I suspose at least Robert Neville did die in the film as he does in the book. I have to say I enjoyed both the film and the book, but I saw the film first so this may colour my judgement of the book.

But I have to agree that with some adaptions you have to wonder why they bothered basing the film on the book. It’s what annoys me about Bladerunner, whatever it’s merits as a scifi movie, it’s a very poor book adaption in my view. Nothing highlights this more than the “is Deckard a replicant”, in the book he was human with all the frailities that entailed. I couldn’t help feeling the director or screenwriter just didn’t get the book at all.

This film is essentially a B-movie. I don’t mean to denigrate the film as I liked it. I also wouldn’t go so far as to call it low-budget, but it certainly appears to be budget-constrained. The action all takes place on just a few sets and locations. Charlton Heston is the only star actor and this was during the twilight of his career as he wound it out doing sci-fi movies. You have to understand that before Star Wars, all sci-fi was lumped into the low-budget, exploitation genre (2001: A Space Odyssey being the exception that proved the rule).

Always the professional, Heston does a superb job portraying Robert Neville, the last man in the world (or so he thinks). Heston effectively captures the loneliness and desperation of the charater’s isolation. This is one thing you have to like about the man, Heston always did a top-notch job on whatever film he was in regardless of the budget, or subject. This appears to have rubbed off on the rest of the cast, as the supporting actors seem to be kicking it up a notch to keep up with our leading man.

What seems odd is that the filmakers even bothered to base the movie on the novel I Am Legend, which was about vampires. The book was more of a horror story, with the plague aspect as merely a plot device to create the undead-walk-the-earth scenario. The Omega Man deviates from this substantially and is more a cautionary sci-fi tale about germ warfare much like the contemporary film, The Andromeda Strain. It also points to an apparent aversion that Hollywood has, or had, regarding vampires. When Michael Mann made The Keep he also based it on a novel about vampires, but for his film adaptation he removed all the vampires from the story. It does beg the question of why you would even bother to base the film on said book to begin with? You might as well just write an original screenplay and if anyone asks about its similarities to the book, you can tell them it’s a “homage”.

Back to the topic of budget, The Omega Man is proof that you don’t need a huge budget, a boatload of big name stars, or loads of special effects in order to make a compelling movie. I may be a voice in the woods here, but it would be nice for Hollywood to get back to making movies that aren’t one long CGI shot. The Omega Man is proof that a lot that can be done with just cinematography, editing and competent acting.

To sum up, I enjoyed the movie. It may not be in the same class as Citizen Kane, but it is also way too good to suffer an MST3K treatment. Perhaps you won’t buy it for your DVD library, but definitely rent it.