Rating: 
Summary: Last Of Our Kind
Review: The 60's and 70's saw science fiction cinema take a darker tone. Gone was the gee whiz fun factor of the serials of the 30's. In its place, cynicism and a darker tone, was put in its place. Since actor Charlton Heston made three such films, no other film star at time, embraced the genre, the way hid did. A deadly plague has ravaged humanity. Government research scientist Robert Neville (Heston) helped develop the illness as biological weapon. As one of the planet's only survivors' Neviille leads a group of those who are immune. This group must confront a band of mauraders, led by Matthias(Anthony Zerbe), who are just trying to surrvive any way they can. Realizing his part in this nightmare, Neville tries to find a cure and insure humanity's future. Following in the footsteps of Planet Of The Apes and Soylent Green, director Boris Segal's The Omega Man is a solid cautionary story that, at the time, fit Heston quite well. Although the film lands somewhere behind the aforementioned other two films, there's still plenty to take notice of. Aside from performaces by Heston and Zerbe, Rosalind Cash has quite a turn as Lisa--a smooth lady. The storyline, seems more timely, given the world in which we live in today. The DVD extras include a video introduction by screenwriter Joyce H. Carrington, and cast members Paul Koslo, and Eric Laneuville that's pretty lame. I would have thought that a commentary would be here--It would have been preferred. Those who own the Soylent Green DVD will recognize the essay "Charlton Heston: Science Fiction Legend". The best extra on the disc is, as far as I'm concerned is, "The Last Man Alive: The Omega Man", a 10 minute vintage featurette. Cast and crew bios and the tearical trailer top off the disc. The film is presented in both Full Screen or Widescreen, depending on your preference. The Omega Man DVD is recommended (despite some reservations).
Rating:
Summary: Dated Hippie [information] but fun
Review: Most of my positive feelings for this movie come from watching it as a teenager on Saturday sci-fi theather. Clearly made on the downside of Heston's career, this film is so preachy (about the horrors of man's science run amok, racism, crass materialism, etc.) it almost makes you want to change the channel. The science and politics of the movie are to real science and politics what Kenny G is to real jazz - close but not quite there. Of course, Heston plays it up with a psuedo-seriousness that would give Vincent Price or William Shatner a run for their money. If you want to see a Heston in a better apocolyptic thriller, Soylent Green is a better bet and in the Omega Man he comes no where close to his performance in Planet of the Apes. All this being said, The Omega Man is a fun, juvenile romp. The delivery of all the gloom and doom speeches is just campy enough to keep you from taking the movie too seriously. Despite the overpreening preachiness of the movie, The Omega Man has some serious upsides: The scenes of Heston running through a empty LA are particularly creepy and Heston watching the movie Woodstock is a great definition of irony (somehow I don't think the NRA screens it too often). The running battles between Heston and the "vampires" of LA are amusing as is the whole 'last man on Earth' motif of the film. And for a B movie, the production values are pretty good (you have to remember this was the 1970's).
Rating: 
Summary: An imperfect horror/science fiction classic
Review: The Omega Man (1971) is a very good movie, but those familiar with the novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, upon which the film is based (rather loosely), and the earlier, incomparable adaptation The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price, may find themselves a little disappointed. That is how I felt. This is probably somewhat unfair, seeing as how The Omega Man differs significantly from the earlier book and movie, but I can't help but make such comparisons. Charlton Heston plays Robert Neville, a military doctor who has lived alone for some three years since the world basically ended. Russia and China went to war, the U.S. may or may not have become involved, and eventually someone somewhere unleashed a weaponized bacterium that quickly set about ending man's reign on earth. With the help of a highly experimental vaccine and much more luck than exists in real life, Neville manages to survive, holing himself up in a penthouse apartment in town. At night, those who were "changed" instead of killed come out to play. These are not the mindless vampires of The Last Man on Earth, however; these are just funny-looking albino people with really weird eyes and very bad complexions. They even have a leader named Matthias (Anthony Zerbe) who has turned "The Family" of survivors into a religious cult obsessed with destroying everything from the old earth - e.g., electricity, bombs, cars, and especially one Robert Neville. After three years of hunting by day and trying to survive by night (with the help of a generator and lots of guns and liquor), Neville eventually encounters a fellow human being in the form of Lisa (Rosalind Cash). The relationship that forms between them represents one of the earliest interracial romances to appear on the big screen. Neville soon finds himself in the role of savior, possessing the only immune blood by which serum can be made to cure those who are left on earth. Of course, The Family is still trying to kill him every single night, and they (plus a really stupid kid) help make sure that Neville's plans and new-found hopes don't easily succeed. The ending is a little bit hokey, but it seems appropriate and allows for all sorts of philosophical and religious musings. The Omega Man has its quirks. The music in particular is rather unusual, a little too funky and 70s-ish for my tastes, especially during certain select moments of importance in the film. Charlton Heston also seems unable to keep his shirt on for more than a few minutes at a time, which doesn't really do much for yours truly. Then there are the members of The Family; it's hard to say exactly what these people are. They fear daylight, but that is pretty much the only vampire-like quality they have. I also don't know why most people simply died from the plague, while a few folks changed into whatever The Family are supposed to be. I guess these questions aren't crucial for enjoying the movie, but I would have liked a fuller explanation as to what exactly the plague was and how it worked. The Omega Man is an almost-classic horror/science fiction movie, but it can't hold a candle to Vincent Price's The Last Man on Earth. The latter movie is based much more closely (albeit not completely) on Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, and Vincent Price delivers a much more intense performance than Heston does. I never really felt the weight of Neville's loneliness and inner turmoil, despite extended scenes early on showing the man talking to himself and acting a little nutty. This, I would argue, is the main weakness that keeps The Omega Man from more completely satisfying me.
Rating: 
Summary: I saw it at the drive-in when I was 5
Review: I remember watching this movie at the drive-in when I was 5 years old. The drive-in we went to played 2 movies that night. I do not remember what the first one was. The Omega man was the 2nd one. I usually fell asleep right after the 2nd movie started but this movie got my attention. My mother said that this it the first movie I ever sat through and never made a sound or took my eyes off the screen. I was totally fascinated by this movie. I have probably seen it about 25 times. I still love it.
Rating:
Summary: The Last Man on Earth has a GUN!!!!
Review: THE OMEGA MAN has the distinction of being quoted by recent horror hit 28 DAYS LATER. But it was a remake itself of a classic and lesser known Vincent Price movie called THE LAST MAN ON EARTH. Sci Fi always seems to be more about the time it was made than the future itself, and this one came out in 1971. Black Power was on the cultural front, crime was a big concern, cults and mistrust of the government - THE MAN! Germ warfare has wiped out most of the Earth's population save for one man who has a vaccine, and a gang of creepy albinos that only come out at night because their eyes can not tolerate the sun. The man fights his way through a deserted LA, and eventually hooks up with more survivors. Most striking is the big bad mama with the fro who captures his heart! Will they find a cure for the plague? Will Charlton Heston stop blowing away albinos with rifles and semi-automatics? Surprisingly this movie seems more dated than earlier Heston outing PLANET OF THE APES. Maybe that's because pop culture really invades here! The language and the music, and refrences to WOODSTOCK set this story square in the 70s. But it's still creepy and well done! And fans of 28 DAyS LATER will be surprised to see how much that movie owes to OMEGA MAN. The DVD has widescreen cleaned up film, an old featurette, and a new introduction by some of the cast and crew who remember making the film. No commentary, but a nice package! Groovy horror / sci fi classic with Charlton Heston living in a "honky's paradise" where he is the ultimate enforcer with a gun in hand!
Rating:
Summary: 28 Days Earlier?
Review: "The Omega Man" is essentially a very Gothic, post-apocalyptic vision of a world overrun with the tragically infected survivors of a Doomsday plague unleashed during the final conflict between Russia and China. These infected survivors ("The Family")become vampire-like: they lose their skin pigmentation, dress in black shrouds and must avoid the light of day. They are also hell-bent on taking out the few remaining resistant souls who are planning to re-populate the earth.
Chuck Heston stars (in a thoroughly over-the-top performance) as Neville, a scientist who tested an experimental vaccine on himself, rendering him immune and theoretically "the last man on earth".
The film boils down to a formulaic chase. Along the way, Neville meets and beds Lisa (Rosalind Cash). But all is not well. And the early 70's trademark rejection of the traditional happy ending in sci-fi films is upheld.
Interestingly, the current "28 Days Later" owes a great deal to "The Omega Man": some of the parallels are truly astonishing.
Rating:
Summary: SPEEDY BOB NEVILLE FINALLY COMES TO DVD!!!
Review: Boris Sagal's 1971 science fiction, cult classic "THE OMEGA MAN" finally comes to DVD! Was it worth the wait? You betcha!!! The transfer is clean and bright and the mono sound is pleasing as well. The disc could have used a little more bonus features, but I'll settle for a fine copy of the film with the original trailer any day over nothing at all! The disc features a 4 minute introduction by one of the films screenwriters and two members of the supporting cast, Paul Koslo who played Dutch and Eric Laneuville who played Ritchie. The brief nature of this intro will leave fans of the film wanting more but it does reveal several interesting facts about the production which I'll leave viewers to discover on their own. Besides the already mentioned trailer there is a 9 minute look at the making of the film that was produced at the time of the films production and is very interesting. It's funny to hear the narrator tell bald faced lies about the films plot. "Neville only wants to help cure the others with his scientific know how". Oh right. Is that why he runs around LA hunting them down and shooting at them with his rifle? Some cure! About the film itself. It has always been one of my personal favorites. Acting, script, direction, music, are all first rate in my book. If you've never seen the film, this disc is a good intro and if you've seen the film already what are you reading this for? Go out and buy the disc. You won't be disappointed! Footnote: Isn't it odd that the survivors of a war that has decimated the planet of most of its population would spend their time trying to kill one another? I guess that's why Heston refers to human beings in the disc's featurette as "killer apes". It has always made me think that if something like this did happen, the human race doesn't deserve to survive it! -George Bauch.
Rating:
Summary: Neville's Epitaph
Review: A handful of SciFi movies from the 70s still have a message worth re-examining and the cast, sets, and music worth another view. Charlton Heston was in three of those movies, Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, and last but not least Omega Man. Don't miss any of them. All three are now available on DVD and well worth adding to your library. Heston did an excellent job portraying Neville in Omega Man. A man who believes all healthy people are dead after a biological war. He lives alone in a penthouse fortress armed to the teeth. He finds a small community of a woman, a young man, and mostly children that are not infected yet. He must battle those that are infecteded to continue the human race. His blood is immune from the disease because of an experiamental drug he used during the holocaust. Can he develop enough serum in time to help them? Those infected use medieval weapons since they believe that Neville's technological weapons are part of the evil that brought about the holocaust of a biological war. Although the clothes and effects show their age it is still a movie well worth seeing. If it was remade today the message would not change much. In fact the age of the movie gives people a view of some of the clothes, furnishings, cars, and music from the era it was made. The quality of the DVD color and sound are great and it includes several extras.
Rating:
Summary: Cult Classic Immortalized on DVD
Review: The latest and greatest format incarnation of the 1971 cult classic, The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston is a fine example of crystal clarity and vibrant colors for a DVD. Owning the VHS, the laser disc and now the DVD, I can safely say that the latest print is a great improvement in resolution with less noise and a sharper picture relayed in its original letterboxed format. The 98 minute film is in Mono and the DVD includes the trailer which the laser disc did not have, some general notes about Heston's film career, the previously releases documentary, "The Last Man Alive" and a very cool introductory, 4 minute featurette with brief interviews with one of the writers and 2 of the original actors(Koslo and Laneuville), which is interesting see how they've aged. The DVD is sadly absent of any New material featuring Heston himself. The audio, as previously stated, is in Mono, but is clear and well-preserved for the digital format. As a long-term, diehard fan of Heston and the Omega Man, I am very pleased at the quality of the DVD print, although I would have appreciated more extras, but this does not deter from the overall enjoyment factor of owning the most recent format of this science fiction must-see.
Rating:
Summary: sci fi horror at it's best
Review: i was 11 yrs old when this movie came out, charleton heston , and charles bronson, were well established stars with action movies out. this one " omega man ' was a great saturday afternoon flick, with monsters, machine guns, end of the world as we know it, conflicts, good and evil, compassion, and total evil, i wish there was more footage shot, or extra stuff availible, as this movie is a cult classic. perhaps a better made re make, updated, science and technology can do this, and we live in a time period, where the end of the world is just as real as it was 30 yr's ago
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