The Omega Man (1971)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Boris Sagal

Writers:

John William Corrington (screenplay) and
Joyce Hooper Corrington (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1 August 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Pray for the last man alive. Because he's not alone.

Plot:

Robert Neville, a doctor, due to an experimental vaccine, is the only survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons...

Plot Keywords:

Plague | Flashback | Albino | Vaccine | Military Officer

Cast

Charlton Heston	...	Robert Neville
Anthony Zerbe	...	Jonathan Matthias
Rosalind Cash	...	Lisa
Paul Koslo	...	Dutch
Eric Laneuville	...	Richie
Lincoln Kilpatrick	...	Zachary
Jill Giraldi	...	Little Girl
Anna Aries	...	Woman in Cemetery Crypt
Brian Tochi	...	Tommy
DeVeren Bookwalter	...	Family Member
John Dierkes	...	Family Member
Monika Henreid	...	Family Member
Linda Redfearn	...	Family Member
Forrest Wood	...	Family Member

Directed by
Boris Sagal

Writing credits
John William Corrington		(screenplay) and
Joyce Hooper Corrington		(screenplay) (as Joyce H. Corrington)
Richard Matheson		(novel "I Am Legend")

Produced by
Walter Seltzer	....	producer

Original Music by
Ron Grainer

Cinematography by
Russell Metty

Film Editing by
William H. Ziegler		(as William Ziegler)

Art Direction by
Art Loel		(as Arthur Loel)
Walter M. Simonds

Set Decoration by
William L. Kuehl

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor
Jean Burt Reilly	....	supervising hair stylist

Production Management
Frank Baur	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Donald Roberts	....	assistant director
Ted Swanson	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Robert Martin	....	sound (as Bob Martin)

Stunts
Joe Canutt	....	action coordinator
Wanda Ann Yates	....	stunt double
Denny Arnold	....	stunts (uncredited)
Fred Brookfield	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tap Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Courtney	....	stunts (uncredited)
Larry Duran	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gary Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tony Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Richard Farnsworth	....	stunts (uncredited)
Buddy Joe Hooker	....	stunts (uncredited)
Whitey Hughes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Harold Jones	....	stunts (uncredited)
Kim Kahana	....	stunts (uncredited)
Henry Kingi	....	stunts (uncredited)
Wayne King Sr.	....	stunts (uncredited)
Glenn Randall Jr.	....	stunts (uncredited)
Roy N. Sickner	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bernie Abramson	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Lydia Clarke	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Margo Baxley	....	costume supervisor
Bucky Rous	....	costume supervisor

Music Department
Ron Grainer	....	conductor
Dan Wallin	....	score mixer

Other crew
Shirley Cohen	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1971) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1974) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner Bros. / Columbia Pictures (1971) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1971) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Fox Movies SF Horror (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Sandrew Metronome Norge (2003) (Norway) (DVD)
• Scanvideo (198?) (Finland) (video)
• Veronica Omroep Organisatie (1979) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Warner Bros. Television
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Japan) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Pacific Title  titles

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Canada:14A | USA:PG | Sweden:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Brazil:14 | Canada:PG (TV rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1971) | UK:PG | USA:GP

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The movie was the inspiration for two CBC Radio comedy series, "Steve the First" and "Steve the Second", starring Matt Watts and Mark McKinney. Each series was about a slacker (the second the son of the first), called upon to save the world after a disaster.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Neville drives through the deserted city in the opening scenes past the "Tishman" building a person can clearly be scene walking back up the footpath on the right hand side

Quotes:

[first lines]
[the last man on earth wrecks his car]
Robert Neville: There's never a cop around when you need one.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Watchmen/Shuttle/12 (#1.2)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

'Round Midnight

Sci Fi Action At Its Explosive Best!

This action packed and thought-provoking sci-fi drama has been one of my personal favorites for over 30 years. Charlton Heston found his definitive role here, as the last man on earth, a scientist fighting a single handed battle against hundreds of mutant creatures of the night.

On the basic level, this movie has some of the most explosive action I have ever seen. Heston is at his best as a bloodless technocrat, a stone killer, "exterminating" mutants with machine guns, pistols, grenades, and his bare hands, all the time giving off an icy air of detachment. Put Chuck up against Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson and he definitely holds his own purely as a Seventies action hero.

On the other hand, this is also Chuck's best performance as an actor. The fact that he literally has the screen to himself for the first half hour allows him to do things he never did in his "epic star" mode. Watch him buy that used car, making small talk with a rotted corpse. Chuck puts across so much loneliness and yet entirely avoids self-pity, as in "thanks a lot, you cheating bastard." It's a scream to watch the bigger than life Moses dealing with life's everyday hassles, not in reality but in wistful fantasy.

Then watch the WOODSTOCK scene in the movie theater. Here's right wing idealist Charlton Heston watching left-wing hippies dance and frolic. Here's the last man on earth watching huge mobs of people crowd up the world that is now empty. The ironies are razor sharp, and Heston just lies back and lets the dialog work for him. "Just to see, just to really realize, that if you have to be afraid to smile at someone, if you have to be afraid to walk down the street, what kind of world is that? Right?" Note well the master's restraint. He doesn't sneer, he puts much more sadness into the lip-reading bit, with a little self-loathing on the side. The dialog and situation are tailor-made for Heston's cold decisive vocal style. It's not hammy stuff, it's Heston giving you the same kind of chill Deniro achieved in TAXI DRIVER. It's the paranoid loner as tragic hero. This cold withdrawn stuff is right down his power alley, and Chuck sends this scene into the upper decks.

Once the movie gets started, Heston gets superb assistance from Anthony Zerbe as the religious fanatic Brother Matthias. Zerbe is superb and the commentary on religious fanaticism is even more relevant today than it was thirty years ago. Then there's the sizzling racial subplot, the kill-whitey fanaticism of Brother Zachary striking far too close to home in 1973 but remaining as provocative as ever today. It's disturbing indeed to note the subliminal message of the inter-racial love affair -- the nice white man is happy to take care of the black woman and her children, but only after the assertive black man is dead. A movie that provokes, entertains, and combines scorching social issues with rip-roaring adventure, THE OMEGA MAN is Heston's best.

"Nope -- they sure don't make pictures like that any more."