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The Omega Man is directed by Boris Sagal and stars
Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Paul Koslo, Rosalind Cash
and Eric Laneuville. The musical score is composed by Ron
Grainer and the film is based on the classic Richard Matheson
novel I Am Legend. ***
Robert Neville, a brilliant military scientist, believes
he is the last man on Earth following a plague that killed
or mutated most of humanity – he happens to be immune. But
he quickly finds out the hard way that he isn’t alone –
there are mutants who belong to a cult called “The Family”
who want Neville dead, or to become one of them. Finding
some surviving, unmutated humans, Neville attempts to come
up with a vaccine from his blood that he can used to cure
and make immune people from the plague – but The Family
is going to do what is necessary to make the non-mutated
suffer. ***
It’s no surprise Warner Bros. wanted to get this movie
on Blu-Ray before putting out the latest theatrical adaptation
of I Am Legend. It was certainly an interesting experience
revisiting this film after viewing the new Will Smith adaptation
of the story… though it’s debatable as to whether or not
that’s a good thing. ***
First and foremost, the acting and the characters.
Charlton Heston is great as Robert Neville, and he plays
this role very similar to his George Taylor character from
Planet of the Apes – a hotheaded tough guy who is initially
unsympathetic to the viewer, but we quickly come to relate
to him because of his predicament. Rosalind Cash is great
as the fighting female survivor Neville meets up with and
develops feelings for, as well. Sadly, beyond this, the
characters in the movie lack depth, and the changes from
the novel (and there are more changes than similarities!)
were not for the best. ***
My major complaint – why change the villains? In Matheson’s
original novel the villains were vampires of sorts. In this
film, the infection apparently makes them resent humanity
and want to go join The Family, for no reason. Sure, the
Will Smith version of this story changed the villains into
feral zombie-like beings, but even THOSE were more interesting
than a bunch of idiots in bad make-up using dialogue that
feels like it would be more at home in a Blaxploitation
film. This is very much a product of the 70s and I don’t
mean that in a good way. The film feels HORRIBLY dated from
start to finish. ***
And why bother dragging so many other unmutated survivors
into the mix? One of the things that made the Will Smith
adaptation great is that it was almost entirely a one-man
show, which made us appreciate his character all the more.
Not only does bringing in these other numerous surviving
children damage the “last man on Earth” element, they are
also uninteresting, boring characters. Not to mention given
the technology and weaponry The Family has at its disposal,
Neville’s final fate seems seriously underwhelming. ***
The Omega Man is great for good, cheesy 70s fun – but
you know something is wrong when the entire movie feels
like potential MST3K fodder. There are some good action
scenes and it s a fun movie to watch, but it’s hard to recommend
it on any basis other than horribly dated nostalgic fun.
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Image and Sound:
I was pleasantly surprised with the visual aspect of
the presentation on this Blu-Ray Disc. For the most part,
the film looks very clear, sharp and detailed – better than
I was expecting. In some close-ups you can see every pore
and bead of sweat on Charlton Heston’s face. The opening
credits sequence looks a bit soft and there are some minor
instances of grain spiking, but as a whole the grain level
never becomes too overwhelming. Sadly though, the Mono audio
track shows its age, and you’ll wish Warner had made a lossless
mix for the film. Still, the visuals are great, and they
make this the best home video version of the movie to date.
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