'Taylor' in a bad movie

There was something about Charlton Heston that made him perfect for the role of Taylor in "Planet of the Apes" and "Beneath the Planet of the Apes," two of the greatest sci-fi/adventure flicks up to that point. So it's no wonder that the producers of 1971's "Omega Man" chose Heston for what is essentially the same role in this film about the supposedly last man on earth living in L.A. after a war waged with biological weapons (loosely based on a book by Richard Matheson). Unfortunately the third time's definitely not the charm and the film holds little interest beyond an early 70s period piece or nostalgia.

I remember catching "Omega Man" sometime several years ago and expecting a great early 70s sci-fi flick with a great protagonist and all I remember was being extremely disappointed and (I think) not even finishing it. Well, I decided to give it another chance, fully braced for an underwhelming experience, and my original impressions were pretty accurate.

The film starts off well with Taylor, I mean Neville (Heston,) wandering around a deserted Los Angeles, muttering to himself, watching "Woodstock" for the 100th time, etc. but the horribly dated 'hip' score is the first bad sign and then night comes down and these cloaked albino vampire-zombies appear, which is what turned me off the first time I caught the film. Just listen to their dialogue. I wanted to run away in horror, and not in the good way.

But, from there, I hoped, that the film would settle into its own groove, as long as I overlooked the bad music and corny villains or just accepted them as a part of this period oddity. "Omega Man" does settle into a groove, it's just that it's not all that engrossing. And what's up with Heston taking off his shirt every 8 minutes? The flashbacks to how this apocalyptic scenario originated were interesting, as well as Neville's run-ins with others, but the film never rises above the mediocre and heavily dated.

One might argue that "dated" is an unjust criticism given the film's age, but all good or great films are able to transcend their eras even while clearly being from their eras, like "Lawrence of Arabia," "Ben-Hur," "King Kong," "Jaws," "Apocalypse Now," "Night of the Living Dead," "One-Eyed Jacks," "Runaway Train" and "The Blue Max." "The Omega Man" miserably fails to accomplish this.

Overall the film feels more like a mediocre made-for-TV flick than a theatrical release of its time. It almost has the look and feel of the original Star Trek series, but without the great writing and characters. The albino villains with their dark hoods and cloaks are reminiscent of the 'villains' in the episode "The Return of the Archons." The average Syfy flick is more interesting. But it has its points of interest: a black female protagonist (Rosalind Cash), a worthy sidekick of sorts (Paul Koslo) and the desolate scenes of L.A., but its main appeal is as a period piece.