Omega Doom

Most people would tell you that this flick stinks because it's got poor special effects or the plot seems to be vague. Frankly, you can't judge it next to A-list movies. It's not an A-list movie. What it is though, is a remarkable story with some interesting film tricks to get around its obvious low budget.

In Canada we have a TV station that happens to play independent Sci-fi flicks on weekends and Omega Doom caught my eye because it has Rutger Hauer in it. I figured I would turn it on, have a good chuckle at a plotless flick with a good actor and was surprised to see an intriguing situation of the "Omega Doom", Guardian Angel (Hauer) being feared by others of his kind. That and he has a wicked looking sword...it's like the line in the Simpsons when Homer says "but that little guy hasn't done anything yet, you know he's gonna do something and you know it's going to be good."

While you wait for him to do his thing, the other characters are introduced, the war is explained...and frankly, by then I was salivating. You just *know* who he is. Finally, Angel begins to do his work. The film work is well done, and despite what has been said above, Hauer did his own stunts. And for you Ladyhawke fans, he performs the sword-throwing trick again.

It's also a very good example of a short story brought to life. It could work well on a stage, too. The acting is very consistent and the dialogue, while sparce, doesn't betray the characters. The only thing I didn't like was the bartender singing Joy to the World at the end, but it's okay, because the conversation between Zeke and Angel at the end nods at the idea that life is about waiting, knowing when to act and when not to.

If you are looking for an A-list movie, go to your local theater. If you want to see something quaint and intriguing, watch this. Just don't raise the bar too high...that wouldn't be true to the flick. It's an excellent B-movie, and something good to write a paper on!

"Omega Doom" is a movie whose ambitions clearly outweigh its budget. However, there is something to be said for genre filmmakers like Albert Pyun who try to make the most of the budget they do have. As others have already pointed out, this is essentially a spaghetti Western transported to a post-apocalyptic setting. At times laughably pretentious, at other times interesting. Rutger Hauer (who has the "stoic, mysterious and deadly loner" role, in the classic Clint Eastwood tradition) still has screen presence, and Tina Cote is pretty hot even when she's playing an emotionless, cold-as-ice killer robot. Their last fight could have been longer and better edited, though. (**)

'Omega Doom' really does have a special place in my heart. As movies go, it's not the best. It isn't even good. But... well, just watch the thing. There's no way you can sit through the whole sci-fi/western/inexplicable noise-packed experience without either beginning to love it or snapping and attacking bystanders with the remote.

It's less of a movie and more of a game, to be honest. See how long *you* can stand the bizarre whirring sounds, played whenever each and every 'robotic' (translated from Low-Budget: contact lenses and metal gloves) character moves. Even when their eyes move, for god's sake! It's half endurance test, and half bad, bad movie. But watch it anyway.

Albert Pyun is really underrated. This guy deserves more attention on how bad he is. Bad as a director and writer, a couple of years ago I already declared him the Ed Wood of modern movie making. Sad thing about directors like Pyun is that they have no talent for movie-making but keep on making movies nevertheless.

Reason why I watched this movie in the first place is because Rutger Hauer is in it. It's too bad that he is given awful material to work with, the script has some terrible dialogs.

Still I can appreciate a big fat B-movie every now and then. B-movie's are always ridicules and awfully looking with terrible acting. In a way its always very relaxing to watch after a hard week of work. This movie is no exception. Fans of the genre and I know that there are a lot of those, will enjoy this movie big time. It has all the typical modern science-fiction B-movie elements in it.

The special effects are laughable bad at times, especially for the character Head. The sound effects also made me laugh. Remember that Cain droid from "Robocop 2"? Remember that sound that he made when he walked? It's a kind of scary sound for Cain but a laughable sound when it is used for just normal human looking droid characters in this movie. It's really not fitting.

Don't stop making crap Pyun! In a way I always enjoy it.

...I kind of like the cover though.

4/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Nah, I don't think it's a horrible movie. Sure it lacks a lot of action that movies of the period had, but I never thought of this as an action movie anyway. It seemed to me to be more like a comic book/graphic novel meets 70's samurai movie meets spaghetti western. Despite the obvious overarching situation (apocalypse, possibility of humans returning, obvious society gone to hell), it pretty much all but ignores that and focuses on the problem at hand: ridding the robot town of the "bad guys." It ends with a sense that Omega Doom has really done nothing more than put a band-aid on the whole situation, but his actions are more along the lines of self-preservation than anything else. He just showed up for a drink and gets sucked into a fight. That's how pretty much any of the same genre starts. Someone comes along, wanting to be left alone, but some dumb schmuck picks a fight and then our hero has to teach them a lesson. Nothing is resolved, the world is still as crummy as it ever was, but the hero gets to get back on the road in one piece. Lather, rinse, repeat.

That's why this kind of movie appeals to me. I don't think it's boring or a waste of time. It's interesting enough in it's hopeless nothingness. I don't always want to see a happily ever after ending or some Matrix-y, save-the-human-race type of fight. Those are a dime a dozen. That's what has always appealed to me in old samurai movies, though those tend to focus more on making things better. This movie was very reminiscent of Philip K. Dick stories: bleak futures with small stories that just are what they are.

Of course this kind of movie doesn't appeal to everyone, not by a long shot. I think my little brother fell asleep. Van Damme movies were more his thing. Lots of fight scenes and the bad guys get their due. Not that I don't like those movies, I do. It's just that something of the type of movie that Omega Doom is, is a breath of fresh air. There's a pointless despair to it that I enjoy. Something is done, and yet it isn't.

Also, I know the special effects are bad, but I honestly thought it was an 80's movie. I was surprised to see 1995-1997 as a release date. I think it's much better thinking of it as an 80's movie if you're the type of person who just can't get past special effects not being as good as LotR or Star Wars.

So this gets 6 stars from me. Not the greatest, but not the worst. Despite IMDb's plot description, it doesn't try to be anything other than it is, it fulfills my comic book/graphic novel pleasures, and I much enjoyed some of the talent in it compared to, say Van Damme.