The opening of Charlton Heston's rivals even the devastating ending of Planet of the Apes. , the classic post-apocalyptic novel about the last man alive surviving in a world filled with vampires. In truth, the Heston version has little in common with the Richard Matheson novel, which includes replacing the vampires with mutant albinos and dropping the infamous ending. The movie was a hit back in 1971 and has since become a cult favorite; in fact, The Omega Man is one of Tim Burton's favorite movies.

Heston had great taste when it came to selecting sci-fi screenplays, including fronting Soylent Green and the first two Planet of the Apes movies. The Omega Man was a big inspiration for 2007's I Am Legend, with Will Smith once stating (via BBC) that his version combined the Heston adaptation with the source material. with only "Theme from A Summer Place" on the radio to keep him company.

Neville's pleasant afternoon drive is interrupted when he sees a shadow moving across a window, which he sprays with machine gun fire. The gunshots echo throughout L.A., underlining that Neville really is the only person left in the city. The scene continues on as the credits begin, with more shots of the empty L.A., including glimpses of dead bodies and wrecked buildings. , where it appears the security guards dropped dead during a transfer.

The Omega Man has elements of horror, but it would be a stretch to call it a scary movie. That said, . Wide shots reveal he's the only car on the road, and Neville is free to treat the city like his own personal sandbox. When his car crashes, the biggest inconvenience he faces is walking to a car dealership (and avoiding the corpses) to get a new one.

The combination of Neville being dwarfed by the surrounding city with composer Ron Grainer's melancholy theme makes the opening unforgettable. . This is an impressive opening in its own way, but the somewhat cartoonish CG and the need to include a car chase takes away from the haunted edge of The Omega Man's introduction.

Heston is really driving around L.A. Of course, the filmmakers didn't actually evacuate the city; instead, they shot early on a Sunday morning in Los Angeles' business district, when practically no cars or civilians would be around. It's a remarkably convincing effect, especially the first time watching it.

Fans of the movie (or eagle-eyed viewers with big screen televisions) might be able to spot the occasional car moving in the far distance, or even a couple of people walking on the streets. This can spoil the illusion, but it's still impressive how convincing the effect is. The sequence isn't there to show off either, as over the course of five minutes, .

A good chunk of the film (including Neville's cozy apartment) was filmed on studio backlots, but having the opening take audiences on a tour of L.A. gives it a much bigger scope. There's a feel and texture to the city no backlot could ever hope to match, and . It makes the emptiness of Los Angeles into a special effect and one that sets up the stakes for Heston's Neville.

Planet of the Apes features one of the all-time great twist endings, where cynical astronaut Taylor (Heston) discovers he hasn't landed on some alien world run by apes - he's actually arrived on a post-apocalyptic Earth. It's near impossible for newcomers to see the film without knowing this reveal, with the shot of Heston's Taylor beneath the destroyed Statue of Liberty being one of sci-fi cinema's most potent. in its own way.

While Heston's Taylor might be cruising around like he's living inside a Grand Theft Auto game, this doesn't mask the desolate horror of the world around him. He's driving around what amounts to a giant graveyard, with mutants watching him from the dark, with the knowledge he might be the only human being left alive. It's both peaceful and unnerving, and few movies have ever sold the End of the World as effectively - Planet of the Apes included.

As mentioned above, I Am Legend did its own take on The Omega Man's opening, which is little surprise considering it's essentially a remake. The prologue has inspired plenty of ghost city scenes in other movies. Jim is seen in some iconic London landmarks, and it evokes the same amount of existential dread as The Omega Man to see a famously crowded, noisy city standing completely still.

28 Days Later even borrowed trick of filming in the early hours to capture the sense that the city is desolate. Other examples include cult favorite Night of the Comet, where the last few survivors of an apocalyptic event cruise around an eerily quiet L.A. The ending of 2002's Resident Evil or the first episode of The Walking Dead also uses the stillness of an empty metropolis to frightening effect.

Source: BBC