Customer Reviews

The Omega Man [HD DVD]

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(74)
3 star:		(38)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

The Omega Man is based loosely (and by that, I mean very loosely) on Richard Matheson's classic end-of-the-world novel I am Legend. Taking place in the near future, the Omegan Man imagines a world where the majority of the population has been wiped out by biological warfare. Those that have survived have become albinos who can only come out at night. In a clever touch that has never really been given its due, their leader is a former TV news commentator named Mathias (well-played by Anthony Zerbe who is both sympathetic and threatening). Mathias has declared that the only way to purify the world is to destroy all reminders of their former life and that includes anyone who may not have been infected with the plague. At the beginning of the movie, that would appear to be all of one man -- a former military scientist played by Charlton Heston who spends his days driving through a deserted Los Angeles is search of both a cure and more humans. At night, he hides in his well-lit apartment while Mathias's mob angrily tries to force him out.

The Omega Man is at its strongest in the beginning. The scenes of Heston driving across a deserted Los Angeles (scenes that were shot on actual L.A. street) continue to haunt thirty years after they were first filmed and, for all its inherent camp value, there's something undeniably powerful about seeing the half-mad Heston passing the time by sitting in an empty music theater and watching Woodstock. As well, Mathias' siege on Heston's apartment is also well handled. After this, the film loses its way slightly with Heston predictability getting trapped outside after dark and much of the film's action falls flat. However, uneven as it may be, it all builds up to a truly powerful ending that will shock those raised on the sci-fi films of the '80s and '90s and the final visual image of Heston still packs an incredible amount of power. Despite the fact that Charlton Heston's performance here (and Soylent Green) provided the inspiration for many impressionists, he actually gives an excellent performance. While he spends much of the film gritting his teeth NRA-style, he also brings a very believable sense of fear to the night scenes. Heston doesn't make his hero an obvious hero -- instead of being a standard good guy, mankind's last hope is instead presented as having been driven almost mad by his responsibility.

When it was initially released, the Omega Man got mixed reviews and unfortunately, it has retained some of that negative stigma. When I was a kid and this movie used to play nearly every Sunday afternoon, I thought it was the scariest film ever made. The images of Mathias and his followers with their black robes and pasty faces used to give me nightmares. Now that I'm older, the movie no longer terrifies me but it still carries an undeniable and admirable power. Instead, it is an uneven film that, like many so-called B films of the 1970s, sticks admirably true to its darker than dark designs. For all the critical sniping that the Omega Man has suffered over the years, it is still a film that could teach today's Hollywood directors a thing or two about making an effective movie.

It is the height of irony that Chuck Heston, who has recently raised the ire of numerous liberal do-gooders for his arch-conservative stances on issues such as gun control, was the star of counter culture sci-fi flicks of the late 60's and early 70's: Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, and this classic, The Omega Man.

"The Man" has screwed up and destroyed mankind with his weapons of mass destruction. All that remains is a scientist (Heston) who discovered a vaccine against the deadly virus that has either killed people or turned them into mutant psychopaths. Also alive are a handful of children and a couple of adult free spirits; but unless they are vaccinated they will turn into mutants with time. ("Don't trust anyone over 30!") Can the Omega Man use his blood as a vaccine to save what is left of mankind? Can the Omega Man survive the night when all the mutants come out to try and kill him?

This is a fun movie! Sure "The Omega Man" is dated; but that is part of its charm: the music, the clothes, and those afros. Some parts are priceless such as sight of Chuck Heston watching the movie "Woodstock" and knowing all the dialogue by heart. Or a black mutant trying to convince the head mutant, Anthony Zerbe, to allow him to use artillery to blast Heston out of his "honky paradise." (On a serious note: This movie did feature one of the first interracial movie romances in which race is considered inconsequential.) Heston is at his hammy best here, and he does utter his trademark line: "Oh, my God!" The ending is a hoot with Chuck as Christ- "The blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven."

"I was like Charleton Heston in "The Omega Man." Beauty movie, eh?"- Strange Brew

With a nod to some of the previous reviewers, yes this movie is quite dated. Especially if you are watching this for the very first time. It's a film that was released in 1971 and is about events 4 years into the future. So of course it's dated. But I had the pleasure of seeing this in the theater when it was first released and to this day, no film EVER grabbed my attention as quickly as "The Omega Man." The opening scene, done pre-opening credits, is and probably will always be my all-time favorite scene, if only for the surprise factor.

The plot is the "end-of-civillzation-and-beyond" kind. Here, a border war between Russia and China turns into germ warfare, releasing a nasty bug into the atmosphere. Most people die almost instantaniously. However, a small percentage live on for a short while but are turned into an almost albino state where any type of direct light causes them emmense pain. Heston plays Robert Neville, a government researcher who discovered a cure for the virus only to have his helicopter crash on the way to deliver the vaccine. As a last resort he injects himself with what's left of the vaccine and thus becomes the only human on the planet immune.

Now to clarify some of the mis-information stated in other reviews. The group of albino survivors are not vampires/nombies/whatever. As the virus takes hold of them they go insane. Led by Mathias (Anthony Zerbe) they have decided the disease is God's punishment for man's overuse of techology and have decided it is their mission to burn all forms of knowledge. By night we see book burnings as they sack the deserted Los Angeles. To them Neville is like Satan because he refuses to denounce the old ways. This leads to basically two stubborn men bent on the destruction of the other. By day Neville hunts down "the Family and by night the family lays siege to his fortress-like home.

Yes, there are some scenes that really push the envelope of believability. But then again, this is science fiction, and any good sci-fi story will do that. There are also many scenes that keep you on the edge of your seat. One in particular, after being captured, Neville is taken to Dodger Stadium where the Family plans to burn him along with a huge pile of books. To the family, it's their crowning moment. But at the last minute both the family and Neville get a surprise when the stadium lights are suddenly turned on, sending the family to the ground in pain. I can't go further into the scene without spoiling it so lets just say the escape is one of the many surprises that keep popping up.

To sum up, I would recommend this film to any sci-fi fan. Again, it is dated but the plot is great and of course Heston and Zerbe are absolutely great as adversaries. Don't miss it.

This movie is such a classic, I don't think a thousand words can do it justice, but I will try though! If youre antisocial like me, you'll appreciate the fantasy of "being alone". There have been times when I cut class and went to the movies at about 11am on a weekday and made believe I was Charleston Heston in the early "Woodstock" scene, which is just a priceless sequence.The movie does have its political commentaries about how the lack of world peace can turn everyone into light-sensitive Zombies ( Anthony Zerbe, Lincoln Kilpatrick) and interracial loving (Heston and Rosalind Cash). Richard Matheson (through Boris Sagal)has made the ultimate social commentaries with this masterpiece. I don't know about you? But I can't wait for them to unearth an extra hour or two of deleted scenes and bonus footage.Omege Man is a movie that can be watched for 3 hours.

Boris Sagal's film "The Omega Man" was the second attempt to make Richard Matheson's classic novel (the third is with Will Smith) into a film. Matheson wrote a screen version that starred Vincent Price (entitled "The Last Man on Earth")that captured some of the qualities of his novel but suffered from being shot in post-War Italy on a low budget (Matheson substituted his name in the credits with a pseudonym). It's moody, low budget cinematography added to the film but it fails to live up to Matheson's original novel."The Omega Man" likewise fails to live up to Matheson's novel but is still an enjoyable if dated science fiction film. Charlton Heston and the supporting cast do a fine job with the material that they are given even if the screenplay guts some of the best elements of the novel in favor of more topical material from the time. The opening sequence where Heston drives down a deserted street in Los Angeles and then screens "Woodstock" in an empty theater continues to be eerie and quite effective even 35 years later.

In Matheson's original novel the result of viral warfare (in the film this is due to chemical warfare. Joyce Carrington takes credit for coming up with this concept) changes humans into vampire-like (ghouls in this film with a sensitivity to sunlight)creatures. Neville appears to be the last human. In the film the creatures are led by a former news anchor (played by Anthony Zerbe)who taunts Neville hunting him just as he hunts them, Neville meets other humans after a long period of isolation awakening his sense of humanity.

Any science fiction film is truly about the decade it was made in. The film ends up being about the last vestiages of the 60's and 70's (and cults like the Manson Family which is really what the "Family" of ghouls represent)and the conflict between the status quo and youth culture. Neville represents technology, reason and the past while the "Family" represents a rejection of the very things that made them into monsters and changed the world.

Although it's a bit heavy handed and departs signficantly from Matheson's novel, "The Omega Man" carries over some of Matheson's themes and the sense of loss, lonliness and how we can lose our own sense of humanity when surrounded by "monsters". There are some very effective scenes in the film and Heston does an excellent job of portraying Neville's fragile hold on sanity. Although not as good as "Planet of the Apes" or even "Soylent Green", "The Omega Man" is a dated but enjoyable science fiction film that has become a bit campy with the passage of time.

The DVD features a very good transfer of the film. An "introduction" (it's more of a brief featurette on the film) by screenwriter Joyce H. Corrington, actors Paul Koslo and Eric Laneuville who appear in the film Unfortunately Heston wasn't interviewed for this reissue of the film. We do, however, get a vintage featurette where Heston talks about the film and his character with an anthropologist that influenced his take on Neville. We also get a text extra "Charlton Heston-Science Fiction Legend". Although this isn't the best film of the four science fiction films Heston made during the 70's (the ending of this film with its heavy handed Christ-like death of a major character is a bit much), it's still enjoyable due to the action sequences and the performances of the veteran cast.

The Omega Man on blue ray is a whole different movie than on the standard edition. This is because the print has been cleaned up and it is well mastered. Warner brothers typically on their standard releases use whatever print they have left and do not attempt to clean it up. But for this blue ray version they have removed the lines and awful purple blotches that were on the standard issue. In fact I managed to contact their customer service and ask them to deal with the bad print situation that has plagued many of the companies standard dvd issues. They obviously listened to me and others who voiced the same concern and gave us this wonderful print of the omega man. This type of cleaning up can be done for many older movies and this will make any movie from the 30's through the seventies seem like a new experience. This movie is from 1971 and now it looks brand new again. It has the same extras that the standard dvd has but this is a cleaned up and wonderfully made print. I think we can fault many of the newer releases on blu ray for not putting out the special editions that blu ray demands. For instance 'live free and die harder" should have been unrated on blu ray as well for the same price. Or the terminator 2 should at the price of a blue ray should been loaded with all the extras that the special editions had. However any movie older than 1980 needs it's prints to be cleaned up badly and that's a very special thing to behold in it's self. I would love to see lots of warners old movies with all those lines in them cleaned up as well. computers can remove them and the bbc has done marvelous work with Doctor Who in this regard. That series is distributed by Warner Brothers as well. Ok what about the movie itself? It's a classic science fiction movie with excellent performances. One of the best elements of the film is that the last man meets the last woman and she's black. And this doesn't matter as they are just glad to find someone. This is a timeless statement about humanity. But it is the ever evident threat of biological terror or even natural biological plagues that continue to ravage the world that makes this movie pertinant and frightening. I personally watch old movies and do not try to overanalyze such things as effects or stunts or such. For this holds true even for very old sci fi movies from back in the fifties. They didn't have cgi back then and they did the best they could. enuff said! But the movie remains a great sci fi classic that will continue to gain veiwers due to it's well written story. And the images of the insane diseased and rotting family that actor Anthony Zerbe leads that truly resonates today. Because they are no less insane than many modern cults who pray to a supreme leader for all of their answers. Thanks should be given to Warner Brothers for this blu ray edition and lets hope they go even farther back and clean up classics like 'little ceaser" or even just fix up their other releases from the same period including those wonderful hammer horror movies who they own the rights to. A two for one release on older movies would be great too. anyways this is a great film that will stand the test of time.

Boris Sagal's 1971 horror/sci-fi thriller "The Omega Man" is such a cool film, most viewers will look past it's unintentionally humorous faults. Ironically, it's these very faults that make it such a great midnight flick. These would include a cheesy score, an out-of-place Charlton Heston decked out in clothes that would make Studio 54 bouncers proud, and a very hammy Anthony Zerbe as the main villain Mathias.

Based on Richard Matheson's terrific novel "I Am Legend," humans are destroyed by a virus leaving our nation's cities desolate and abandoned. Ol' Chuck is immune, and this film begins with a memorable sequence as he drives through the streets of Los Angeles alone. At night, he must protect himself from a tribe of zombie/vampires whose only purpose in life seems to be trying to kill Chuck. These determined vampires go about their nightly rituals decked out in black robes, carrying torches and stumbling around in the best George Romero fashion. Yes, these virus vampire victims are led by the preachy sermons of Mathias, a sort of nightmare Oral Roberts if you will.

Chuck discovers a commune tribe of other immune survivors, including the lovely Rosalind Cash - a sexy independent babe adorned in bell bottoms that would put Pam Grier to shame. Hunky Heston has an affair with Rosalind in his fortified penthouse, and suddenly you have one of the earliest examples of a bi-racial romance ever seen on film. The beauty of "The Omega Man" is that this surprising development is never mentioned - it just is baby.

In many ways the grandfather of all Goth films, "The Omega Man's" groovy style is a definite precursor to "Escape From New York," "The Crow" and "Blade." You have a Messiah-like figure surviving in a futuristic nightmare world while battling vampire-like creatures with machine guns. Let's not forget the great scene where Chuck and Rosalind escape on a motorcycle with what must be the theme from "Superfly" playing in the background.

Perhaps I jest just a bit, but "The Omega Man" in my book is indeed a funky cult classic. Probably the least known of Heston's sci-fi films from this era ("Soylent Green," "Planet of the Apes"), "The Omega Man" is a hip discovery for audiences thristing for the bizarre.

There are several ways to look at this movie. Unless you are willing to accept its early-70s ambience, it can seem quaint and hokey in spots. And if you're expecting a literal adaptation of Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend," you're going to be disappointed. But if you judge it for what it is -- an "end of civilization" movie made nearly 30 years ago -- it's a damn fine movie: thought-provoking, and suspenseful, with a near-great performance by Heston as the last "normal" man on Earth and a wonderful supporting-role performance by Anthony Zerbe as Matthias. I've watched this move about a dozen times over the years, and always enjoy it -- even though you begin to notice some production glitches after the first couple of viewings (e.g. a car crossing the street way back in the distance, in one shot). One of the best things about "Omega Man" is its pro-technology, pro-reason message in an era when most of pop culture was wallowing in mindless tribalism. I can't give it five stars, but it's sure a solid "four! !

Five stars for "Omega Man!!" I wasn't at all interested in seeing this video. At first you notice the cheapy seventies look to the movie, then come some of the unforgetable lines uttered by Charlton Heston and others (absolutely priceless!). Seeing Heston in an Austin Powers-like velvet suit with ruffled shirt was the first hint that this was a movie to keep watching. The last normal lady for Heston to hook up with comes stocked with machine gun, afro, and Superfly dialogue. Soon you can't help but put yourself into his situation and wonder what you would do if you were the last normal person on earth with light-sensitive albino zealots coming after you every night. If you are looking for something fun to watch with a hip crowd, or you just want to sit back and enjoy how this movie feels -- GET IT!

It doesn't get any better than Charleton Heston in a science fiction film. "The Omega Man" is a far superior film treatment than the earlier black and white film with Vincent Price entitled "The Last Man on Earth," although the latter is more faithful to the Richard Matheson novel. Like "Planet of the Apes," Heston is one of the few surviving members of humanity. Again, we see a morality play on the dangers of technology ran amok. "Come out, Neville!" Anthony Zerbe in one of his best roles!