Matt Shea
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Morgan Bell
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David O'Connell
Mountain Fog
The Omega Man
March 31st 2009 21:27
Ah - "The Omega Man"... Charlton Heston plays Robert Neville in this adaptation of one of the most adored sci-fi/horror books written in the English language, "I Am Legend". You could watch the CGI antics and shabby storytelling of the modern adaptation, featuring Will Smith, but it'd be a dull slog through rough sewage.
Instead, Boris Sagal directed Heston in this far superior effort, which, it's clear, influenced the 2007 movie to a large extent. Much of the personality in the Will Smith film is taken directly from "The Omega Man", as it was not in the original novel.
Though I enjoyed it, this is not a good film, not by far. The original novel was a lean work of riveting excitement, moving from one act to another with ease, the conclusion hitting home with the force of a baseball bat.
Instead, "The Omega Man" reveals its hand too early, then builds an insubstantial story on a fantastic premise. Making it worse - but so, so good for cult cinema fans - is the delivery of Heston's lines, through that gravelly voice, and the clumsy symbolism of Neville as the dual symbol of Christ and Antichrist.
At this time, though, in 2009, all is forgiven, my friends. Without CGI to bolster the environment, the Technicolour landscape is greatly comforting, and the stunts, though laughable by today's standards, are still entertaining to watch, especially the motorcycle chase scene.
In fact, it's hard not to enjoy the film - it's silly at times, promoting a heavy use of eye-rolling, but these movies are from a time when the sense of storytelling was very different. The differences are obvious in the way that the 2007 adaptation deals with the themes of the book, preferring to make Smith an ubermensch, and the turn the novel's vampires into superghouls.
Instead, the 1971 film portrays Neville as a very regular man, albeit one with a machine gun, and the ghouls as very fragile enemies. There's no quality of 'super' in anything, which is a relief, after the constant bombardment of superheroes films in the past few years, and even the tendencies of action stars to have an air of invulnerability about them (think the new Bond, Jason Bourne, etc).
No, there's something that resonates with "The Omega Man" and perhaps it is exactly that, though the story is sci-fi, the action is believable. Despite some of the awful dialogue, I found myself immensely cheered by the fact that this adaptation of Matheson's novel could entertain so much.
I say: A must-see for sci-fi fans and definitely one to replace "I Am Legend" in your memory.
See it for: Rosalind Cash plays a female interest for Heston, and she's chocolately delicious.
*this image is from the Vintage Culture post on Charlton Heston
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