He was 48, and i wish the producers gave him 6 months of weight training prior to filming, they would've made his shirtless scenes much more bearable, instead of him being all saggy and toneless!
On a side note: Loved the (pre-cgi) production design and the music, but the acting mainly sucked ass except for Charlton Heston & Anthony Zerbe, obviously.
I'm sure he was still the goods for a middle aged guy in the early 70s. I don't think people back then expected a near 50 year old guy to have a six pack. A lot has changed.
shareHeston fondling his chest is comedy gold. It just adds to the hysterical vibe of the film.
shareIn 71 for a man his age Heston would have been considered to be pretty fit. Heston was an avid tennis player as well as golfer and swimmer. He was also fond of the outdoors and enjoyed hiking, hunting (of course) and other activities. Times change and what we expect leading men to look like is different now I believe.
I agree that the scene where he rubs his chest is bizarre.
Yeah. For the early 70s, Heston was considered to be in great shape. First and foremost: no real fat. "Skinny fat" doesn't cut it. He has a good physique that lacks some tone. So what? His generation, although "they won the War", were champion smokers, drinkers and TV-dinner fans. Fitness was just not in vogue at that time the way it is today. People around here should give CH a break.
shareFitness was just not in vogue at that time the way it is today. People around here should give CH a break.
A lot of contemporary actors in that 45-50 age range (Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt) may have a more "fit" physique, but ask yourself; "Who would I bet on in a fight?". My money's on Heston.
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This post reminds me of the scene in Fight Club when Pitt and Norton are looking at the Calvin Klein ad and remarking about "is that what a real man looks like?"
Heston was in fine physical condition. That's what a real man looks like. Not some modern 'roided up dude that spends all of his time hitting the gym and downing protein shakes.
Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.
Exactly, people weren't really that concerned about their body image in the early 1970's. Gyms were for body builders not everyday ordinary people!
shareExactly. Back then, body sculpting was seen as the realm of sissies and narcissists. But even more important was the psychological element. If Chuck decked you, he wouldn't be weeping over the violence inflicted upon a fellow human being.
shareAnd modern meatheads aren't narcissists?
I'd describe early 70s bodybuilders as freaks and narcissists. All they needed was a "you're So Vain" soundtrack.
Naturally, in our modern "Image Obsessed" culture that we live in today, someone would post, "Hey, everyone!! Charlton Heston was skinny fat" on a internet discussion board after watching a great classic film like "The Omega Man", that was made in 1971. Despite, that there's currently a serious nation wide problem with obesity. I'm sure that there's literally millions of American's today that would be satisfied with being considered "skinny fat", rather than, "obesity fat".
Food for thought, just don't over indulge your hunger.
Its the same with Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, even Cary Grant.
shareHere's a link to a photo of a shirtless Heston in Omega Man: http://m.ebay.com/itm/281327211098?_mwBanner=1 I can't imagine how anyone would consider him "skinny fat" even by standards of today. And certainly not by the standards of the early 70s. He's pretty buff for a 48-year-old of that time. Someone with a six pack would have just looked freakish back then.
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This is an interesting comment, for a couple of reasons. The people posting here saying that this would have been fairly fit for the 1970s are absolutely right. The same goes for women in the 70s. These days there are trainers, roids, HGH, lip and all sorts of things, and the standards are different.
I found it interesting that they even had so many shirt-less scenes. It seemed rather forced to me. Perhaps the audience was supposed to be wowed; but this seems awkward in modern times.