MovieChat Forums > The Omega Man (1971) Discussion > Oh that's subtle...

Oh that's subtle...

posted 16 years ago by Book1245
19 replies | jump to latest

I literally just finished watching this (credits are rolling)
Neville gives them the bottle of his blood, and then collapses, and takes a perfect Jesus pose, lol very subtle

anyway, it was interesting. I have not seen I Am Legend yet, but I could see where this followed the book (Actually, it seemed like the first 40 minutes of it could have been the book. Neville going about life, killing the "family" members, then finally being captured, and told that he is the monster)

"Why would they want the Duke's...son killed?"

[–] MSSRobertMonroe 16 years ago

Ha, I thought I was the only one who noticed that. Thought it was just my eyes.

---------------------------------------
"Carpe Diem! Make your lives extraordinary!"

[–] l33t3000 16 years ago

Well, there were a few biblical references. I didn't read I Am Legend, but I did watch the Will Smith movie first, which I have to say, was not as good as this was.

I guess the director was trying to compare Robert to Jesus in some scenes.

Obviously, the movie is called the Omega Man. God is the Alpha and the Omega, but obviously in the title it just refers to Robert being the last man.

The scene at the end, with his blood around. The people will use his blood to be cured, as Jesus spilled his blood to atone for the sins of the world.

Also, the little girl asks him if he is god, a bit over the halfway point.

Nothing too deep, but it is there.

And I hear a lot of people not liking the music... Why? I can understand that it doesn't seem to go with the film, but I thought the music was actually sweet, especially the introduction where he is driving.

Overall, I'd probably not watch it for a long time, but it was a good movie. I really want to watch 2001 A Space Odyssey again, what a treat for the eyes, that movie is.

[–] Poisoned_Dragon1964 16 years ago

When Neville returns to the Los Angeles hills, bringing the news that the serum worked on Richie, Dutch exclaims, "Christ, you could save the world!" The ambiguity is that, although Dutch is merely using 'Christ' as an exclamation, in a strictly literal sense he could be seen to be calling Neville 'Christ.'

§« El sueño de la razón produce monstruos. »§

[–] EnterJamesClayton 16 years ago

I long to one day see a Charlton Heston film that doesn't feature the man making out like he's a modern day parallel to Jesus. Maybe it's just a coincidence that the only Charlton Heston flicks I've found myself watching see him acting like the American Messiah (Logan's Run, Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments and so on), but it is like the man can't go without making a bare-chested Jesus Christ pose playing the role of the last stand for decent humanity.

I'm sorry, I'm not a huge Heston fan...

"don't think...feeeeel"
james-clayton.blogspot.com/

[–] pinmv 16 years ago

LMAO - you act as if the actors write their own scripts.

You don't have to be a huge Heston fan, the rest of us will survive just fine withoutcha.

Incidentally, I recommend you all see The Last Man on Earth - based on the same book as the others, he actually dies on a church altar in much the same pose. So, to suggest this was staged to make Hes look like Jesus Christ...well...ya got it wrong.

[–] Jason_Radley 15 years ago

Logan's Run??

[–] chas77 15 years ago

Chopsocky,
Heston doesn't appear in "Logan's Run."
here are some other Heston films that don't seem to have the Christ-allegory you find distasteful:

1.) Will Penny
2.) The Awakening
3.) The Big Country
4.) Any Given Sunday
5.) Hamlet
6) Treasure Island
7.) Mother Lode
8.)The 3 and 4 Musketeers
9.) The Agony and the Ecstasy
10.) The Private War of Major Benson

that's it for now...gotta go back to work...I'm sure you get the picture...

[–] ghost_hat 15 years ago

Don't forget the Burton Planet of the Apes!

Yeah, I wrote a lengthy review of this film pointing out
the many biblical references and connections...
but that is a tale for another time.

[–] EnterJamesClayton 15 years ago

Ah! What am I thinking?! I meant Soylent Green, not Logan's Run.

Righty. Now that I've kind of cleaned up my atrocious error, I'll say that come the opportunity I'd be more than happy to see the films you've listed in the hope that I'll find Heston more appealing.

It's not that I find the Jesus Christ posing distasteful. I just get fed up of the grandstanding of Heston as some kind of great hero over all men when - as both an actor and a human being - he wasn't the be-all, and end-all.

twitter.com/james__clayton
james-clayton.blogspot.com/

[–] chas77 15 years ago

I know what you mean. I just take it as a big, pop-culture joke. I enjoy his films but don't take them that seriously. But some of his films, like "Will Penny" had some terrific, non-Christ, non-redeemer acting in it. I think a lot of it depended on the director as well.

[–] ManInBlack44 15 years ago

Logan's Run? Damn, I better watch one of my favorite movies again, 'cause I remember Michael York and Jenny Agutter and so on, butttttttttttt, no Heston. So, watch Logan's Run, it's Heston-free you don't have to jerk your liberal knees over your head, cool!

[–] jefgg 12 years ago

What about "Beneath the Planet of the Apes"? There was a scene in that movie that reminded me of "Omega Man". Did I say too much? I don't want to spoil. The late Charlton Heston seemed to have an enormous ego.

[–] ChuckHestonFan 12 years ago

"The late Charlton Heston seemed to have an enormous ego."

You should read more about him.

Join the Charlton Heston forum: http://charltonhestonforums.freeforums.org/index.php

[–] lathe-of-heaven 12 years ago

Ohhhhhh BABY!

You must have B@lls of Titanium my friend if you say something like that with the 'ChartonHestonFan' lurking about...!

WHOA...! My testicles are drawing up into my body cavity as we speak (no particular reason, sometimes I just like to do that... )

I have over 4000 films, many of them very rare and OOP. I LOVE to trade. PLEASE ASK!

[–] OswaldshotKennedy 11 years ago

lathe-of-heaven
Are you a sexual pervert in your spare time?

"The internet is for lonely people. People should live." Charlton Heston

[–] lathe-of-heaven 11 years ago

Spare Time...?

I have over 4000 films, many of them very rare and OOP. I LOVE to trade. PLEASE ASK!

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] OswaldshotKennedy 11 years ago

It's a part-time thing, unless you actally masterbaite at work wearing a sheep's head.

"The internet is for lonely people. People should live." Charlton Heston

[–] ElRaisuli 11 years ago

If you want subtlety, watch the opening credit sequence again. Heston's car is seen driving past from within what appears to be a ruined daycare center or kindergarten. Hung in the widows, in reverse (because it is to be read from the outside), are letters spelling out "Happy Easter."

Blink and you'll miss it.

That is some pretty subtle foreshadowing of the theme (self-sacrifice as the defining virtue of being "human") and the symbolism of the finale.