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Charlton Heston's Impact On Sci-Fi
An anonymous reader writes "As you're probably already aware, Charlton Heston passed away yesterday. Wired has a piece looking back at Heston's extremely notable work in the sci-fi genre, with roles in films like "Planet of the Apes" and "Soylent Green". 'Heston also roared out some of sci-fi's greatest and most memorable lines, bringing his macho swagger and over-the-top intensity to the screen in movies like 1973's food freak-out flick Soylent Green and the Planet of the Apes series. In a pivotal scene from 1968's Planet of the Apes (see clip), Heston's character, time-traveling astronaut George Taylor, utters the first words spoken by a human to the simian rulers of a bizarro future Earth: "Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!'"
Heston seemed like he was an eternal presence. From watching the 10 commandments on TV as a kid, then seeming The Omega Man late one night when I was about 12 (back when broadcast TV used to show movies late at night). That eye rolling dialog delivery, jutting jaw, big flashing teeth and the fact they he couldn't keep his shirt on for more than the first 10 minutes of any film made him an icon.
Then again, you see him in the Orson Welles film "Touch of Evil" to see he could underplay it when he wanted to, he just chose not to. In honour of Chuck, I think The Omega Man is due a screening in my house this evening.
Out of all the adaptations of Matheson's novel I am Legend , Heston's The Omega Man was probably the most entertaining. It certainly stands tall above the dreck Will Smith starred in last year.
I think it depends on which aspects of each of those movies you're talking about. As far as the performance of the main character, I think Will Smith turned in a vastly superior performance than Heston (no slight on Heston - I doubt any of Will Smith's work (to date) will stand the test of time that Heston's has). There was no scarier moment in the Heston version that was anywhere near as scary as when Smith goes in the dark building to get his dog. Certainly the special effects of an abandoned New York were nowhere up to the Smith version. The bad guys in the Heston movie were far more effective, I thought, than in the Smith version, though. And both fall down rather badly on the ending, neither of which makes the title of the original story (I Am Legend) make any sense - even in the alternate ending for the Smith movie. I don't know why it's so hard for the filmmakers to understand the title, or why they need to change it, considering noone has yet to make a movie of that story WITH the original ending.
But letting citizens defend themselves against people who have the guns anyway (Law or no law) just makes sense. He was right with the gun control issue as he was when he marched with MLK in the day.
Speaking of which, his speech at Harvard Law is one of my favorite modern speeches:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/charltonhestonculturalwar.htm
http://www.talknerdy.org
It was the height of irony when Charlton Heston appeared as an ape in the "Planet of the Apes" remake...and gave an anti-gun speech.
I've enjoyed watching most every film Heston's been in (might want to exclude "Earthquake" from that list, though). He brought a commanding presence to his roles that is quite rare.
I tend to ignore an actor's political statements, however (whether or not I agree with their sentiments). If I refused to watch any movie that included an actor that I'd seen make a fool out of him/herself, there'd be no point in my owning a DVD player - the pickings would be slim indeed.
#DeleteChrome
The original ending is the zombies win. No producer in Hollywood will ever shoot an ending like that.
When Stephen King kicks off and a bunch of folks say "Y'know, he was a really great writer because..." will you ask us why we're celebrating a writer instead of the actors that brought the story to life on the silver screen? Many actors enter a state where they _believe_ the story (or lie, as you put it) in order to create a more believeable representation of the original writing. It's a skill!
As for people trying to sell stuff, most of humanity does that every day. Create, show people you're creation, get paid a little, eat. Circle of life stuff in a neat little package that took centuries for mankind to make up. It's a game, enjoy it!
The USA is an extremist nation. It always has been and always will be. Let's face it. Life in the early USA sucked and the only reason anyone in their right mind would want to come to this freezing, savage filled continent would either be due to immense greed or some immense political or religious belief.
.50 caliber rifle... and I love my country that I have the right to have all this cool stuff, just as much as I love it that someone else on the left wing can have the right to their own dumb ideas about socialism and one world UN government.
There is not a single page of American history where the country cannot be divided up into those sets of people - greedy people, religious fruitcakes, and political maniacs. They built the colonies, rammed through the American revolution, wrote our constitution, and continue to drive our present political discourse.
Folks look for moderates in the USA, and there aren't any. Everyone has one opinion or another that is radical about something, it is just that, because everyone's radicalism averages out at a survey level, it only seems like the USA is a rational country.
Americans love radicals, always have, and always will. Thomas Jefferson was a radical. John Brown was a radical. Both Roosevelts were radicals and Wilson was a radical and Kennedy was a radical. Johnson, Carter, Bush.. those guys weren't radicals, but the country hated them. Clinton wasn't radical, but he definitely fell into the greedy camp - greedy for power, greedy for the ladies.... and nobody ever really -liked- him... just, they thought did a decent enough job. Now they loved Reagan, and they love Obama...
So yeah, I like Charlton Heston. I'm a member of the NRA and damned proud of it, and I love my AK-47 and my AR-15 and my Barrett
This is my sig.
Of all the US gun nuts Heston scared me the least. He seemed like he would actually give you a meaningful conversation on gun ownership (to me, the biggest point of gun ownership is safety).
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
I don't think they had semi-automatic and automatic weapons back then either, but you have NRA gun nuts saying citizens must be allowed to carry them.
The idea of an automatic weapon goes back a long way. The Romans had the polybolos long before anyone have even though of gunpowder, let alone using it for propelling projectiles.
Maybe it's a cross between the two
"Don't be too proud of this f***ing technological terror you've constructed. The ability to blow the s*** out of a planet is insignificant next to the mother f***ing power of the Force, bitch. "
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
You know, I'm not going to refute much of what you said. It's true: Modern political discourse on such topics as gun control is rife with hyperbole and the statements of ignorance.
My personal experience has been quite the opposite. Pro-gun control people are, generally, less personally experienced with firearms and more likely to hold unrealistic or unfounded beliefs regarding firearms for the simple reason that their primary exposure is from dramatized movies and TV shows in which firearms are deus-ex-machina plot-devices or talismans of power which can only exist in the hands of "Bad Guys" and the police. Things like the Brady Bill only confirm this belief in that they ban what laypeople THINK makes a firearm dangerous (foldable stocks, pistol grips, bayonets, black stocks, etc.) and not what actually DOES make them dangerous (kinetic energy, accuracy, training, etc.)
-Grym
As one Saavik put it to me: You play the part the way the director tells you.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Man, I don't usually reply to my own comments, but I just had to post the moderation that's been done to this one. It's like a mini culture war. :)
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