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The Omega Man (1971)
I Am Legend is a science fiction horror novel written by Richard Matheson. The novel has spawned four notable films to date; among those films is 1964’s The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price (which has since become a classic forgotten horror gem), 1971’s The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston, 2007’s I Am Legend starring Will Smith (which is the most famous version of the bunch), and a direct to video flick entitled I Am Omega that was released around the same time as the 2007 film, obviously put out to garner money and build off the success of the ’07 version . This review is going to focus on what is perhaps the second most famous of those films, The Omega Man.
The film opens with a shot of Robert Neville (played by Charlton Heston) cruising down the street in his car. But, everything is so plain, and a sense of something wrong is quickly established once Neville fires at a shadow lurking in a building window. It is revealed that Neville is the last man on earth, but we quickly find out that he is not alone in the quiet world that he inhabits. Following him, and coming out only in the dark, are beings infected with the virus that wiped out the rest of humanity. These beings want to punish Neville for living while they are slowly dying.
Neville seems like a normal guy when the lights are turned on, but when the sun goes down we find out how dangerous a threat he poses to the infected, which is a strong point in the film. In any typical horror film working with this sort of scenario, the protagonist would be the hunted and the primary danger would be whatever is hunting him. But, Neville poses just as much danger to the hunters as they pose to him. Neville has killed many of them in the past, and unless they can get rid of him, they know that he will kill more.
As the film progresses, the infected group manages to capture Neville. They don’t want anything from him other than to kill him. But, of course they don’t kill him right away; they decide to sacrifice him where every one of them can gather to witness Neville’s death. The sacrifice is set with a ceremony, and of course, Neville escapes. Neville then finds out that he is not the only human left on Earth after all. This happens when a man comes out of the blue and frees him from his sacrificial restraints, fighting off infected beings in the process. Soon after, a woman pulls up in a motorcycle and drives Neville to freedom.
The two humans bring Neville to their home, where there are more people all living amongst each other. Among them is a sick boy, which is slowly becoming infected with the lethal virus. After some research, Neville finds out that his blood is a cure for the disease and manages to save the boy by injecting him with his blood.
A question of morality is brought up when the cured boy asks him to save the rest of the infected. Neville refuses, claiming that they are homicidal maniacs; that an attempt to save them would be a risk far too great. The boy persists and proceeds to go and tell the infected about the cure that consists of Neville’s blood.
The ending tries to spark some emotion, but due to the aggressive tone of the rest of the film, it fails. Neville is built up to be a very likable main character and a hero at the end, but in an obvious attempt to throw action into the picture, he is shown killing villains with ease throughout the rest of the film. All of this builds up to an ending that could have worked much better. The ending would have even had a chance of being great if the rest of the film had focused on Neville’s character instead of unnecessary action.
A few illogical mistakes tone the film’s quality down a few notches. Much of the film doesn’t focus on logical situations, but attempts to make Heston look like a supreme badass. This all happens within a film completely drenched with bad dialogue and laughable one-liners.
The Omega Man is a classic sci-fi thriller that would fit very well in a list of notable science fiction films. Unfortunately, it packs just enough hammy acting, cheesy one-liners, and gratuitous gunfire to fit in a list of cheesy 70’s flicks as well. Even with everything that does work with the film, there is too much wrong to call it a great or even a good movie. What it does do is entertain, and with that strong point, it can be a very, very fun movie to watch.
I Am Legend is a science fiction horror novel written by Richard Matheson. The novel has spawned four notable films to date; among those films is 1964’s The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price (which has since become a classic forgotten horror gem), 1971’s The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston, 2007’s I Am Legend starring Will Smith (which is the most famous version of the bunch), and a direct to video flick entitled I Am Omega that was released around the same time as the 2007 film, obviously put out to garner money and build off the success of the ’07 version . This review is going to focus on what is perhaps the second most famous of those films, The Omega Man.
The film opens with a shot of Robert Neville (played by Charlton Heston) cruising down the street in his car. But, everything is so plain, and a sense of something wrong is quickly established once Neville fires at a shadow lurking in a building window. It is revealed that Neville is the last man on earth, but we quickly find out that he is not alone in the quiet world that he inhabits. Following him, and coming out only in the dark, are beings infected with the virus that wiped out the rest of humanity. These beings want to punish Neville for living while they are slowly dying.
Neville seems like a normal guy when the lights are turned on, but when the sun goes down we find out how dangerous a threat he poses to the infected, which is a strong point in the film. In any typical horror film working with this sort of scenario, the protagonist would be the hunted and the primary danger would be whatever is hunting him. But, Neville poses just as much danger to the hunters as they pose to him. Neville has killed many of them in the past, and unless they can get rid of him, they know that he will kill more.
As the film progresses, the infected group manages to capture Neville. They don’t want anything from him other than to kill him. But, of course they don’t kill him right away; they decide to sacrifice him where every one of them can gather to witness Neville’s death. The sacrifice is set with a ceremony, and of course, Neville escapes. Neville then finds out that he is not the only human left on Earth after all. This happens when a man comes out of the blue and frees him from his sacrificial restraints, fighting off infected beings in the process. Soon after, a woman pulls up in a motorcycle and drives Neville to freedom.
The two humans bring Neville to their home, where there are more people all living amongst each other. Among them is a sick boy, which is slowly becoming infected with the lethal virus. After some research, Neville finds out that his blood is a cure for the disease and manages to save the boy by injecting him with his blood.
A question of morality is brought up when the cured boy asks him to save the rest of the infected. Neville refuses, claiming that they are homicidal maniacs; that an attempt to save them would be a risk far too great. The boy persists and proceeds to go and tell the infected about the cure that consists of Neville’s blood.
The ending tries to spark some emotion, but due to the aggressive tone of the rest of the film, it fails. Neville is built up to be a very likable main character and a hero at the end, but in an obvious attempt to throw action into the picture, he is shown killing villains with ease throughout the rest of the film. All of this builds up to an ending that could have worked much better. The ending would have even had a chance of being great if the rest of the film had focused on Neville’s character instead of unnecessary action.
A few illogical mistakes tone the film’s quality down a few notches. Much of the film doesn’t focus on logical situations, but attempts to make Heston look like a supreme badass. This all happens within a film completely drenched with bad dialogue and laughable one-liners.
The Omega Man is a classic sci-fi thriller that would fit very well in a list of notable science fiction films. Unfortunately, it packs just enough hammy acting, cheesy one-liners, and gratuitous gunfire to fit in a list of cheesy 70’s flicks as well. Even with everything that does work with the film, there is too much wrong to call it a great or even a good movie. What it does do is entertain, and with that strong point, it can be a very, very fun movie to watch.