The Final Programme

An ambiguous adventurer becomes involved with an experiment designed to overcome the impending extinction of the human species. One from the "What were they thinking?!" school of film-making: much like John Boorman's contemporaneous ZARDOZ (1974), this is yet another good-looking but uncontrolled attempt at a 'trippy' post-apocalyptic scenario that ends up being embarrassingly campy – and, here, wasting a fine veteran cast (Sterling Hayden, Patrick Magee, George Coulouris, Harry Andrews and Hugh Griffith) into the bargain – none of whom appear in any scenes together. The main role of Jerry Cornelius had been offered to Mick Jagger (who rejected the script as "too weird"!) and Timothy Dalton before Jon Finch stepped in and basically stopped his promising film career dead in its tracks; in hindsight, it is understandable not only that novelist Michael Moorcock hated this adaptation but also that his prolific literary creation never returned in any further cinematic adventure since! For the record, the supporting cast also features Jenny Runacre (as Cornelius' supremely annoying androgynous acolyte), Graham Crowden, Ronald Lacey, Sarah Douglas and Julie Ege...but every earnest effort on anybody's part is stifled by the film's relentless visual and aural assault on the viewers' senses. Interestingly, the former is reminiscent of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) and the latter features Eric Clapton among the session musicians! When Roger Corman picked up the film for U.S. distribution, he not only trimmed it by 11 minutes but also retitled it as LAST DAYS OF MAN ON EARTH to (reportedly) little effect.

The early-to-mid '70's saw a glut of movies predicting a pessimistic future for Mankind; 'Soylent Green', 'No Blade Of Grass', 'A Clockwork Orange', 'Logan's Run', the 'Planet Of The Apes' sequels and this, based on a Michael Moorcock novel. Jon Finch stars as Jerry Cornelius, Nobel Prize winner, rock star and secret agent, who embarks on a quest to free his beloved sister from the clutches of his evil brother Frank. The world Cornelius inhabits is the Swinging Sixties writ large; recreational drug use, rampant sexual promiscuity, and lack of respect for authority are rife. Writer, set designer and director Robert Fuest had worked on the 'Avengers' television series, and it shows. The sets are dazzling, the supporting cast good, and despite its pessimistic theme the film manages to be fun. Jenny Runacre steals the show as the bizarre 'Miss Brunner', a freakish mutation who absorbs the bodies of her lovers. You really need to watch this to believe it. Funny, stylish and erotic, its a genuine cult oddity.

Sort of like Zardoz crossed with Planet of the Apes.

The film is well acted, well shot, and the plot holds together... even though the Nazis are dragged in a bit, but not to the detriment of the film.

It is allegorical, and rather clever twist on some poetry for those who have taken Humanities classes in school.

Worth a look if you are new to film, and are looking for something out of the ordinary, that requires a bit of knowledge to hang with.

I first saw this film when it came out in 1973, and just watched it for the second time on DVD. Excellent production values and camera work. Stars Jon Finch as androgynous (but heterosexual) dandy-dressing Jerry Cornelius, with black nail polish; looks a bit like a cross between an older Johnny Depp and Billy Zane. Also stars Sterling Hayden, Julie Ege and the evil (duh) Nazi guy from "Raiders of the Lost Ark". The film itself is a cult science fiction fantasy in the best tradition of the late '60's - early '70's, with similarities in style to The Prisoner, early James Bond (slightly), Clockwork Orange, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, and The Avengers (the director worked on the last two of those also). It is years ahead of its time in theme and science, but lapses into camp several times, especially as it progresses. It is rather disjointed, but the acting and sets are both good. Based on a story by Michael Moorcock.

I saw the ads for "The Last Days Of Man On Earth" well before I could watch "R" films, but I was always wanting to see it. It dropped into a bit of obscurity stateside, and it was years before I found a copy. Shortly after I saw it, Anchor Bay issued the uncut original in limited quantities, and I managed to grab one.

well, the book is better. But Jon Finch is the perfect Jerry Cornelius, and this may be his best work. Jenny Runacre is every bit as good as "Miss Brunner", though her character doesn't quite embody the written character to the degree of Finch. Ron Lacey also shines, in a brief turn as the sun glassed assassin, "Shades", walking straight out of the books pages.

The low budget is disguised well, but the film needed a bit more for effects, relying on a lot of color tinting, sound effects, and old style inflatable "sculptures", to fill the screen.

Moorcock hates it, but this embodies the spirit that fueled "New Worlds", the science fiction magazine that brought Moorcock to the worlds attention, rather well, invoking much classic British entertainment of the recent past. The original cut is preferable, but "The Last Days Of Man On Earth" is a completely different edit of the film, not just a retitling. The differences aren't major, but the US removes everything that even borders on superfluous, with much minor trimming being done to almost every scene. In an odd parallel with "A Boy And His Dog", it follows the overall story arc acceptably, but adds a joke in poor taste to the conclusion, and many have found that alone, was enough to sour their perceptions.

It comes close to bringing Moorcocks world to the cinema, but isn't quite there. Here's hoping that someone might make another attempt.