The omega man

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The omega man
Original title The Omega Man
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1971
length 98 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Boris Sagal
script Richard Matheson
John William Corrington
Joyce Hooper Corrington
production Walter Seltzer
music Ron Grainer
Cootie Williams
camera Russell Metty
cut William H. Ziegler
occupation

The Omega Man is a 1971 US film adaptation by Boris Sagal . It is based on the science fiction novel by the American writer Richard Matheson Ich bin Legende ( I am Legend ). Charlton Heston plays one of the few survivors in a ghostly world in which humans have become mutants, against whom he now has to assert himself.

A remake with Will Smith came out in 2007 under the title I Am Legend .

action

In the near future, the USSR and the People's Republic of China are waging a world war over resources and territorial interests. In addition to conventional weapons, biological weapons are also used. But one of the bacterial strains used mutates and thus endangers all of humanity. The US military biologist Robert Neville succeeds in developing an antiserum . However, while trying to get the serum into mass production, Neville's helicopter crashes and he can only vaccinate himself. As a result, he may become the only immune survivor of the disaster. He settles in abandoned or extinct Los Angeles and leads a very lonely life. The few surviving people who have been mutated by the bacterium, who call themselves “The Family”, are very sensitive to light due to their mutation and behave aggressively and psychotically. They abhor technology because they hold it responsible for the end of the world. Hindered by their sensitivity to light, they can only attack Neville at night. Neville fights back by using a power generator to flood his house at night. During the day he roams the area armed in a car. He has not yet had any supply problems, as the entire city virtually belongs to him.

One day, Neville meets a group of teenagers who survived the war and who have not mutated. One boy, Richie, is already seriously ill. So Neville tries to get the serum from his own blood to heal Richie, which he succeeds. The now healthy Richie sets out against Neville's will to convince the members of the "family" that Neville can heal them. In the end, Neville is lured into an ambush by the "family" and killed. But before his death he succeeds in handing the surviving youths a bottle with the healing serum.

Premieres

  • USA: August 1, 1971
  • Germany: November 26, 1971

Reviews

"Pessimistic Science Fiction Film: An Interesting Psychogram of American Nightmares in the Sign of Energy Crisis and Environmental Destruction."

- Lexicon of international film

“The Omega Man is the second adaptation of the horror novel" I Am A Legend "by the American writer Richard Matheson. In contrast to the first film adaptation, Boris Sagal's version moves further away from its original, which makes it an independent and, above all, memorable film. "

- Filmstarts.de

Further films

  • As early as 1964, the novel was filmed under the title The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price in the lead role.
  • In 2007, The Asylum produced the mockbuster I Am Omega in the run-up to the upcoming multi-million dollar production from Hollywood . As usual, the title was chosen in reference to the film adaptation with Charlton Heston, and the upcoming blockbuster with Smith. The main role was played by Mark Dacascos and directed by Griff Furst . The basic idea is based on the novel or the film adaptations, in terms of content, names and other content were changed to the extent that one did not have to pay for the rights. The Asylum is now known worldwide for these B-productions and has a large following.
  • In 2008 German cinemas released the most costly and commercially successful remake of the novel under the direction of Francis Lawrence with Will Smith in the leading role as Robert Neville. The film bears the original title of the novel I Am Legend , but differs greatly from the original.

Errors & miscellaneous

  • An unusually large number of errors and inaccuracies have crept in throughout the film. Even in the opening scene, in which Neville drives along the allegedly deserted streets of Los Angeles, isolated pedestrians can be seen at the side of the road, and a clearly recognizable car is turning into the street behind him.
  • Right at the beginning of the film, there is an Opel GT in the shop window of the used car dealer .
  • While Neville is jogging through the city, he calls out the name of Brother Matthias, whereupon various aerial shots of Los Angeles are shown, with several busy streets in the background. Likewise in other scenes in the city, where vehicles drive on back roads or turn into the picture.
  • After the helicopter crashes with Neville on board, he tries to save himself and the serum by injecting it into himself. You can see how the prop needle bends when it is attached and the serum only runs down his clothes.
  • Flashbacks tell the story of the war and the raging of the population. The corpses shown in close-up are in the picture long enough to recognize that the allegedly dead, for example, wink, swallow or move slightly.
  • When Robert and Lisa flee on a motorcycle, the driving scenes clearly show that Charlton Heston was doubled. The driver clearly has longer and fuller hair, and the face is partially completely visible. As a connection error, one can observe how Heston or his double first wears dark, then light, and dark shoes again after arrival.
  • The use of easily recognizable doubles also applies to many fight scenes and some rapid drives in the car, since Neville is always on the road in a convertible.
  • Although almost the entire population died on the spot in a very short time, hardly any corpses or remains in the form of bones or clothing can be seen. Lisa later told about the burning of corpses, but the fact that Matthias and his few followers eliminated several million bodies seems extremely implausible.
  • Likewise, if the death occurred so suddenly, countless cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles would have to be on the streets or even have collided and had accidents. With a few exceptions, the streets are completely free and only a little bit littered. The worst devastation and most of the decay can illogically be seen inside the buildings, even if there are hardly any corpses here either. Cobwebs and layers of dust are sometimes not even there, sometimes a few centimeters thick.
  • The mutants all have pale skin, light hair and white eyes, which are mostly covered with hoods and sunglasses. Only a few wounds on the face clearly distinguish them from non-mutated people. In contrast to the remake of 2008, these beings can think and speak clearly and have given themselves biblical names. As the cause of all suffering, they demonize all technology and those who still use it.
  • In the mostly mirrored sunglasses, which the mutants also wear at night, the headlights of the film crew and the cameras can be seen again and again during close-ups.
  • Despite their extremely high sensitivity to light of all kinds, the mutants do not react to even brighter fire, but use it again and again themselves. Despite their logical thinking, they do not try to destroy the spotlights on Neville's house, but rather to set it completely on fire. Likewise, they only live in their hiding spots by candlelight, but all rooms are perfectly lit and by no means dark.
  • Firearms are also part of the technology they vilify. When Neville's generator fails, and with it the outside lighting, Brother Zacharias enters the house with a pistol to shoot Robert. This could have been used efficiently countless times beforehand.
  • In general, the otherwise logically acting mutants only seem to be kept from entering or onto the house by the spotlights. It is therefore illogical why they managed to get into and onto the neighboring house during the day, from where they started an awkward attack on the returning Neville, but could have done this directly at his house without threatening danger.
  • In conversation with the healed Richie, Robert says that he would kill the mutants if he knew where they are hiding. He has several heavy machine guns installed on the roof of his house, but he never uses them when they come to him night after night.
  • When looking at calendars, all of which show March 1975, Robert and Lisa get angry or sad.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Omega Man. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 22, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Sven Maier: The Omega man. In: Filmstarts.de. Retrieved March 16, 2020 .