Which version is your Favourite?

Definitely I favor the Vincent Price version, The Last Man on Earth. It was a powerful experience for me when it first came out, and no remake has matched it.

I grew up with The Omega Men and while I find it a perfectly entertaining guilty pleasure, its not exactly faithful to the novelization, its also quite campy at times with it insisting to go in a more colorful action orientated direction which hurts the overall tone of the film; although I did like that the villains had individual personalities which gave them scope and depth.

The Last Man on Earth did a much better job in depicting human isolation with a far more believable scientific explanation for what was essentially the end of the world. Price was also much more convincing with his frame by frame narration of the inner workings of a normal day making the emotional connection to his portrayal a lot more psychotically satisfying. Last Man On Earth is also more serious that feels a lot more claustrophobic and eerie because it moves along at such an absorbing pace that it allows you to take in the details of the world without it being at the expense of the plot stagnating.

I haven't seen I Am Legend or The Asylum's anwser I Am Omega in a while, but from what I remember, Will Smith while a capable actor, just didn't have the likeability or chemistry to make me care about what happened to him. The film just doesn't have a lot going for it and as a result just felt redundant with it going through the motions without any real conviction or creativity.

One element that all 4 adaptions share though are the awful SPX.

Really none of the three were quite satisfying. The Omega Man is probably the worst adaptation, Heston is pretty good in the role but there's too much '70s cheese which dates the movie rather badly. Though Anthony Zerbe is excellent as Mathias. I Am Legend works as a sci-fi/action movie but doesn't really have much respect for the source material. And the creatures are a derivative hybrid of The Descent and 28 Days Later. And the ending--the hell??

The Last Man on Earth has two main virtues, it's fairly faithful to the book and the cinematography is excellent. The best parts of the movie are the many haunting shots of desolation. But really, truth be told the writing is pedestrian and the acting is pretty weak. I like Vincent Price in alot of roles but I think he's miscast here, and he seems to be phoning in his performance. Also the pacing is so sluggish that an 86-minute movie feels alot longer. I appreciate that they kept the ending of the novel, but the explanation of the new society of people is so rushed that I don't think it would make much sense to someone who hasn't read the book.

So by default TLMOE is probably the better adaptation, but still only semi-successful and I can't rate it higher than 6 out of 10.

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I find 'Last Man on Earth' the superior because it is closest to the tone of the book. I find Will Smith's 'I. Legend' sorry 'I am Legend' inexcusable because it is the only one to use the title yet the only one not to live up to its meaning. His film had some good scenes but it was dragged down by awful CGI and the removal of the themes about who really was the monster.

I haven't seen "The Omega Man" but I love LMOE.

And ugh...I Am Legend was pretty bad.

"America isn't ready for a gay, mexican chicken sandwich" - Poultrygeist

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Why doesn't he just pull up to the front door at the grocery? He does the polite thing and pulls into a parking space several rows back.