The Omega Man (1971)
The last man on Earth is not alone
Starring: Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash, Paul Koslo, Eric Laneuville, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Jill Giraldi, Anna Aries, Brian Tochi
Director: Boris Sagal
Running Time: 98 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: PG
Drama, Science Fiction, Thriller
On DVD In this supposedly-horrifying vision of a post-apocalyptic future, there's a shop somewhere doing a roaring trade in black cloaks and sunglasses. For that's what comprises the chosen uniform of Matthias (Anthony Zerbe) and his 'Family', a whooping hoard of murderous nocturnal albinos. They've all been mutated by implied biological warfare, and as a result have decided to shun technology and 'the wheel' (something Matthias drones endlessly on about, despite clearly being seen to utilise both as the film progresses). For a bunch of folks who can't stand light, they also seem to spend an awful lot of time carrying around torches and setting fire to things, but I suppose that's beside the point.
The only normal (a word I use extremely loosely) man seemingly left alive is Charlton Heston's Robert Neville, who hides from The Family by night and goes looting for horrendously bad tracksuits by day. He's also obsessed with the movie 'Woodstock', though obviously not to the point of embracing any of that 'peace' nonsense, given how much time he spends shooting anything that moves. His faith in humanity is restored when, after two years of having only himself to inflict his rubbish one-liners on, he comes across a commune of fellow daytime-types, including the wooden Rosalind Cash and a bloke who insists on dressing like Biggles (Paul Koslo).
Heston's trademark over-acting and Ron Grainer's ridiculously inappropriate score blight any chance this film has of containing the slightest shred of tension. It's also got some not-so-subtle racist undertones which don't even merit going into.
As a young 'un, I used to think 'The Omega Man' was actually pretty decent. Then again, I also liked fish-fingers and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles', so shows what I knew. A more recent viewing of this 1971 end-of-the-world baloney showed it up for what it actually is - absolutely bloody awful. Watch Danny Boyle's similarly-themed but infinitely superior '28 Days Later' instead.
DVD Extras: An up-to-date featurette entitled 'The Last Man Alive'.
It's Got: One of the few movie heroes to get away with being called 'Neville'.
It Needs: Heston to stop laughing heartily even when NOTHING REMOTELY FUNNY HAS HAPPENED. Just watch him - he does it in practically every film he's in. The 'crazy b*****d'.
Alternatives: 28 Days Later
Summary: Perhaps a serious production at the time, but nowadays only worth watching if you're in need of a good laugh. This one's hilariously bad.
Review by Gary Panton
Review Date: 9th August 2003
External Links
The Omega Man at the IMDB
Comments2 Comments |
| Before 28 days later, there was the Omega Man. Armed with an arson and bloodlust, Hestion goes after a group of zombies that share both their keen fashon sense and radical political views with the Unibomber. 28 Days later is a decent flick, but it's over-hyped as hell. The zombies kill like rabid animals on speed! What happened to the days of slow, moaning, brooding zombies? Omega Man delivers for that traditional campy zombie movie feel. Some might complain about the fact that this Zombie action is more sci-fi than horror (these zombies are, after-all reasoning functioning creatures which are motivated to kill Heston and all remanents of civilization), but that's what distinguishes this masterpiece. The low production 70's soundtrack and thrift store cult outfits are the beauty of this film. Check it out if you haven't seen it. There wouldn't have been a 28 days later without Omega Man. |
| Comment by:- Rhodes | | 01 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| I don't know what some people find so wrong about the soundtrack. I liked it so much I bought it. It fit the movie and that time quite well. Lisa was wooden? I don't think so. The only people that couldn't act were the kids who weren't real actors, and they weren't given any lines. As far as Heston's peformance, it was excellent. Think about a world where just about everyone is dead and anyone you might have cared about is gone. I think if people came along, you might laugh at the first thing that would strike you as funny because you aren't saying it to yourself for once. Mathius's use of the wheel? He mentions clearly that they refuse to use technology from the time it threatened more than it offered. Bad track suits? How can this even be mentioned when the film was made in the early 70's, and that track suit was in style? The Omega Man isn't as great as I remembered it when I was a kid, but it still is a good movie and other than Night of the Living Dead, this movie kept you wondering what was going to happen till the very end. (((SPOILER))))I don't know how many people I have seen this movie with for a first time viewing, and they are all shocked and ****ed when Neville gets hit by the spear. No one figures Heston would die. I never did and I remember that one scene being the one thing that separated this movie from others. No formula like they would use nowadays.(((SPOILER))) As for 28 Days Later, while entertaining, this was nothing more than a rip off of Romero's Day of the Dead. Personally, I found "Day" was a better movie due to the character development. Do I recommend The Omega Man..........100%. That's why I bought the dvd. I don't know what was hilarious about this at all? |
| Comment by:- Mark Brett | | 11 December 2004 | ip: logged |
