One of my Favorite Charlton Heston Films! | The Omega Man

best movie ever!!!! | The Omega Man | Charlton Heston, Rosalind Cash

DVDs:


	• The Omega Man Charlton Heston, Rosalind Cash Warner Home Video, 2007 average customer review:based on 38 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Apocalypse Heston

The Omega Man is one of the better 'Bleak View of the Future with Lots of Concrete' films to come out of 1970s. Chuck Heston plays Robert Neville, a survivor of a biological weapon unleashed during the Third World War that turns a percentage of the world's population into diseased, nocturnal albinos. A scientist, specifically in the realm of organic chemistry, Neville is less interested in finding a cure as he is in eradicating the vampire like Luddites (Anti Progress/Mechanization) that have targeted Neville as the symbol of the evil that has reduced them to their present state. Holed up in his Manhatten fortress Neville conducts his dual program: a daytime regime of albino extermination followed by a nighttime siege by the selfsame enemy. The audience gets to enjoy the eccentricities of a protagonist that is truly alone in the face of an implacable and inhuman foe. Then everything changes....

This film does suffer a bit from the age in which it was made. File footage of atomic explosions and missile launches place it solidly in the age before seamless computer graphic effects. The albino victims of the plague have a 'Black-xploitation' 70s feel to them as does another aspect of the film...that I will not touch upon for fear of spoilers. That said, the Luddite aspect is handled very well. It has a nice self destructive and believable feel to it. Also, there are gorgeous long shots of Empty New York (tm). Everyone is out to get everyone else; scientist and monsters alike. The world really has gone mad: science and anti-science face off in the ruins of civilization.

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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.

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best movie ever!!!!

this movie is just amazing, it's very haunting and has a great music score! Charlton Heston plays perfect the only man on earth!!

must by!!!

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8

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