In the year 1977, two years after biological warfare between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union wiped out almost the entire human population, as revealed through flashback newsreel footage. Also in flashback, we learn that at the time Army Colonel Robert Neville-a military scientist-had injected himself with an experimental vaccine for the disease which rendered him immune. In Los Angeles, a group of several hundred resistant albinos calling themselves "The Family" have survived the plague. The plague has turned them into violent, nocturnal, light-sensitive albino mutants, and the disease has affected their minds with psychosis and "delusions of grandeur". Neville would like to destroy the Family. As a former military officer, he is a hardened, realistic person who lives in a fortified apartment with an arsenal of weapons including a Smith & Wesson M76 submachine gun, an infrared-equipped Browning Automatic Rifle and satchel charges. But at night, Neville barricades himself in his apartment as The Family rages outside, taunting him by burning books and other objects of science and culture. The use of powerful searchlights and weapons deters The Family's raids on Neville's home.

The production company wanted a locale that looked like an abandoned metropolitan area, but it was too costly to build. The producer drove through Downtown Los Angeles one weekend and discovered there were no shoppers, so the majority of the film's exteriors were shot there on weekends.

[the last man on earth, talking to a bust of Caesar positioned in front of a chessboard]


Neville:
Hi. Another day, another dollar.

[later]


Neville:
For you, I think it's your move.

[makes drink]


Neville:
Join me? Hmm? Miserable schmuck!

[to his own image on the video screen]


Neville:
Isn't he? Isn't he a sullen b...

[stops when he hears the "Family" outside]


Neville:
[to the "Family"] SHUT UP! Why the hell can't you leave me alone?

[later, to the bust of Caesar]


Neville:
What day is it, anyway? Monday? Huh? The hell it is. It's Sunday. Sunday I always dress for dinner.

Revealing mistakes: As Robert Neville checks the right eye of the bedridden boy, the boy's dislodged contact lens slides back into place.

By Thelonious Monk