The Omega Man (1971)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Tim S

  
  Having read the original Richard Matheson story I Am Legend, I'm always comparing it to the film versions whenever I see them. I hadn't seen this version, but I do I have to say that it's probably the worst of them all. The title of The Omega Man doesn't do it any… More
  Having read the original Richard Matheson story I Am Legend, I'm always comparing it to the film versions whenever I see them. I hadn't seen this version, but I do I have to say that it's probably the worst of them all. The title of The Omega Man doesn't do it any favors either. The most difficult aspect of adapting this story is that no matter how you do it, it will always be stuck in a particular time period. It's pretty unavoidable because the world basically ends in the story and everything stops, so it's stuck in whatever time period the film is shot in at the time. However, certain steps can be taken to not be so overtly reliant on "the times." This film is actually the worst at that. Everything from the wardrobe, music and setting are set in the 1970's and even if you didn't know anything about this story you'd know exactly what time period it was from just by the look of it. Hell, Charlton Heston is even watching Woodstock by himself at the local cinema. It's so overtly 1970's that it's difficult to take it seriously, which is what the film's tone wants me to do. A lot of the story has also been changed for the worse. The story, to me, has always been about isolation and prejudice against the outside world... in other words, a metaphor. This film is about fighting the bad guys and survival, and that's about it. I can see why people enjoy it so much, but for me personally, I really like the story of I Am Legend and I choose to take it a little more seriously than this film does. I'll just go back to watching The Last Man on Earth instead, which is the best adaptation of the story, in my opinion.

• Cory T

  
  A jive-talking leading lady out of a blaxploitation film and fatuous mutants in monk robes are among the most blighting of Omega Man's failures. Heston is his usual stoic, gravelly self but the atmosphere has been leached of its isolation and the pasty white makeup gives all the… More
  A jive-talking leading lady out of a blaxploitation film and fatuous mutants in monk robes are among the most blighting of Omega Man's failures. Heston is his usual stoic, gravelly self but the atmosphere has been leached of its isolation and the pasty white makeup gives all the mutants a case of powdery vitiligo. A high-scope rifle with a massive infrared eyepiece is truly impressive hardware, but the mutants are silly-costumed freaks that never pose a threat.

• AJ V

  
  This is another adaptation of the "I am Legend" story, the second one I believe, anyway it's the 70s version. Heston is a good choice for this movie, and he does a good job too. That doesn't mean this movie is great, though, it's just okay.

• Conner R

  
  I think I've certainly warmed up to this over time, it's a lot more intelligent than it gets credit for. Sure, on the surface it's just another chance for Charlton Heston to show off his crazy gun collection and laugh maniacally for no reason. However, there's… More
  I think I've certainly warmed up to this over time, it's a lot more intelligent than it gets credit for. Sure, on the surface it's just another chance for Charlton Heston to show off his crazy gun collection and laugh maniacally for no reason. However, there's really something interesting about evolution going on and resistance to change. Some of the visuals really do hold up, even today, mainly because they don't try to be overly ambitious. Some of the city shots really are pretty shocking.

• James A

  
  The only good thing about this movie was that it begat the Misfits song Where Eagles Dare.

• Anthony L

  
  Bad acting, dodgy sets and Charlton Heston. Not the Daddy of all B-Movies, more of an Uncle really!

• Stella D

  
  super 70's cheese with the king of hyperdramatic overacting. contains every 70's cliche and i have to admit this was more fun than i anticipated

• Aaron N

  
  Neville: Is this how it starts? A trip to the laughing academy? No, you silly bastard, it starts with you asking yourself silly questions. OK, let's get cleaned up. Charlton Heston stars as Robert Neville, the supposed last man on earth in this 70s version of the classic… More
  Neville: Is this how it starts? A trip to the laughing academy? No, you silly bastard, it starts with you asking yourself silly questions. OK, let's get cleaned up. Charlton Heston stars as Robert Neville, the supposed last man on earth in this 70s version of the classic Richard Matheson novel. The movie is fairly decent, but is certainly way too far removed from the actual novel to be seen as a proper adaptation (which has still yet to be seen). Instead, this movie mainly works as a way to watch Heston bad ass it around Los Angeles. Living in LA after the world has essentially ended, Neville, a former scientist, spends his days roaming around the area, killing anything that moves, and trying to maintain his sanity. At night he is mocked by large mobs of deformed, nocturnal mutant people, who would like nothing more than to eliminate Neville. These mutants, headed by Anthony Zerbe, believe that the various technologies of the world were the reason the world ended, so their current beliefs apparently have them starting from nothing, which also apparently requires them to where black cloaks and sunglasses identical to each other. A certain turn in the story leads to another point concerning a possible cure and the plot goes on from there. For a film involving a deserted LA, this movie does a good job at getting a lot of establishing shots of the empty city. Its a very good looking film in terms of convincing us of the world's end in a B-movie sort of way. Heston is appropriately good and sweaty throughout, dealing with all sorts of problems as well as using both guns and his wits to solve his problems. The soundtrack is pretty dated, but there are a lot of scattered little moments throughout that make this film work overall. Matthias: Definition of a scientist - a man who understands nothing until there was nothing left to understand. Neville: So, there is a little light in the forest after all.

• Pierluigi P

  
  Nostalgia is what saves this film. Gun crazy Charlton Heston meets blaxploitation in this dated, cheesy and carefree adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic novel.

• Tsubaki S

  
  Chuck Heston was the guy to go for 70's apocalyptic flicks. I bet this is dated as hell, but i love it as a kid.

• Kalel J

  
  A product of the 1970's, stuck firmly in it's time. The Omega Man is a film stricken by the style of it's decade and the aura of second class filmmaking. Had it not been for Heston, the B-Grade feel could have easily fallen several characters lower in the alphabet.… More
  A product of the 1970's, stuck firmly in it's time. The Omega Man is a film stricken by the style of it's decade and the aura of second class filmmaking. Had it not been for Heston, the B-Grade feel could have easily fallen several characters lower in the alphabet. According to Sagal's interpretation of the Matheson novel, a global mutagen would turn the worlds population into an albino cult that feels the need to sew black robes in the fashion of segregating themselves from humanity's past. No thanks to a stream of plot holes, shivering dialogue, and characters that make the German Shepard in the latest update seem like an incredible performance, The Omega Man fails.

• Michael S

  
  Better than I AM LEGEND.

• Cassandra M

  
  A film that can't help but aim too high, "The Omega Man" suffers from the very thing that makes it great. Set in a post-apocalyptic future (for the audience of 1971) the film attempts to show a world populated by a single solitary man. Well, a man and a cult of… More
  A film that can't help but aim too high, "The Omega Man" suffers from the very thing that makes it great. Set in a post-apocalyptic future (for the audience of 1971) the film attempts to show a world populated by a single solitary man. Well, a man and a cult of malcontented zombie/mutant/vampire beings. Robert Neville (Heston) is the lone survivor of a germ war that turned the population of the world into freaks. Based on the amazingly brilliant book "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson, the film shares most of the qualities of the book, yet excludes the portions that make "Legend" fantastic. The idea of being the last man is intriguing. I used to fantasize about being Neville as a child (probably not the healthiest thing for a kid). Neville has paradise, but with the highest price possible. He can have anything he wants, but no one to share it with. And come night time, he must hide in his fortress away from the angry mob of mutants. The apocalyptic world that makes the first half so captivating is destroyed by the second half's plot device. I won't go into details for those who haven't seen it. However, I will say the film starts to slide downhill from the mid-way point. But the lesser parts can be enjoyed as early 70's camp. Even with its faults, "The Omega Man" is a great Sci-fi movie. It also gives Heston a chance to play his quintessential role of a man at the end of civilization. The film's weaknesses don't ruin the experience entirely. It is a film that myself and my friends talk about to this day despite the fact that most of my friends only saw it once or twice (when forced by me). Related note: I Am Legend was also made into the film "The Last Man on Earth" starring Vincent Price. "Omega Man" is discussed in the first scene of indie-film classic "Slacker."

• David L

  
  What would you do if you were the last living human being on Earth, after a bacteriological war killed off billions of your fellow man? In THE OMEGA MAN, a very loose adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic 1954 novel "I Am Legend", Charlton Heston gives us some ideas.… More
  What would you do if you were the last living human being on Earth, after a bacteriological war killed off billions of your fellow man? In THE OMEGA MAN, a very loose adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic 1954 novel "I Am Legend", Charlton Heston gives us some ideas. The Omega Man finds Heston in the position of being the last man on Earth, or at least Los Angeles, two years after a Chinese-Russian border war exploded into a germ war. Now he's the only normal man left, thanks to an antidote he developed as the germs were spreading over the world. But every night, he is traumatized by a group of hooded, white-faced, zombie-like survivors, led by Anthony Zerbe, who want to destroy him and his science. Soon, Heston discovers other survivors--and there is, for the moment, hope that maybe mankind can be saved. Despite its flaws and being very dated The Omega Man gives us some compelling and chilling views of Downtown Los Angeles as a ghost town, with Heston being the only one really there. The cinematography by Russell Metty, who had worked on Orson Welles' TOUCH OF EVIL (with Heston), is brilliant. To sum up, this is far from a perfect movie but its alot of fun to watch.

• Dean M

  
  Thrilling sci-fi drama film with Charlton Heston as the only survivor of a worldwide bacteriological war.

• Michael G

  
  This movie is so bad and horribly dated but I love it.

• Burger S

  
  This kills "I Am Legend". 35 plus years to improve it and they missed.

• Dannielle A

  
  Will Smith's version of the last-man-left-in-the-world was way better. For starters, the zombie/vampire things in Smith's version were way scarier than the black cloak and sunglasses-wearing nocturnal albinos in Charlton Heston's version. The movie takes place in… More
  Will Smith's version of the last-man-left-in-the-world was way better. For starters, the zombie/vampire things in Smith's version were way scarier than the black cloak and sunglasses-wearing nocturnal albinos in Charlton Heston's version. The movie takes place in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles where biological warfare has either killed everyone or left them pale, eyeless, and sensitive to light (despite the fact that they spend the whole movie surrounded by fire.) Only one man, played by Charlton Heston, is left unharmed by the plague because he made a vial of vaccine which made him immune to the zombie disease. He finds a woman who hasn't been infected (Rosalind Cash) and what goes on between them (being the last man and woman) is pretty much what would be obvious and expected. There were many Christ motifs, like Heston taking a crucifixion-posture throughout the film. He sacrificed his life and gave the remaining people on earth salvation by giving his precious life-saving blood.

• Danny R

  
  A striking adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel "I Am Legend," that has become a sci-fi cult classic. Charlton Heston in a superlative performance plays Colonel Robert Neville, a government researcher who has survived the the ultimate biological weapon, which has… More
  A striking adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel "I Am Legend," that has become a sci-fi cult classic. Charlton Heston in a superlative performance plays Colonel Robert Neville, a government researcher who has survived the the ultimate biological weapon, which has released a deadly plague that ravaged humanity due to a apocalyptic war between China and Russia that has infected the entire world, he alone has survived because of an experimental vaccine that he injected himself with when his helicopter crash landed, the other survivors are plague victims that have mutated into nocturnal, light-hating, pale skinned, white-eyed psychopaths, who are led by the sinister Matthias, played superbly by veteran character actor Anthony Zerbe, who delivers a compelling performance as the charismatic infected leader of the murderous mutant hordes who called themselves "The Family." Matthias is hell-bent on destroying Neville who is the last remnant of the old civilization that produced the plague, and caused the punishment that befall mankind. Neville rides around the sunlit city streets that was once Los Angeles in his convertible car foraging for supplies, but he must make sure he returns to his fortified townhouse before sundown, for that is when Matthias and his mutations wake-up and hunt for him. Neville by chance discovers that he is not alone, in a department store he meets a feisty young Afro-wearing, gun-toting black woman named Lisa, nicely played by Rosalind Cash, she is member of a band of rural uninfected survivors that includes some heathy young children and her friend and co-guardian of the kids Dutch, well played by Paul Koslo, who have avoided Matthias and his "Family," together with Lisa, Dutch, the children and Neville hope to escape to the mountains and fine a cure, but Matthias will never give up his quest to kill Neville. Some excellent action scenes, superb cinematography by Russell Metty and a good moody score by Ron Grainer, it is very amusing to look at the dated costumes, decor, vehicles, 8- track tape players and slang speech of that time period, which makes this gem of a movie all the more enjoyable. "The Omega Man" remains an entertaining, thought-provoking pure piece of 70s pop culture. Highly Recommended.

• Chris B

  
  While neither this nor I Am Legend may stand up to the source material, I preferred the remake to this work. The Omega Man has some good moments and a great premise but the poor acting and screenplay undercuts it. Worth a watch, but don't get your hopes up.

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