'The Omega Man' - High-Def Digest

[jed]

Just posted Peter's review of 'The Omega Man,' the third film in Charlton Heston's infamous "doomsday" trilogy. He says the highlight of this HD DVD release is a surprisingly robust video transfer, but it's not enough to make up for the decidedly retro audio and wafer-thin extras.

Full review here:
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/1064/omegaman.html

[HiDefBear]

I have to disagree with the PQ evaluation on this one. Was mightily disappointed in the see-saw nature of the transfer. Some scenes look good while other scenes look absolutely awfully (the scene with Heston picking out a new set of wheels at the car dealership is a particular example).

[beyondmediaonline.com]

Originally Posted by HiDefBear

I have to disagree with the PQ evaluation on this one. Was mightily disappointed in the see-saw nature of the transfer. Some scenes look good while other scenes look absolutely awfully (the scene with Heston picking out a new set of wheels at the car dealership is a particular example).

I was pleased with this transfer considering that Omega Man is from the 70's.

[ben1080p]

2.5 stars..
I hope I am Legend is better

[vital22]

As he does not differentiate between HD DVD DD+ and BR DD.
Just says the sound is crap basically.

[jroadley]

DVD Beaver Review

Perhaps a different point of view?

[Arnie]

Those screenshots look groovy. I'm getting this now!

[Josh Z]

Originally Posted by vital22

As he does not differentiate between HD DVD DD+ and BR DD.
Just says the sound is crap basically.

At the bit rates Warner uses for DD+ on HD DVD and regular DD on Blu-ray, the two tracks should be audibly indistinguishable. Warner doesn't use the higher 1.5 Mb/s rate that DD+ offers, which is where you you may start to hear a difference.

[Brad1963]

Very grainy is all I could say. Not one of Warner's best.

[vital22]

Originally Posted by Josh Z

At the bit rates Warner uses for DD+ on HD DVD and regular DD on Blu-ray, the two tracks should be audibly indistinguishable. Warner doesn't use the higher 1.5 Mb/s rate that DD+ offers, which is where you you may start to hear a difference.

Then If I compared The DD Track on my Standard Def DVD to my new HD DVD DD+, would they then be iindistinguishable? As if I was comparing the Blu Ray to the HD DVD?

[DBK]

Peter's review lacks credibility when he refers to The Omega Man as "last of a trilogy". Not that there was any conscious attempt to make a "doomsday trilogy" with Heston. In any case the third film of the "trilogy" was Soylent Green, from 1973, not this film from 1971. Maybe I'm not enough of a "Heston Hater" to gloss over that fact.

I am actually a big Heston fan, but I have never liked this film (I prefer the low-budget Vincent Price film by far). But I never had any trouble with Heston's performance in it. It was basically another in a long line of cynical characters played by Heston since the early 50's. I think Heston's performance was perfectly geared for the film, such as it was. They probably cast him specifically in order to have his cynical smart-ass bitter style in the film. I certainly cannot see that his acting was against the syle of the film. This turkey was a potboiler from first to last. Sometimes, one must divorce one's distaste for an actor (or his politics) when reviewing a film.

FWIW, if this is the second film of a trilogy, it is IMO the only stinker. Both Apes and Soylent are decent films, IMO.

[ben1080p]

just watched it and wow,, this movie was pathetic at making a dramtic seen. The music makes the mood more laughable than anything. The people in the hoods look and sound like little kids.. Just overall I didn't like this movie.,, hopefully I am Legend will be better. The pq looks pretty good for an upgrade to a 1970s flick.

Movie: 2/5
PQ: 4/5
AQ: 3/5
Overall: 2.5/5

[RandellG]

OK question that does not deal with the review. How is it rated PG? You see the black chick naked, not that I'm complaining about seeing it but I've never watched a PG movie with "boobies" on it before.

[krylonman]

Originally Posted by Randellg

OK question that does not deal with the review. How is it rated PG? You see the black chick naked, not that I'm complaining about seeing it but I've never watched a PG movie with "boobies" on it before.

This was before the PG-13 rating; PG covered everything short of an R, and some pretty wild stuff got in under that rating (a lot of it should really have been re-rated by now). Check out the 1978 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' for another example.

I picked this up, but unfortunately my memories of the movie were a bit fonder than the movie justified. Pretty thin gruel even for an unabashed genre movie, although it still got a lot of mileage out of the attitudes of Charlton Heston and Rosalind Cash's characters. If you like 1970s-style cheese and bemoan the fact that it'll be a long time before 'Cleopatra Jones' shows up on high-def, this will tide you over. If you're expecting real thrills, look elsewhere.

Terrific-looking transfer, though. And frankly, I'm glad they stuck with the original mono track; I am very tired of not even having the option of hearing the movie's actual original soundtrack. It's like only being able to watch a movie in the colorized version.

[RandellG]

Originally Posted by krylonman

This was before the PG-13 rating; PG covered everything short of an R, and some pretty wild stuff got in under that rating (a lot of it should really have been re-rated by now). Check out the 1978 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' for another example.

I picked this up, but unfortunately my memories of the movie were a bit fonder than the movie justified. Pretty thin gruel even for an unabashed genre movie, although it still got a lot of mileage out of the attitudes of Charlton Heston and Rosalind Cash's characters. If you like 1970s-style cheese and bemoan the fact that it'll be a long time before 'Cleopatra Jones' shows up on high-def, this will tide you over. If you're expecting real thrills, look elsewhere.

Terrific-looking transfer, though. And frankly, I'm glad they stuck with the original mono track; I am very tired of not even having the option of hearing the movie's actual original soundtrack. It's like only being able to watch a movie in the colorized version.

Ok cool thanks. See I first started wondering about the ratings when I watched Dr. No the other day. When they pass trough the shower like thing when they come out I would have sworn I seen a full body shot of Ursula Andress (I think that's who it was) so I backed it up and did a frame-by-frame and from what I could tell she was wearing a body suite or something. That or she shaved really really good