Science fiction took a grim turn in the 1970s--the heyday of Agent Orange, nuclear peril, and Watergate. Suddenly, most of our possible futures took on a "last man on Earth" flavor, with The Omega Man topping the doom-struck heap.

DVD movies

An excellent old movie. This remake of an old Vincent Price movie "Last Man On Earth" is an old favorite of mine. Good movie to watch while waiting for trick or treaters on Halloween night!

One of my Favorite Charlton Heston Films!

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.

THE OMEGA MAN GOOD OR BAD?

i first saw the omega man in theatres back in 1971,my impression was not good at the time after seeing it.the omega man is based loosely on richard matheson's book i am legend mixed in with the last man on earth film with vincent price from 1964.it is now considered one of my favorites today.first off let me say what does one expect to see when seeing a last man on earth type format?the answer is what you see in the omega man is what anyone will do fight for survival.charlton heston has a strong performance in this little sci fi gem,along with anthony zerbe and rosalind cash.all in all theres not that many last man on earth type movies and i believe the omega man is not bad at all.yes its 70's type hype,but that was when it was made, just like i love vincent price 1964 classic the last man on earth which was more primitive.here the 1971 sci fi gem has robed homicidal maniacs and heston battling it out with high tech machine guns.yes it gets a bit dated with the slang from the 70's but if that is over looked the music the story and even the silly ending.it is in my humble opinion a nice little science fiction that deserves a hands up for trying to give a different twist to the genre of this type.presented in widescreen and in glorious technicolor,the omega man is truly a great addition to any sci fi collection along with soylent green and the planet of the apes.....