks

'Round Midnight
Written by Bernard Hanighen, Cootie Williams and Thelonious Monk
Performed by Thelonious Monk

User Reviews

Thought-provoking, violent sci-fi story.

Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet, so the "Omega" Man is a round-a-bout way of saying The "Last" Man. Indeed, this violent science fiction actioner is a remake of a 1964 movie called The Last Man On Earth; in this version Charlton Heston assumes the role played by Vincent Price in the earlier film. It is a depressing - and in many ways thought-provoking - story set in a future where the human population has been wiped out.

Robert Neville (Heston) is the only remaining survivor of a worldwide plague, other than a race of vampiric mutants who come out at night. When the plague was first reaching epidemic proportions, numerous scientists were given serums to try - Neville was the one who got the correct serum, but he never managed to get back to HQ in time to report the good news. Most of the world's people went on to be killed by the plague, but those who survived have evolved into light-sensitive mutants. Every day, Neville drives around the empty streets of LA scavenging for food, fuel and useful objects; every night he returns to his ultra high-security house from which he fends off the creepy minions who come out to taunt him and, perhaps, one day kill him. The mutants are led by Matthias (Anthony Zerbe), formerly a TV newsreader, now an anti-technology crusader who encourages his followers to destroy the scientific and technological items they find, as he blames meddling scientists for ultimately decimating the world's population.

What's so chilling about The Omega Man is that Neville is gradually shown to be the real "mutant". He is the only man left from the world as it WAS; Zerbe and his mutant hordes are the evolutionary creatures of the world as it IS. Distressing as it is, The Omega Man is saying that in the event of a worldwide catastrophe human life would find a way to prevail, but the remnants of previous human life might need eradicating first. From the sensational opening - in which Heston screeches his car to a halt on an empty street and starts shooting at an unseen being in a skyscraper - to the climax (which is simultaneously happy AND sad), The Omega Man constantly raises questions and manipulates our fears. It has weaknesses - sometimes the metaphors and morals are too heavy-handed; parts of the film are slow-going, with an excess of talk which merely goes over plot details already mentioned; there are dated elements (music, decor, costumes, vehicles, slang speech) which deny the film its topicality over 30 years on. But, in spite of all that, The Omega Man remains a worthwhile sci-fi actioner and another cult flick in the Charlton Heston "shock sci-fi" canon (see also Planet of the Apes '68 and Soylent Green '73).

Details

Official Sites:

HBOMAX Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 August 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

I Am Legend

Filming Locations:

South Flower Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$8,720,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walter Seltzer Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1