THE
OMEGA MAN (1971)Director: Boris Sagal
Warner Bros.
THE
OMEGA MAN (1971)Warner Brothers' production of
THE OMEGA MAN is actually the second filming of Richard Matheson's novel, I
am Legend, first witnessed in the 60s as THE LAST MAN ON EARTH with Vincent
Price. The husband and wife writing team of John Corrington and Joyce H. Corrington
trashed the vampire angle of the original story, and injected it with a very
energetic 1970s attitude. Screen legend Charlton Heston had played so many larger
than life characters before, and since his stint in the sci-fi classic PLANET
OF THE APES was still lingering in the public's eye, he seemed the natural choice
for the lead in the film.
Heston stars as Robert Neville,
a scientist who is seemingly the last living man on earth, as biological warfare
has wiped out the planet. Being an innovative experimenter, Neville was able
to concoct a vaccine to cure the plague, but too late to save the rest of humanity,
he has been able to treat himself. Living in a ghost town of Los Angeles, a
group of contaminated, albino zombie-like beings who call themselves The Family,
roam the streets at night, and live like grubs by day, not being able to stand
the sunlight. Lead by Matthias (Anthony Zerbe), they know the penthouse where
Neville resides, and torment him nightly. Not wanting to leave his richly furnished
home which is now a fortress, Neville fights back at The Family with his 
sufficient
supply of guns and gadgets, and searches for their hideout during the day.
After being captured and nearly killed by The Family, Neville is saved by a young black woman named Lisa (the late Rosalind Cash) who lives outside the city with longhaired biker Dutch (Paul Koslo) and a group of children. When Neville makes it clear that he has an antidote for the plague, they immediately try and help Richie (Eric Laneuville), Lisa's younger brother who is beginning to "turn." Neville becomes romantically involved with Lisa, and the whole group plan to move away from LA once Richie has recovered, but they still have to contend with Matthias and his band of nocturnal barbarians.
THE OMEGA MAN often causes dispute
over movie fans, some who adore it and others who write it off as dated cheese.
Set in a post apocalyptic year of 1977, the film is very much a clear reflection
of the early 70s, as the crazed and dise
ased
Family are not unlike the Manson clan, the casting of Rosalind Cash as action
heroine was a precursor to the forthcoming blaxploitation craze, and Neville
watches WOODSTOCK in a theater as a symbol of the way the world should be. But
put in the perspective of the year it was set in, it's harder to find a more
action-packed and fun-filled sci-fi movie of its type, and it's easy to see
why the cult status of it just seems to escalate. The film also injects horror,
humor and quotable dialog into the proceedings, and with someone of the grand
appeal and caliber of Heston as the hero, it simply 
works
as great entertainment and a perfect popcorn movie. THE OMEGA MAN has been one
of the most requested titles on DVD, and frankly, it's quite understandable.
Although once before on laserdisc
in its proper aspect ratio, this DVD presentation is the best the film has ever
looked. Presented in its original 2.35:1 Panavasion ratio with anamorphic enhancement,
detail is sharp and black levels are excellent. Fleshtones are very natural,
and the colors are bold and really stand out when compared to previous video
and cable versions, and nighttime scenes are always distinct, with only slight
hints of grain in several scenes. The mono audio track is excellent, with clear
dialog and various sound effects now being more distin
ct.
Ron Grainer's luscious score is also rendered beautifully throughout. There
is also a separate French language track, as well as optional English, French
and Spanish subtitles.
There is a new introduction with
screenwriter Joyce H. Corrington (her husband has since passed away), and actors
Paul Koslo and Eric Laneuville. This works as a short featurette, running a
swift four minutes. In the brief interviews, Corrington talks about how she
tossed the vampire motif and added the chemist/germ angle, Laneuville talks
about how gracious Heston was and how he was in awe of him in his first film
and Koslo describes his favorite scene as when Neville goes to see WOODSTOCK
and recites dialog from it. Other things are touched upon briefly. "The
Last Man Alive - The Omega Man," is an original behind-the-scenes production
featurette that has Heston inviting a noted anthropologist to the set. This
runs about 10 minutes and includes some great "making of" footage.
Also included is the original trailer and a brief essay on Heston's sci-fi features.
(George
R. Reis)