August 5 - The Omega Man

Today’s movie is a science fiction film with a scene that happens on August 5. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

THE ΩMEGA MAN                

Neville is apparently the last normal human in Los Angles and perhaps the world. Two years before in a Sino-Soviet war, biological weapons had been used, causing a plague that killed off most of humanity and turned the survivors into night dwelling paranoid albinos. Neville lives in a fortified apartment building and patrols the city trying to find the daytime nest of the “Family” an anti-technology  mutant group led by Matthias, a former newscaster. On August 5, 1977 [25:44 to 49:24] Neville is at the Hotel  Premier. He later spots a normal girl. He chases her but can’t catch her. He is later caught by the Family and they plan to burn him alive, but the girl, Lisa saves him. She is the leader of a small band of normal humans. Her brother, Richie has the plague. Neville tells them he does not have the plague because after the outbreak he was injected with an experimental vaccine that prevented him from catching the disease. He and Dutch, a former medical student use Neville’s blood as a serum to cure Richie. Neville and Lisa begin a sexual relationship. Richie goes to Matthias to try and convince the Family to take the serum and get cured. Matthias refuses to believe it and kills Richie. Lisa suddenly succumbs to the plague and lets the Family into Neville’s building. Neville is mortally wounded. The other normal humans, led by Dutch discover the dying Neville and take the container of his blood he had prepared. They leave the city to start the process of curing humanity.   

       

This movie is a guilty pleasure for me. The plot is hackneyed and some of the lines are the cheesiest of cinema history, but I still like the movie. I don’t know why, but I enjoy the film and get absorbed in the story every time I see it.

He gives the date in his tape recording at 31:06-08

Producer - Walter Seltzer

Director - Boris Sagal

Screenplay - John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington

Runtime – 1 hour 38 minutes

Released – August 1, 1971

Starring -

Charlton Heston as  Neville

Anthony Zerbe as Matthias

Paul Koslo as Dutch

Rosalind Cash as Lisa

Eric Laneuville as Richie

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2014.