The Final Programme (U.S. title The Last Days of Man on Earth) is a 1973 British fantasy science fiction film directed by Robert Fuest, and starring Jon Finch and Jenny Runacre.
"[3] The story opens in Lapland at the funeral pyre of Jerry Cornelius's father, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who has developed the "Final Programme"—a design for a perfect, self-replicating human being.
Flashbacks to Jerry's conversations with Professor Hira about the Kali Yuga inform the narrative, providing a philosophical background of the world in its final days.
In various scenes we learn that the Vatican no longer exists and that Amsterdam has been razed to ash, and we see Trafalgar Square in a post-apocalyptic scenario of wrecked cars piled atop one another.
Back in Great Britain, a group of scientists led by Dr Smiles and the formidable Miss Brunner (who consumes her lovers) try to persuade Cornelius to locate the microfilm.
Jerry learns from his family servant that his sister Catherine has been imprisoned by his evil, drug-addicted brother, Frank, and has addicted her to drugs for unspecified reasons.
Michael Moorcock has said that he originally envisioned space-rock band Hawkwind as providing the music for the entire film, and as also appearing in the scene with the nuns playing slot machines where Jerry is trying to buy napalm.
Moorcock has also praised the acting performances in the film, and commented that it was only when he told the actors it was supposed to be funny that they delivered lines with more of his intended black humour.
[1] The screen rights to the novel were acquied by Goodtimes Enterprises, a UK production company headed by David Puttnam, Roy Baird and Sandy Lieberson, which had made Performance (1970) and The Pied Piper (1972).
In The Final Programme he turns from horror to science fiction, but the ingredients are much the same – the use of established actors in cameo roles, the penchant for black comedy, the carefully composed shots, and the extraordinary sets designed by the director himself.
There is, however, no Vincent Price – who stamped his personality on the Phibes films – and although Jon Finch struggles manfully, he does not have enough charisma to overcome the inconsistencies of the character he is playing.
"[9] Baird Searles found the film "an almost unmitigated disaster", with "an ending so inane that you will want your money back even if you wait and see it on television".
"[11] On its DVD release in the UK in 2013, The Guardian wrote: "Director Robert Fuest was responsible for the pop-surrealism of The Avengers and the twisted art deco of Vincent Price's Dr Phibes movies, and here he makes sure every frame looks stunning, throwing so much in to please and confuse the eye, often at the cost of narrative coherence.
But who cares when the movie is full of cryptic, sly humour and endlessly inventive imagery, such as an amusement arcade where nuns play fruit machines as the world ends.
Special features include original theatrical trailers, an Italian title sequence, image gallery, and promotional material in PDF format.
Special features include an audio commentary with director Robert Fuest and actress Jenny Runacre moderated by author/film historian Jonathan Sothcott, the U.S. theatrical trailer, and a U.S. TV spot, all carried over from the old Anchor Bay DVD.