Quote from: LancerI actually never got to see The Omega Man. I should rent this one-- It's probably better than the current Will Smith version.

Omega Man is so much better than Will Smith's movie, there's really no comparison at all.  Omega Man doesn't try to use phony sentimentality to add "drama" to the story and the bad guys aren't phony-looking and simple-minded cartoons.

He should also be correctly remembered for this :

QuoteWorld War II Service
In 1944, Heston enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces. He served for two years as a B-25 radio operator/gunner stationed in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands with the Eleventh Air Force, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant.

Here  is the Wikipedia article link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleton_Heston



- Ed Charlton

Also...its a longshot - but I might be related to hium after all. My family lived in the Illinois area for decades upon decades. Never knew this until reading that article:

QuoteHeston was born John Charles Carter in Evanston, Illinois, the son of Lilla (née Charlton) and Russell Whitford Carter, a mill operator.[5] (However, the 1930 Census for Richfield, Michigan, where the family then lived, reports Russell Whitford Carter was a real estate salesman and their six year old son is referenced by the name "Charlton"). Heston was of English and Scottish descent and a member of the Fraser clan. When he was ten, his parents divorced. Shortly thereafter, his mother married Chester Heston. The new family moved to well-off Wilmette, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago.    .....................

Quote from: CthyNo offense dude but you seem to have problems. Who said it was the victims fault?

Well, you seemed to be implying that nobody engaged in normal activity like shopping could possibly need to defend themselves when, in fact, there are people who have been abducted and murdered while out shopping.  

Quote from: CthyOn a different note, the police have always arrived within a couple of minutes when I have had need to call them (twice).

And of course you have so many hit points nobody could possibly kill you before the police arrive, right? :rolleyes:

Quote from: DrewAh yes, that must be why we English are continually being overrun by mobs. Damned pesky things, always where you least expect 'em.  

Of course there are no gangs or mobs attacking people in England, criminals never get a hold of guns because the UK has such strict controls on them, and the police always arrive on time before anyone gets hurt or dies, right? :rolleyes:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3397433.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/jun/05/gender.ukcrime
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4460778.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/aug/24/youthjustice.gunviolence
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/6564669.stm
http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2008/03/01/uk-gang-sentenced-to-life-for-murder-of-disabled-man/
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/03/12/killer-gang-used-a-machete-in-sefton-park-attack-100252-20611203/

Please get off the soapbox, John Morrow.  This is not the thread and you are starting to show your true colours.  I'm actually a little suprised, thinking you were actually one of those rational conservatives because you usually have such well thought out arguments.  But you are starting to reveal your "Fox News" side here.  Better tone it down.

Now on to the real issues.

1) Yes, Charlton Heston was not the best actor.  He definitely masticated the scenery and threw his big jaw around.  But he was entertaining, charismatic and tough and he really did make an effort.  Give me a big name male movie star with those failings over the weird self-aware safe pseudo-irony of Tom Cruise or even Brad Pitt any day.

2)  The Omega Man, overall, is really not a good movie.  It descends into the bizarre racial and sexual politics of its time in the last half.  However, the first half is still really cool (Charlton Heston driving around deserted LA in a convertible with a Bren Gun at his side, come on) and it is more true to the Richard Matheson story (and thus more interesting ultimately) than the weird blanded-out Will Smith version.

Those are my positions anyhow.

Quote from: walkerpPlease get off the soapbox, John Morrow.  This is not the thread and you are starting to show your true colours.

I'm showing my true colors but it's A-OK for people to call his politics "retarded" and "fucking disgusting", and even trivialize his work on civil rights issues to demonize him, right?  Yeah, I started it and I'm the only problem here.  The conservative needs to sit down and shut up and let the liberals rant, right?

Quote from: walkerpI'm actually a little suprised, thinking you were actually one of those rational conservatives because you usually have such well thought out arguments.  But you are starting to reveal your "Fox News" side here.

Yes, heaven forbid conservatives actually speak up or defend conservative positions against obnoxious liberals lest they be like Fox News which gets maligned and singled out not for being biased (which other news organizations most certainly are) but for having a conservative bias.  And heaven forbid a conservative actually make an argument in defense of private gun ownership in a thread about Charlton Heston.

Quote from: John MorrowOf course there are no gangs or mobs attacking people in England, criminals never get a hold of guns because the UK has such strict controls on them, and the police always arrive on time before anyone gets hurt or dies, right? :rolleyes:

Yeah, really bad stuff happens in England sometimes. Just look at our history.

You know what though? It's rare as rocking horse shit, and is usually confined to areas that have broken down due to poverty, drugs and poor community relations. Day to day life in Britain is mercifully free of the horrific acts of violence you've cited, and I can't see how allowing the general public access to guns would make things any better.

John,

 The problem is you are helping the thread drift into "politics" when it might be nicer to remember the man and his career (all three of them, military, union, acting)  than to keep the politics argument going.


- Ed C.

Quote from: KoltarJohn,

 The problem is you are helping the thread drift into "politics" when it might be nicer to remember the man and his career (all three of them, military, union, acting)  than to keep the politics argument going.

Quite right. I'm outta here.


Rest in peace, Charlton Heston. You made some great movies.

Quote from: DrewYou know what though? It's rare as rocking horse shit, and is usually confined to areas that have broken down due to poverty, drugs and poor community relations. Day to day life in Britain is mercifully free of the horrific acts of violence you've cited, and I can't see how allowing the general public access to guns would make things any better.

Population density is a big issue that rarely gets mentioned when the UK or Japan are compared to the United States.  It may be reasonable to expect the police to show up in 3 minutes in the UK.  To be honest, I'm not sure what to believe about crime in the UK because for every person who assures me that the UK is safe, I read things like this.

Quote from: KoltarThe problem is you are helping the thread drift into "politics" when it might be nicer to remember the man and his career (all three of them, military, union, acting)  than to keep the politics argument going.

First, I didn't start the drift.  Second, being president and spokesman for the NRA was also a part of his career.  Do you really think it honors Heston to run away from a discussion of an issue he apparently felt pretty strongly about?

Let me put it this way.  It takes two to keep a political argument going.  Why not ask the other side to stop?  Why do I have to stop defending the position that Heston, himself, supported?

Quote from: John MorrowLet me put it this way.  It takes two to keep a political argument going.  Why not ask the other side to stop?  Why do I have to stop defending the position that Heston, himself, supported?

Because you've already made your point several times.  That's the problem.  Every Charlton Heston thread on the net is going to have some political discussion in it.  It's natural.  But you push it to the next level.  Everybody else made one or two political comments, but for you it's another excuse to launch into post after post of evidence and discssion points.  It's boring and annoying.  Why don't you just start another thread about gun control and maybe another about how the victimized conservative viewpoint while you're at it.

John M,

 You don't have to keep responding (then they respond, etc..)

For me its enough that Charlton Heston played HEROIC characters really well. His name had a similarity to mine - so when I was a kid that made me feel better seeing an actor play heroes who had 'Charlton' as part of his name.

The three I remember were : Planet of the Apes, Omega Man, and Earthquake.  As I grew older I connected him with The Ten Commandments as well.

He was also very watchable in :

Soylent Green  - played a basically Good Cop in a society that was corrupt and going to hell quick.

Airport 1975 - really hokey made more watchable because Heston plays a hero role.

He als0 had a memorable cameo in thre recent Kennth branagh version of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Charlton Heston played the elderly leader of the group of the thespians - the ones who stage the lay that will reveal the "conscience of the king".


- Ed C.

Quote from: walkerpBecause you've already made your point several times.  That's the problem.

Given that people keep bring up the same points again and again, apparently I haven't made my point.  I'll repeat one of my points since apparently you've missed it.  It takes at least two people to sustain an argument like the one you are complaining about.  You have just as much power to stop this exchange as I do if you weren't up on your own soap box trying to get in the last word and pin this on me alone.

Quote from: walkerpEvery Charlton Heston thread on the net is going to have some political discussion in it.  It's natural.  But you push it to the next level.  Everybody else made one or two political comments, but for you it's another excuse to launch into post after post of evidence and discssion points.  It's boring and annoying.

Yes, yes, it's all my fault.  It's "natural" for people to bash Heston's politics but grossly unnatural and perverse to actually defend them. :rolleyes:

I would take you a lot more seriously if you weren't ignoring the fact that (A) a few people tried to more subtly rebuff the political bashing earlier in the thread but it was ignored by those doing the bashing and (B) my own first few replies were fairly innocuous and people decided to take issue with them.

Quote from: KoltarJohn M,

 You don't have to keep responding (then they respond, etc..)

Correct.  And you could say the same thing to the people that respond to me.

Why is it my responsibility, alone, to let it go?  If you or walkerp had said, "Can everyone get off of their political soapboxes and talk about his acting career," as an appeal to decorum, I might have obliged.  "Sit down and shut up, John, this is all your fault," I don't respond so well to.  Sorry.