Because you demanded it.

Because we improved the master.

Because it’s a great score.

Because it’s hard to keep the last man on Earth down.

n the almost three decades since its release in 1971, The Omega Man has become a cult classic on the level of Charlton Heston's other science fiction forays Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green. In The Omega Man, Heston portrays Robert Neville, a military scientist who has developed an experimental vaccine just in time to spare himself from the onslaught of a devastating biological war. Neville has become the last man on Earth, doggedly keeping up the appearance of a civilized existence in his heavily fortified townhouse in the midst of the ghost town that was once Los Angeles.

But the last man on Earth is not alone. At each sunset a vicious tribe of Luddite barbarians, the "Family," emerges from the shadows to loot and burn. They're led by Matthias (Anthony Zerbe), a former news commentator who's determined to reverse the terrible effects of humanity's stewardship of planet Earth. Neville is the last remaining symbol of the world Matthias and his diseased followers mean to destroy, and every nightfall he fights off hordes of these zombies while trying to track down their secret nest. The Omega Man is an action-adventure, a nightmarish thriller, a vivid comic book melodrama and a parable with strong political overtones, with Heston as an archetypal conservative hero facing down an army of counterculture terrorists intent on destroying what remains of human technological society. While Heston's Neville was clearly the hero, Zerbe's unctuous, robed villain Matthias was equally compelling.

One of the lasting artifacts of the film is composer Ron Grainer's beautiful pop-flavored score, which mixes a witch's brew of elements (baroque, pop, jazz, avant garde and straight dramatic orchestral scoring) into a seamless and highly melodic whole. Launching with a gorgeously elegiac baroque theme, Grainer's score boasts distinctive and accessible melodies for Neville, the Family, and the orphaned remnants of humanity that Neville discovers have been hiding from them both. With strong orchestral performances, unusual percussion effects and the distinctive sounds of two vintage electric organs, Grainer's The Omega Man score earns its reputation as one of the most asked-for and unforgettable genre scores of the '70s.

01 A Summer Place (Max Steiner) 1:39
02 The Omega Man/Where Have All the People Gone 3:22
03 Surprise Party/After the Ball 1:39
04 Needling Neville/The Family Wait 3:36
05 Swinging at Neville’s 2:16
06 Another Night—Another Day/The Spirits Still Linger 4:29
07 Shopping Made Easy/Where Did Lisa Go? 3:37
08 'Round Midnight (Cootie Williams & Thelonious Monk) 2:18
09 Jumped by the Family/The Trial 2:16
10 On the Tumbril/The Getaway 6:05
11 Bad Medicine for Richie/Richie on the Turn 2:19
12 All Through the Night (Cole Porter) 3:50
13 Zachary Makes His Move 4:50
14 Making Lisa/Cobwebs and Vials/Hope Springs Eternal/Gravestones and Surprises/Lisa Shopping 4:03
15 Richie on the Roof 2:02
16 The Future Is Secured/Neville and Dutch/Richie Is Caught/Lisa Joins the Family/Star Chamber/Neville Finds Richie/Neville Crashes Through/Music Box 7:11
17 The Trap/Nemesis for Neville/Matthias the Victor 5:08
18 Dutch Takes Over 3:11

Total Time: 64:28