Charlton Heston seemed ideally suited for the role of Taylor in "Planet of the Apes" and its sequel, “Beneath the Planet of the Apes,” two exceptional sci-fi/adventure films. It’s not surprising that the filmmakers behind 1971's "Omega Man" selected him to play a similar character—a man believed to be the last one alive in Los Angeles after a war involving biological weapons, inspired loosely by a Richard Matheson novel. Unfortunately, this third attempt doesn't work out well, and the film’s only real appeal now is as an example of early 1970s filmmaking or for nostalgic reasons. I recall seeing "Omega Man" some years back with high hopes for a good science fiction movie featuring a compelling lead character, but I was very let down and (I believe) didn't even finish it then. Recently, I decided to watch it again, fully expecting a disappointing experience, and my initial feelings proved pretty accurate. The film begins acceptably enough, with Neville—Taylor’s essentially the same role—played by Heston wandering around an empty Los Angeles, talking to himself, repeatedly watching "Woodstock," etc., but the jarringly dated musical score is the first indication of trouble. Then night falls and these cloaked albino vampire-zombies appear, which was what put me off originally. Their dialogue is truly something else; I felt like running away, and not in a positive way. I held out hope that the film would find its footing after this point, even if it meant overlooking the poor music or accepting the villains as part of this oddity from its time. "Omega Man" does settle into a rhythm, but it's just not very captivating. And why does Heston keep taking his shirt off every few minutes? The flashbacks explaining how this apocalyptic situation started were interesting, and so were Neville’s encounters with other people, but the film never manages to rise above mediocrity and feels extremely dated. Someone might say that "dated" is an unfair criticism considering when it was made, but truly great films manage to transcend their eras while still being clearly products of them—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." "Omega Man" fails to do this. Overall, it feels more like a mediocre made-for-TV movie than a theatrical release from its time. It has something of the look and feel of the original “Star Trek” series, but lacks the strong writing and characters. The albino villains with their dark hoods and cloaks are reminiscent of the antagonists in the episode "The Return of the Archons." Even an average science fiction movie is more engaging than this one. However, it does have some redeeming qualities: a black female lead (Rosalind Cash), a helpful supporting character (Paul Koslo), and the desolate scenes of Los Angeles; its main attraction now is that it's a glimpse into a past era. The film has a running time of 1 hour, 38 minutes. GRADE: D+/C-

Source on TMDB